Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh is the mountain fortress of the Mewar kings in the Aravalli Hills, famous for a perimeter wall that runs for about 36 km along the ridges — one of the longest continuous walls in the world and the reason the fort is often called the Great Wall of India. It stands at around 1,100 metres above sea level, and from the palace at its summit the view reaches far across the Aravalli ranges. Since 2013 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hill Forts of Rajasthan, alongside Chittor, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amer and Jaisalmer.

The fort is named after Rana Kumbha, who ruled Mewar from 1433 to 1468 and is said to have built 32 of the 84 forts in his kingdom; Kumbhalgarh was the largest and most elaborate. An inscription dates the commission to 1448. Its architect was Mandan, the chief builder of Mewar, who set down his principles in a treatise called the Rajvallabh. The fort withstood attacks by Ahmad Shah II of Gujarat in 1457 and by Mahmud Khalji of Malwa in 1458–59 and 1467. It fell only in 1578, after a six-month siege by Akbar's general Shahbaz Khan, and Maharana Pratap — who was born here — took it back in 1583.

Inside the walls lies an entire sacred landscape of Hindu and Jain temples — counts range from about 70 to more than 360 — among them the Neelkanth Mahadev temple of 1458 with its twelve-armed black stone Shiva, a Ganesha temple built by Kumbha, and clusters of Jain shrines. The approach passes a sequence of fortified gates — Aaret Pol, Halla Pol, Hanuman Pol and the main Ram Pol — before climbing through further gates to the Badal Mahal at the highest point. The fort is surrounded by the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, home to leopards, sloth bears and wolves, and every year the Rajasthan tourism department holds a three-day festival here with sound-and-light shows, music and dance.

Getting there

Kumbhalgarh lies in Rajsamand district, about 14 km from the town of Sadri and roughly 84 km by road from Udaipur, the usual base for visits. Maharana Pratap Airport (UDR) at Udaipur is about 67 km away. The approach runs through the hills of the wildlife sanctuary.