At a glance
- Rank: Mewar's second most important fort, after Chittorgarh.
- Abul Fazl: it stands so high that looking up from below makes the turban fall off.
- Colonel Tod compared its walls and bastions with Etruscan building.
- Taken once: by Akbar's general Shahbaz Khan in 1578, when drinking water ran short.
Facts
| Place | Kumbhalgarh, Rajsamand; about 84 km from Udaipur |
|---|---|
| Builder | Rana Kumbha, 15th century; chief architect Mandan |
| Wall | About 36 km long, wide enough for eight horsemen abreast |
| Gates | Seven |
| Events | Refuge of the child Udai Singh after Banbir killed Vikramaditya; Udai Singh was crowned here and Maharana Pratap was born here |
| Setting | Aravalli hills, inside Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary |
Inside the fort
- Katargarh: Rana Kumbha's residence at the top of the fort.
- Neelkanth Mahadev temple: built in 1458; a Sarvatobhadra temple, open on all four sides.
- Golerao Jain temples: a group of nine.
- Also: Jhalibav stepwell, Kumbhaswami Vishnu temple and the chhatri of Udna Rajkumar (Prithviraj).
- Maharana Fateh Singh repaired the fort in the 19th century.
Remember: often mixed up
- Chittorgarh or KumbhalgarhVijay Stambh and the three sakas are Chittorgarh · the long wall and Pratap's birth are Kumbhalgarh.
- Badal MahalKumbhalgarh's 'palace of the clouds', on the fort's highest point · Jaisalmer's five-storeyed Badal Mahal with a tazia-shaped tower.
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