Kumbhalgarh is a fortress of the Rajput principality of Mewar, and it is located on the ridge of Aravali hills,in the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan.
The site of the fort was once a stronghold of Emperor Samprati, a Jain descendant of the Maurya emperors in the 2nd century BC. J.-C. Kumbhalgarh, in its current form, was developed by Rana Kumbha. At the time (15th century), his kingdom extended from Ranthambore to Gwâlior, covering large areas of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Of the 84 forts that included her kingdom, Rana Kumbha would have designed 32, including Kumbhalgarh which was the largest and most elaborate.
The facility is surrounded by a wall about 36 kilometers long, on average 12 meters high and 8 meters thick, with a total of 7 gates. Large parts of the wall are provided in the lower area with unusual – and for the military architecture of the time very modern – rounded embankments. Within these walls there are numerous buildings: 360 temples alone were counted (including many Jain temples, but also a Ganesha temple and a Hanuman temple), but also former residential houses and a royal palace. The buildings are distributed over several hills, some at a greater distance from each other. From higher temples and especially from the upper floors of the Badal Mahal Palace, some of which are decorated with paintings, there is an impressive view of the surrounding wooded hill country.
After Chittor Fort or Chittorgarh, it is the second largest fortress in Rajasthan in terms of area and has been recognized as one of several hill forts as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013.
Access : Coordinates: 25.148889, 73.580278 / Kumbhalgarh located on the westerly range of Aravalli Hills, in the Rajsamand district near Udaipur of Rajasthan state in western India.
Highlights :
- In 2013, at the 37th meeting of the World Heritage Committee held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Kumbhalgarh, along with five other Rajasthani fortresses, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- The fort is the second largest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China and the second largest fortress in Rajasthan after Chittorgarh.
- The most important thing in the Kumbhalgarh fort is its wall, which is more than 36 km long. With such a length, it is the second largest wall in the world after … the Great Wall of China, and the fort itself is the second after Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan in size.
- The fort is now open to the public as a museum and is spectacularly lit up for a few minutes each evening.
Go next : Haldighati , a mountain pass between Khamnore and Bagicha village situated at Aravalli Range / Nathdwara ,a city in Rajasthan state of western India. / Udaipur is the capital of the district of Mewar in Rajasthan, India. / The remarkable Jain temples of Ranakpur are only about 30 km away.
