[Wanderers]

Never thought of Chittor fort so seriously or important till the Tele-serial Maharana Pratap took the Centerstage at home or perhaps everywhere else in India.
My son would not miss an episode and we silently supported it, even though it comes late in the night. After all today's kid may not read as much as we did, thanks to all the Gadgets & Games.

During my recent Delhi- Baroda trip, I promised my son to show him whatever left of Maharana Pratap & his Ancestors. We were equally interested to know it as well. The pre-visit information searches were disappointing as not much is left of the fort per say. Thanks to various invasions by outsiders & Mughals on this Fort.

But hold on, we could still find a lot to get excited about this mini stop over kind of visit. Probably we got more than we expected.



Why should you visit this fort.

1. You love Maharana Pratap. The Chittor was the capital of Mewar.
2. You love your car & would like to take it along, wherever you go, instead of hiring a local car for sight-seeing or having to park your car & forced to take a electric vehicle to reach a fort.
3. You are curious to know about the famous Rani Padmani & her beauty, which took the brains out of Allauddin Khilji.
4. You would love to drive up the hills, reach a secluded spot and unwind yourself without tension of parking & enjoy the bird eye view from the hill-top, which probably Rajputs use to do except that they watched over enemies.



The Fort is actually an ancient walled city and consists of various Palaces, Temples, Gates, Memorials & Inhabitants (the locals) which claim to come from original Rajputs of Mewar.
This Fort was never a great tourist attraction. As per the guide people started coming in decent numbers only after the tele-serial started (Non of it has been shot there). In spite of the long weekend of 2-5 Oct -2014, it was not really crowded and driving was easy.

Once you have crossed the last of the initial gates (Pole), the road is empty and you would love the drive till you reach Rani Padmani Palace, which gets the major crowd. But we enjoyed the drive along the Fort road, which is the best part.
We could see may picnics taking places along the road side, behind pecking rocks & water bodies.



The Museum no longer exist but the fort had light & sound show in the night, which narrates the history in pieces as continuity of rulers & their dynasty had not been established at Chittorgarh.
The historians had information about 8th Century and thereafter it moved on to 15th Century.

[Wanderers]

We reached Chittorgarh at noon & checked in the hotel (Hotel details later). Slept for 2 hours, having driven continuously from Baroda. Commenced drive to fort around 3:00 PM after some quick bites on Rajasthani Pyaaj Kachauris.

Crossing the Gambhiri river. You can see part of the fort on the top of the hill. The fort covers entire hill.


Starting of wall city & climb to fort.





Minimal traffic, however traffic police in place and we had some sort of one way while going around the fort, however it not followed religiously as traffic was still good.



At the entrance of Rana Ratan Singh Palace.



The Jharokas at Rana Ratan Singh Palace.





My car park outside the Rana Ratan Singh Palace.


A Lake outside Rana Ratan Singh Palace


As this place is still not developed as full-fledged tourist spot like Agra or Jaipur Fort, we do not have any parking charge at any of the spots. There is a minimal entry fees of Rs 10 per person, which is only checked at Rani Padmini Palace entrance in person (no need for driving around)

Also you may need to show the ticket at designated parking places, otherwise they demand parking charge. As such you have plenty of places for car parking and there is no compulsion to use designated parking area.
There was a RTDC Cafeteria at Kirti Sthamb and people parked over there as well.

I suggest to increase the entry fees, which can be used for upkeep of the spots & environment as cleanness was a concern and it would be pity to see such a beautiful location turning into an environmental disaster. Presently littering was common sight all along the road around the fort.

Road across the lake


The fort is believed to have more than 100 temples. This temple looked good, sanitized & intact, hence may have been built after Mughal's invaded this place final time.





The Road below the Rana Ratan Singh Palace.



The Fort peripheral wall running along the topography.



Good lawn. After the entire visit we came back here to spend the idle time waiting for sound & light show.



The Chetak of the Modern age.



Me & myself. Stop & drive at your will.



A Jain Temple overlooking the battlefield down below on eastern periphery.


View from Jain Temple.

[Wanderers]

A Km drive from the Jain temple and we came across the famous Suraj Pole. As the name suggest it was the first point to receive sunrise. The gate was the main entrance on eastern side but not in use as the approach was steep stairs made from stone.


This place gave the perfect view of the approaching enemies. Even today you can see everything down below. The NH 76 connecting Chittorgarh to Kota/ Jhansi can be clearly seen even though its at quite a distance from the hill.



You can see the NH 76 running





The stairs all the way down we were told (We did not go down)



The Suraj Pole (Gate)







The darkened points on fort were used by guards to pour oil & fire on enemies at the gate.







After Suraj Pole, we had various temples and one deer park, which was permanently closed in absence of any deer. It would have been really good to see them as this part of the fort was full of greenery & had great picnic spots. (We saw 3 different groups, all local though)

The Rani Padmani Jal Niwas, part of ruined palace, which has been declared world heritage site by UNESCO and restoration work was in progress but at quite a slow pace.



This was the place where Allauddin Khilji saw Rani Padmani in mirror and wickedly turned back to see her live but tricked by mirrors. The mirrors have been put up and you can enjoy the same even today minus the Rani Padmani.
There is nothing great to show in the palace, but I am sure after restoration work, things will be better.

The White lotuses in plenty near the Kali Temple



On way to Kirti Sthamb



The famous Kirti Sthamb. Even the time & invasion could not ruin its might. Still standing tall & great piece of art work around.





A Temple near Johar Sathal.


The infamous place, where Rani Padmani did Johar (sad but true). They have yearly Havan to bless her soul.





Near Kirti Sthamb

[Wanderers]

We completed the entire fort by 6 PM. Well we did not go to all the temples nor did we climb the Kirti Stambh, which was open for you to climb through the inner stairs.
Took rest at the lawn at Rana Ratan Singh Palace and joined the light & sound show at 7 PM.







While the sound show have all the famous voice including Shahrukh Khan as Akbar (or Babar -Can't remember) the light is pretty ordinary. Those who have seen Agra Fort may not appreciate it much. However its quite informative and good for children.

Hotel Details- Chittorgarh

Came down the hills at 8 PM and had dinner at Hotel Meera.
Good Hotel, I would say & had one of the best restaurants of Chittorgarh (We were advised to try once I inquired about the best place to eat Non-Veg)

We stayed overnight at Chitrakoot Resort, which I had booked as it was just on highway at the beginning of Chittorgarh bypass on Udaipur side and 5 Km before the actual city starts.

The Chitrakoot Resort is a good option & has secured parking, if you want to stay on GQ/NH 79 (Delhi-Mumbai Route). The location is strategic which was evident from the fact that next morning the Hotel had 10-12 car parked, all with NCR numbers and 5 of them were Fortuner.

Food must be good we saw huge local crowd (all cars) coming all the way from the city for Dinner (Pure Veg). It was pact when we returned at 9:30 PM.

However having known about Meera Hotel now, I would recommend the same for stay as well. Rates were same at both the places and much lower than RTDC Hotel Panna. Don't get worried by station Road address as it is quite an open wide road & easy to drive to Hotel, which has plenty of parking & security.

Most of the Tourist are half a day sight seeing traveler from Udaipur. However a night is worth the spend along with a Udaipur trip, Moreover it would be substantially cheaper than Udaipur in holiday season.

Again, this place may not hold its value to all but for someone who would like to drive. I suggest you to carry food, which you can enjoy at some of the scenic picnic spots. There are few shops and choice is limited.

Strangely, the Rana Pratap never ruled this place even though we connect the Chittor with him. But this is the birth place of many Rajput warriors and die hard fighters from Rajput clans including Rana Pratap.

Thanks for reading.

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[predatorwheelz]

Nice. Well detailed, and some good photos.

BTW, I had done a tour of Chittor in January this year. You may want to go through the link as well. Good to exchange notes.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post3354361

[Aditya]

Nice travelogue Wanderers. There are some very good pictures and information in it. The fort is really interesting. I have been to Chittorgarh on many occasions, but never had a chance to do any sightseeing. Next time I go there, I'll try to visit it.

[Wanderers]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Nice. Well detailed, and some good photos.

BTW, I had done a tour of Chittor in January this year. You may want to go through the link as well. Good to exchange notes.

Hi predatorwheelz,

Thanks
Read every bit of your Rajasthan Travelogue and it's quite impressive and detailed, I would say.
There is always something more to explore in Rajasthan.
That's the reason one can always plan a Rajasthan trip, no matter how many times you have been there before.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Nice travelogue Wanderers. There are some very good pictures and information in it. The fort is really interesting. I have been to Chittorgarh on many occasions, but never had a chance to do any sightseeing. Next time I go there, I'll try to visit it.

Thanks.
I am sure you would love driving around the fort.
Catch it before the place is commercialized.

[SVS1806]

Thanks Wanderers for the crisp and informative travelogue. After reading your travelogue I was inspired to visit the Chittorgarh Fort which I did yesterday. I belong to rajasthan and keep crossing Chittorgarh often but couldn't visit the fort. The visit was totally worth it as it reminded me of the great history, sacrifice and valour of our ancestors. Thanks again.