Kumbhalgarh fort is a Mewar fortress on the westerly range of Aravalli Hills, in the Rajsamand district near Udaipur of Rajasthan state. Kumbhalgarh is the second largest fort in Rajasthan and is declared as a ‘World Heritage Site’.

Some interesting facts about the place that makes it worth visiting:

*World’s Second Largest wall

Built on a hilltop 1,100 m (3,600 ft) above sea level on the Aravalli range, the fort of Kumbhalgarh has perimeter walls that extend 36 km (22 mi), and is 15 feet wide making it one of the longest walls in the world.

 *The Magnificent structure

The fort houses 7 gates of which Aaret Pol, Hulla Pol, Hanuman Pol and Ram Pol are the major gates. Pol in the local language means “Main Gate”. There are different sections with rooms constructed inside the fort and given different names likes ‘Badal Mahal’, ‘Kumbha Mahal’ etc. The Badal Mahal is one of the most important and attractive buildings built by Rana Fateh Singh. From the palace top, it is possible to see kilometres into the Aravalli Range.

*Around 360 Hindu and Jain temples around Fort

The Kumbhalgarh fort has around 360 temples and surprisingly 300 of them are Jain temples and rest are Hindu temples.

The reason of Jain temple in such quantity is due to the fact that the place was earlier ruled by a Jain prince Samprati of the second century B.C.

*Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary

Kumbhalgarh Fort is surrounded by Wildlife Sanctuary in which you can take a jungle safari organized by local tour operators. The sanctuary is a home to various wild animals like chinkara, leopard, Sloth Bear, Antelope, jackal, sambhar, nilgai and hyena & various species of birds.

*Visible Marwar and Sand Dunes

The sand dunes of the Thar Desert can be seen from the fort walls.

 *Birthplace of a Braveheart

Kumbhalgarh fort also holds the honour of being the birthplace of the brave Maharana Pratap, the great warrior of Mewar who didn’t succumb to the giant Mughals.

*Remained ‘almost invincible’

The Kumbhalgarh fort remained almost invincible throughout the Mewar rulers era, it just got breached once that too due to the shortage of water supplies. It got captured by the joint army of four kings, Mughal king Akbar, Amer’s Man Singh, Mewar’s Udai Singh, and Sultan of Gujrat.

*The Giant Lamp used for light

It is said that Maharana Kumbha used to light giant lamp which used 100 kg cotton and 50 kg ‘ghee’ to provide light to the farmers working in the farms at night. The lamps used to glow so brightly that its brightness used to reach in miles.

*Light and Sound show inside Kumbhalgarh Fort

The Rajasthan Tourism Department organizes a three-day annual festival in the fort in remembrance of the passion of Maharana Kumbha towards art and architecture. Sound and light shows are organized with the fort as the background. Various concerts and dance events are also organised to commemorate the function. The other events during the festival are Heritage Fort Walk, turban tying, tug-of-war and Mehendi Mandana among others.

*Sunset point

A place where you want to spend your dusk.