Sentinels of Rajasthan, Part 1

Forts of Rajasthan – Amer, Bala Quila and Mehrangarh

While Rajasthan’s city palaces are handsome structures, built for aesthetic appeal and sensory gratification, the forts are sturdy bulwarks, sprawling across hillsides, their dense walls burying delicate zenana mahals and latticed terraces.

Fortified to repulse attacks, and riddled with secret tunnels, the forts, many of which look like they’ve leapt out of fantasy tales, have something on offer for everyone – ruins for the imaginative, museums for the geeks, views for the trigger-happy, and solitude for the loners.

If you’re on a trip to this desert state, here are some forts you shouldn’t miss.

Bala Quila
This six-century old fort stands precariously on a 300-metre high cliff, in the scenic town of Alwar. Looming in the skyline, it’s one of the most expansive castles in the country.

Eight huge towers encompass 446 openings for musketry. While most of this once-magnificent fort is in ruins, and in the process of being restored, the towers still stand solid. There are 15 sizeable ones, and more than 50 small towers, within the fort.

The Bala Quila is rather special, because it is one of the few forts that wasn’t built by Rajput rulers. Constructed in 1492 by Hasan Khan Mewati, it passed into the hands of Jat and Mughal rulers for the next three centuries. It was only in 1775 that it was conquered by Maharao Raja Pratap Singh, who promptly founded the town of Alwar around it.

Only shells and explanatory boards remain of buildings that were once Jal Mahal, Nikumbh Mahal, and venerated temples. However, ironically enough, rather more evidence of the existence of the oldest fortress in the premises – the one built by Alaghu Rai in 1049 AD – stands today.

Amer Fort
Amer Fort is an anomaly of sorts – for one, it looks more like a holiday palace than a buttress, set on a low hill overlooking a lake. Second, the area of the town it presides over is just four square kilometres. Third, the fort has a uniformity of colour and design that suggests it was conceived by a single architect. However, it turns out the various annexes and walls on its four levels were added over three centuries!

Made of red sandstone, with white marble domes, the fort was first occupied by Raja Man Singh (1589-1614) and continued to be the capital till 1728, when the rulers shifted to Jaipur. The fort derived its name from the amber jewels used to decorate its inner walls.

Near Ganesh Pol, the gateway that allows access to the inner chambers of the palace from the main courtyard is the temple of Shila Devi, a Chaitanya Goddess whose idol was gifted to Raja Man Singh when he defeated the Raja of Jessore in 1604. The more romantic version of the tale says the Raja of Jessore gifted Man Singh a slab of black stone, said to be the one on which Kamsa killed the siblings of Lord Krishna. The holy stone was offered in exchange for the return of the Kingdom of Jessore. Man Singh agreed to the terms, and had an image of Goddess Durga carved from the stone.

The even more whimsical version of the story is: Before setting out for war against the Raja of Jessore, Raja Man Singh prayed to Goddess Kali. He had a dream in which the Goddess asked him to scour the sea bed for an idol of hers, install it in a temple and worship it. After winning the battle, Man Singh retrieved the idol, carved out of a single stone. The Goddess was annually propitiated with an animal sacrifice for the next four centuries, till the practice was banned by law in 1980.

Other gates too come with their own stories. Like the passageway through the outer gateway that doesn’t lead in a straight line to the palace. This aberration in the geometry is thought to be for reasons of security – intruders would find it hard to look inside without exposing their own locations, which would allow the soldiers on the ramparts to take clear aim.

Centuries later, the colonnaded arches of the Diwan-e-Aam was converted into offices housing the Government Secretariat, from where the administration of Amer was carried out. The last known occupant of the fort, Sawai Ram Singh (1835-80), had the rear portion of the Diwan-e-Aam converted into a billiards hall.

Across the enormous courtyard, with separate entrances from the main palace and the Sheesh Mahal – the Palace of Mirrors, where the ladies of the palace assembled – is the hammam.

The Sheesh Mahal, located off the upper courtyard, is the biggest draw for tourists inside the fort. It is said a single ray of light would be bounced off mirrors placed at just the right angles, so that it lit up the entire hall. One of the most famed carvings at this palace is the ‘magic flower’. This marble fresco, depending on which perspective it is viewed from, depicts one of seven designs – a lotus, a hooded cobra, a corn cob, a scorpion, an elephant’s trunk, a lion’s tail or a fishtail.

On the Western side of the fort is a tunnel that connects it to Jaigarh Fort. Running under the ground for most of the distance, the last part of the tunnel was an exposed, roofless pathway. Peeping into the entrance, one sees sconces where torches must once have been placed.

Incidentally, the Amer Fort was the site of controversy during the 2009 shooting of the Salman Khan starrer Veer. The film crew was accused of damaging a 500-year-old canopy, several walls, courtyard tiles, and a roof.

Share this: