“Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Travel has always been my hobby and traveling solo was a dream that I nurtured since long, a dream that came true on this autumn when I set out for Udaipur on 22nd November, 2019. Having been to Udaipur once before, I had already seen the main sites of the city; so I chose to visit Chittorgarh this time. This being my first solo trip, the excitement was obvious, and the feeling of accomplishment of a long-cherished dream was overwhelming. This was my chance to discover my inner self and I wanted to absorb the experience as much as I could. I am glad that I didn’t disappoint myself in the end.
My mobile alarm rang at 6 am and I took shower and got myself ready for the day. I wore a pretty royal blue color long dress with a perfect morning makeup – applied some light make up, dark black kajal, eyeliner, mascara and lighter shades of blue eye shadow and applied my vibrant Ruby Woo shade of MAC lipstick and put a dark blue bindi, lastly applied my Elizabeth Arden perfume. I just love to wear some red and golden bangle on both my hands with perfect matching earrings. Before proceeding towards the dining room for breakfast, I decided to start the journey with a bang and shot a Tiktok for myself. I just love to make videos on Tiktok….I know this is silly but sometimes one should enjoy the child in them….just give it a try…trust me…you will enjoy a lot 🙂
Left : My Perfect look of the day 🙂
Breakfast was sumptuous. As it was going to be a long day, and stocking myself was important. So, I took one alu paratha with sabji, baked beans, masala omelet, two pieces of chicken sausage, some pieces of papaya with a glass of orange juice. I preferred to sit and enjoy my breakfast in the balcony by the lakeside. This was the most attractive place of Lake Pichola Hotel. I was having a feeling that may time stop here and may this time never end in my life and I wished I could have my breakfast in this divine place every day of my life!! I took lots of selfies at this exquisite place and sometimes the hotel staff did a wonderful job of photography for me. After finishing my breakfast I ordered a cup of tea and enjoyed with some chocolate muffins. It was almost 8.30 am and it was time to hit the road.
Right : My Gala Breakfast Platter
By 8.45 am my cab came to the hotel and by 9 am we started our journey to Chittorgarh with immense passion and energy. Notable to mention the name of my hotel manager Yogendra Naruka Ji, helped me in all possible way he could to arrange the logistics and make sure I had a great trip, really thankful to him for all his support. It took 2.5 hrs to reach Chittorgarh Fort and my driver Mr. Amit Ji was also very polite and very nice to me. Highways to Chittorgarh were in quite good condition. We reached Chittorgarh by 11.30am.
Left : Beginning of my journey
Chittorgarh Fort – The largest fort in India
Chittorgarh Fort is the largest fort in India. Chittorgarh was the capital of the state of Mewar before Udaipur under Rajputs with a total area of 700 acre. Most of the part of Chittorgarh fort is ruined now and almost everything was destroyed by Alauddin Khilji after he defeated Raja Ratan Singh, husband of Rani Padmawati. Chittorgarh fort is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are seven gates or “Pol” : Padan Pol, Bhairon Pol, Hanuman Pol, Jorla Pol, Ganesh Pol, Laxman Pol, Ram Pol, two towers and 65 structures in this fort. It is said while the brave men of Chittorgarh fought in battlefield selflessly, the woman supported the sacrifice of their men by committing “Jauhar” (sacrificing themselves in fire) to keep their self respect and pride, and unflinching, indomitable spirit alive. “Jauhar” was performed by Rani Padmawati accompanied by other women of Chittorgarh to keep their self respect intact.
Beauty of Rani Padmini or Padmavati “The Queen of Chittor”
Rani Padmini was extremely beautiful, her beauty is described as: her complexion was so fair that when she used to have betal leaf or paan, the complexion of her throat changed to green colour; she was so delicate that when she used to cut her nail and keep that nail under sun, it used to melt like wax; it is said that she had a smell of “Kasturi” deer in her body and that wherever she passed by she used to spread that beautiful fragrance on that place. She was smart, wise, brave warrior and well trained fighter.
There is an interesting story behind how Raja Ratan Singh came to know about Princess Padmavati – it is said that Padmavati had a talking parrot as her pet, named Hira-mani who was very close to her. But her father Raja Gandharvsen – the king of Sinhala disliked her obsession with this bird, so he ordered it to be killed. When the bird flew to saved its life, Raja Ratan Singh then purchased it from a Brahmin. It is said that the king came to know about the heavenly beauty of Padmavati from this parrot and decided to marry the princess.
As we drove towards the majestic walls and stunning architecture of the Chittorgarh Fort, I was engrossed in the history and legends of the place. I took entry ticket for 50/- and took a tourist govt. guide at 300/-. A guide is highly recommended to know the story of the Palace and I am thankful to my tourist guide Rakesh Ji for briefing me the history of Chittorgarh so brilliantly. At first we went to Kalikamata Mandir and Meera Mandir. There is a story behind this Meera Mandir. Meera Bai was married to Prince Bhoj Raj, who was the eldest son of Rana Sanga of Chittor. As we all know that Meera was true devotee of Lord Krishna and believed that she was married to Lord Krishna from her childhood and she refused to stay with her husband Bhoj Raj, so she was victim of much persecution and intrigue. She spent most of her days in this “Meera Mandir” dedicated to lord Krishna. There were two attempts to kill her. Once a poisonous snake was sent to her in a flower basket, but when she opened the basket she saw a flower garland there; on another occasion she was given poison in a bowl, but it became Kheer when she started having it and nothing happened to her, this was all said to be the miracle of Lord Krishna. But by this time, she understood that she cannot stay on Chittorgarh anymore, so she left Chittorgarh. Finally she went to Dwarka, where people say that they saw Meera entering Krishna temple at Dwarka but nobody saw her returning back from temple, she disappeared. It is believed that Lord Krishna’s idol was divided into two parts at Dwarka Mandir and Meera Bai went inside the idol of Lord Krishna.
Kalikamata Mandir 
Sculptures inside Kalikamata Mandir 
Idol of Lord Krishna & Meera Bai inside Meera Mandir
After Meera Mandir, we proceeded towards Vijaya or Kriti Stambha (Victory Tower). This tower was constructed by the Mewar King, Rana Kumbha in 1448 to celebrate his victory and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This tower has nine storeys. I was encouraged by one of my friends Sagarneel to climb to the top of this tower and feel the excitement of that era and it turned out to be a pro tip. Big thank you to Sagar :). It was a thrilling experience to climb one storey after the other. My guide was hesitating to take me to the top but I managed to convince him and I went to the top. Steps are very high with no light at some floors. Hats off to me that I managed to climb all the steps wearing my long gown :D. You will feel a sense of accomplishment once you reach the top floor. The view from the top of this tower was amazing, getting the full bird’s-eye view of Chittorgarh.
Victory Tower 
Me infront of Victory Tower
Infront of Victory Tower is the famous Jauhar Kund. After the victory of Alauddin Khilji, Rani Padmavati performed Jauhar – jumping into a pit of fire to avoid being raped and captured by Khilji along with 16000 other women of Chittorgarh, in order to protect their self-respect and honour of the Rajputs after the siege of Chittorgarh in 1303. It is said that after many years 16000 skeletons was found from this place underground.
Myself infront of Jauhar Kund 
Jauhar Kund
My next spot was the Gaumukh Reservoir. It is said that water in this reservoir constantly flows throughout the year from the cow mouth shaped stone which is inside the kund or the reservoir that’s why name is “Gaumukh Reservoir”. It has been scientifically proved that water of this reservoir is more pure than mineral water. This water is considered to be so pure, that people carry this water while going to any Tritha.
This reservoir is located just beside Samadhishvara Temple or Shiva Mandir. Picture of the idol of this temple is given below, as you can see the idol is 9 feet tall. It is said, at that time Rajas used to be very tall (approx. 7-9 fts height) therefore the idol was constructed in same height as Rajas, as they used to perform all rituals of puja and do aarti by themselves.
Samadhishvara Temple 
Samadhishvara Temple 
Sculpture outside Samadhishvara Temple 
Front Side of Samadhishvara Temple 
Rear Side of Samadhishvara Temple
Next destination was Padmini Palace. This was actually the summer palace of Rani Padmini or Padmavati as this is built amidst water bodies. It is said water around the palace served as air-conditioner in summer. This is the place where Alauddin was permitted to see the mirror image of Rani Padmavati. It is said that Rani was standing in her palace (right hand side in picture below) and her image reflected into the water and then to the mirror that was kept in the palace (left hand side in picture below) where Khilji was allowed to see Rani’s mirror image just for few seconds. Khilji was totally besotted by the beauty of Rani and desired to get her at any cost.
After that we went to see the battlefield of Chittorgarh when Maharana Ratan Singh and Allauddin Khilji fought. This was the entrance gate of Chittorgarh Fort, it is said that when Khilji wanted to attack Chittor Fort in order to win Rani Padmawati, Rana Rattan Singh closed this main gate of the fort. He said that the food stock that they had inside the fort is sufficient enough to feed the entire Chiitorgarh for at least 6 months. But Khilji was so determined that he sat in the battlefield and waited for all these 6 months. When the food stock of the fort was reducing, Rana had no other option left other than to fight against Khilji, so they decided to fight with full Rajputana spirit while Khilji was more strong and powerful, therefore he won the war.
Entrance Gate of Chittorgarh Fort 
Entrance Gate of Chittorgarh Fort 
Battlefield of Chittorgarh where Raja Ratan Singh and Alauddin Khilji to win Rani Padmini
Lastly we visited Sathis Deori Temple dedicated to Jain Tirthankaras and the Kirti Stambh or the tower of fame which has a splendid architecture. This was my last destination of Chittorgarh Fort.
Sathis Deori Temple 
Kirti Stambh
My journey to Chittorgarh trip ends here, I bid adieu to Rakesh ji my tour guide and returned to my hotel at Udaipur by 4:30 pm and ordered a chicken sandwich for myself through room service. It was an incredible experience and something I will never forget in my lifetime. Hope you all had enjoyed my journey just like me. Until my next blog, bye bye 🙂
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