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Earlier called the
Chintamani fort, the fort was built
in 1459 by Rao Jodha the founder of
Jodhpur on the summit of a steep
hill called the Bakharchiriya or
bird’s nest. The citadel was
fortified by eight Pols or gates
(now reduced to seven) regulating
entry into the premises. The
expansive ramparts of the castle
span some 10km, and if you stand
atop the fort, you do get a bird’s
eye view of the city with its
whitewashed homes. Bakharchiriya was
an apt name for the hilltop on which
the fort now sits, is perched on top
of Meherangarh and from there you
get a commanding view of the
landscape. In fact from that vantage
point, you can even sight the
Kumbhalgarh fort situated a good 125
km away. The fort stands 122 metres
above the plain and rises on sheer
bare rock. It is fortified by walls
ranging from seven to twenty-four
metres in thickness, and rising upto
a height of 40 metres.
¤ The Main
Poles or Gateways To Fort
It would have presented a forbidding
sight to any invading army with its
maze of imposing towers at frequent
intervals. Jai Pol, the main
entrance to the fort was built in
1808 celebrating the great victory
of Raja Man Singh over his great
rival Jagat Singh of Jaipur. Also
the doors of Jai Pol are embellished
won by Raja Abhay Singh from
Ahmedabad. The western gate of the
fort is called the Fateh Pol
(victory gate) which was built to
commemorate an important event in
Jodhpur’s history- the reclaiming of
the fort from the Mughals by Ajit
Singh in 1707. The Lakhna Pol, also
called the Dedh Kangra Pol was added
on in the 19th century, constitutes
an important historical landmark in
Jodhpur. It was built during Rao
Maldeo’s reign in the 16th century,
but it bore the brunt of the attack
launched by the Jaipur army in 1807.
It still bears the dents from the
cannonballs launched at it by the
aggressors. To the left of the
Lakhna Pol is the Amrit Pol, also
built by Raja Maldeo, on passing
which you come to the original
entrance of the fort which was built
in 1459.
The then entrance consisted of a
boulder, which had two holes in
which were inserted wooden logs to
provide a provisional barrier.
Beyond the Lakhna Pol is the Loha
Pol (Iron Gate) dating back to the
15th century, although the façade
that you see today was again the
contribution of Rao Maldeo in the
16th century. The handprints of 15
royal satis, Jodhpur queens who
burnt themselves on the funeral
pyres of their husbands, are a
chilling reminder to the barbaric
custom, which was very much in vogue
in Rajasthan. It was the considered
an honour by the women themselves to
sacrifice their lives for their
menfolk. So much so, that when
Maharaja Ajit Singh died in 1731, no
fewer than six of his wives and
fifty-eight of his concubines burnt
themselves on his funeral pyre. and
although sati was made illegal by
the British governor general William
Bentick in 1829, the last recorded
case of sati occurred in Jodhpur as
recently as 1953. Just next to it is
the Suraj Pol or Sun Gate, one of
the oldest gates in the complex.
This gate is one of the oldest in
the Mehrangarh fort, and on entering
it you will come across a flight of
stairs which takes you to the Moti
Mahal, one of the loveliest palaces
in the complex.
¤ Fort
Temples
Nagnechiji Temple
To the extreme right of the fort
complex is located the Nagnechiji
temple, the family temple of the
Rathore dynasty. The Nagnechiji idol
was brought to Marwar in the early
14th century by Rao Dhuhad, and
after Meherangarh was constructed
the idol was placed there.
Chamunda
Devi Temple
Adjacent to it is a temple dedicated
to Goddess Durga, called the
Chamunda Devi Temple. The idol of
Durga was brought by Rao Jodha (the
founder of Jodhpur) himself, but it
was destroyed in a gunpowder
explosion in 1857. It was
reconstructed by Takhat Singh who
reigned between the years 1843 and
1873. The precincts of the fort
house two tanks as well, which was
the main source of water to the
residents of the complex. The Gulab
Sagar or Rose-Water Sea is the
larger of the two and situated to
the south of the complex. The other
tank is called the Rani Talao or
Queen’s Lake which, as the name
suggests reserved for the ladies of
the zenana (royal ladies).
¤ Moti Mahal
The Moti Mahal or the Pearl Palace
was built during Maharaja Sur
Singh’s reign in the last two
decades of the 16th century. Moti
Mahal was where the king used sit on
his throne and meet all his
subjects. The size of the hall
indicates that it must initially
have been utilised as a Public
Audience Hall. The alabaster throne
which lies resplendent and one end
of the room is magnificent to behold
and the enire palace has a very
ostentatious look to it with the
entire ceiling covered with mirrors
and gilt. It is has been very well
maintained and the walls and
ceilings are still sparklingly
smooth. Its latticed screens and
superb balconies are in many ways
similar to the Anup Mahal in Bikaner,
and both of these palaces by way of
coincidence were built in the 1670s.
The Moti Mahal is where every
Jodhpur ruler since the founder Rao
Jodha has been crowned. The red
sandstone coronation seat or Sangar
Choki is spectacular and so is the
white marble facing which was added
on by Bakhat Singh in the 1750s. The
palace houses the royal palanquins,
and silver howdahs (special seat for
riding on elephants), one of which
was gifted by the Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan to Jaswant Singh. Other
howdahs are resplendent with the
flags of the nine Rathore states of
medieval times, eight of them
offshoots of Jodhpur itself.
¤ Khabka
Mahal
Situated right above is the Khabka
Mahal,which literally means sleeping
palace. It has two main rooms; the
Dipak Mahal built by the then Prime
minister of Jodhpur and Chandan
Mahal, which was the council room of
the ruler, where he discussed the
affairs of state with his ministers
and held meetings with visiting
dignatories. A picture by itinerant
painter A.H. Muller depicts the
great hero of Jodhpur in the 17th
century Durga Das, carrying off the
infant Ajit Singh, (who was to be
the future ruler of Jodhpur to
safety) to protect him from being
slaughtered by the Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb.
¤ Jhanki
Mahal
The Palace of Glimpses, as this
palace is commonly known, is next
door to Khabka Mahal. It is called
so because it was from where the
women of the royal household to take
a look at the outside world. Purdah
was strictly enforced by the Rajputs
in medieval times and the women’s
quarters were deliberately fitted
with latticed screens to allow the
royal women to peek outside without
being observed themselves. Like the
Moti Vilas (mentioned below), the
sandstone jalis (latticed windows)
were so fine as to look like lace
from a distance. The Jhanki Mahal is
virtually covered with mirrors where
no doubt the royal ladies attended
to themselves. Other interesting
aspect of the palace is the numerous
royal cradles you will find here,
all of them exquisitely embellished.
One of the cradles is actually
motor-powered and was presented to
the Maharaja of Jodhpur in 1948.
¤ Phool
Mahal
The Phool Mahal or Flower Palace
which is right adjacent to the Moti
Mahal is a more recent building,
constructed by Abhay Singh (reigned
between 1730-50) and was further
decorated between 1873 and 1895. The
best part about the palace is the
wall paintings, which on close
inspection reveal a distinct
European influence. Hardly
surprising because these decorations
were carried out during Maharaj
Pratap Singh’s reign, who was very
much an Anglophile. The Phool Mahal
was utilised as a Private Audience
Hall and it depicts the many
classical ragas (a pattern of notes
of melody and rhythm) of Indian
music on its walls.
¤ Daulat
Khana Palace
Right beneath the Phool Mahal is the
Daulat Khanaa place of great
historical interest. The curios
present here include heavy locks,
liquor bottles wrapped in wet cloths
to which the warriors drank to
fortify themselves before an
imminent battle, coin boxes, carpet
weights, vanity boxes of the royal
women and intricately decorated
hookahs (long pipe for smoking
tobacco). But what really stands out
in the Daulat Khana is silk tent
made of red and gold brocade which
was made for the Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb, but captured from his son
Aurangzeb by the Raja Jaswant Singh
in the latter half of the 17th
century.
¤ Moti
Vilas & Sardar Vilas
The next two palaces you come across
are the Moti Vilas and the Sardar
Vilas. The unique feature of the
Moti Vilas is its beautifully carved
latticed screens. The detailing is
so fine that from a distance you
could be forgiven if you mistook the
jalis (latticed screens) to be built
out of lace. Neighbouring the Moti
Vilas is a zenana court, built in
1640 and comprising of beautifully
chiselled stonework. The Sardar
Vilas located nearby is chiefly
characterised by its exquisite
woodwork. The doors and the
panelling in the interiors of Sardar
Vilas is marvellous to behold. Much
of the woodwork is gold-plated and
embellished with ivory. It also
houses a splendid marble table,
which was presented to it by the
king of Kabul.
¤ Umaid
Vilas
Next door to Sardar Vilas is the
Umaid Vilas, which has a gallery of
miniature paintings mostly belonging
to the Jodhpur school. Earlier, the
Jodhpur school was strongly
influenced by Jain art, but later
with Jodhpur establishing close ties
with Delhi the Mughal influence
began to dominate. The magnum opus
of Umaid Vilas is a painting of
Maharaja Pratap Singh painted by a
Jodhpur artist called Amar Das. You
will also find a portrait of
Maharawal Jaswant Singh of Jaisalmer
here. There are plenty of pictures
of Rajas playing Holi (Hindu
festival of colour) with their
consorts, splashing colour on each
other.
¤ Takhat
Vilas
The Takhat Vilas is located above
the Sardar Vilas and was added to
the fort by Maharaja Takhat Singh
who ruled between the years 1843 and
1873. The entire palace is laced
with pictures painted on wet plaster
depicting stories from the
Krishna-Lila (the life and times of
Lord Krishna the blue-god) and the
legend of Dhola and Maru which is
well known throughout Rajasthan.
¤ The
Romantic Tale Dhola Maru
The story of Dhola and Maru is
fairly typical of the tales of
Rajput romance with love finally
conquering all. Apparently a long
time ago there was a small kingdom
called Poogal in which lived a king
called Pingal. One day he decided to
have his infant daughter Maru
married off to Dhola, the son of Nal,
the king of Narwar and his good
friend. So Dhola and Maru got
married at childhood but before they
attained adulthood Nal died, and not
surprisingly his son Dhola forgot
the marriage vows he had exchanged
with Maru at birth. So Dhola got
married again to Malwani, while Maru
pined away for him as her father
king Pingal sent umpteen messages to
Dhola which he never received as his
wife Malwani had all the messengers
either arrested or bumped off.
But as they say ‘where there is a
will there is a way.’ Maru got
through to Dhola finally through a
group of folk singers, and Dhola on
learning about his first wife
started off for Poogal immediately.
However the cunning Malwani was not
going to let the two childhood
sweethearts meet if she could help
it. As Dhola set off she sent word
through a messenger that she had
died and Dhola ought to hurry back.
Dhola not oblivious of the ways of
Malwani saw the lie for what it was
and carried on. His journey to
Poogal was uneventful apart from an
inopportune encounter with Umar
Sumar, the leader of a band of
robbers who tried to persuade him
that his wife Maru had been married
off to somebody else. Umar Sumar was
himself very keen on Maru, but Dhola
was having none of it. He arrived at
Poogal to a tumultuous welcome and
Dhola and Maru were united at last.
However the star-crossed lovers’
troubles were not over yet.
On the way back to Narwar, Maru was
stung by a desert snake and died.
Overwhelmed with grief Dhola decide
to become the first ‘male sati’ in
Rajput history by ascending the
funeral pyre of his wife. But was
saved in the nick of time by a yogi
and yogini who claimed that they
could bring Maru back to life. They
played their musical instruments,
and believe it or not these modern
day seers actually brought back Maru
to life, similar to what Jesus
Christ did to Lazarus in the Bible.
But the remarkable story doesn’t end
here. Enter the villain of the piece
Umar Sumar once again. He hadn’t rid
himself of his infatuation for Maru
and invited the gullible couple to
spend an evening with them. However
the couple’s fairy godmother was
obviously working overtime and again
they were warned of the dacoit’s
evil intentions, this time by some
folk singers. Whereupon the couple
jumped atop their camel and made off
for Malwa in double quick time. and
like all Cinderella-endings, the
couple along with Malwani lived
happily ever after. When you visit
the Takhat Vilas and see the murals
depicted there remember the
Dhola-Maru story- a legend repeated
all over Rajasthan.
¤ Jaswant
Thada Cenotaph
As you peer over the high castle
walls, you notice the Jaswant Thada
Cenotaph. It was built in 1899, with
all the rulers before him being
cremated at Mandore, the previous
capital of Marwar. Jaswant Singh who
ruled Jodhpur from 1873-95, is
worsipped in the city almost like a
god and was credited during his
lifetime as someone who possessed
remarkable healing powers. His
cenotaph is built like a temple and
was worshipped like one by the
public, and the stones with which it
was constructed came from a quarry
located at Markana, a village on the
outskirts of Jaipur. The marble
walls of the cenotaph are extremely
thin, at some points only about six
inches thick. Needless to add all
the wives and concubines of Jaswant
commited sati on his funeral pyre
and their memorials are found
alongside him.
¤ Other
Attractions
The other major palaces in
Meherangarh fortare the Sheesh Mahal
and the Rang Mahal. Sheesh Mahal or
Mirror Palace as the name suggests
is resplendent with mirrors.
Although not in the same league as
the Sheesh Mahals you will find in
Bikaner and Amber but it is still
wotrh a look. The highlight of the
palace are the wall paintings you
will find of various Hindu deities.
The most exquisite pictures are the
ones depicting Krishna, Shiva,
Parvati, Rama, Sita, hanuman, Ganesh,
Vishnu, Brahma and Durga. The Rang
Mahal too is laced with mirrors and
ornamented with fine mirror work.
¤ Sileh
Khana
Another place worth seeing while you
are visiting the fort is the Sileh
Khana or the armoury. Rajputs being
a warrior tribe loved their weapons
and they took great care of them.
The Sileh Khana is bursting at the
seams with all kinds of antique
guns, maces, shields and ornamented
swords. The armoury is similar to
the Sileh Khana at Jaipur as far the
variety of weapons go. The items
include the sword of Rao Jodha
called Khanda weighing over seven
pounds. Also present are swords used
by Tamerlane, the ancestor of the
Mughals who sacked Delhi in 1398.
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