Travel Places in Bundi
¤ Taragarh Fort
On a small hill stands the the 12th century Taragarh fort built by
Ajay Pala Chauhana, Ajmer’s founder. The fortress was meant to be
impregnable with its 4.5m (15ft thick) walls, and was further
fortified with strong bastions. The steep climb to the top of the hill
and to the fort takes over an hour but it is worthwhile for the
fantastic view of the city below.
¤ The Hidden Treasure
Legend has it that within Taragarh fort lies a huge treasure room
stocked with the wealth of its long dead rulers. This treasure was
guarded by an Afghan family of warriors, and kings had access to the
hoard only through them. For centuries the Pathans protected this huge
wealth of gold, diamonds, rubies and gems, and even the royalty did
not know where it was located. Unfortunately, the secret of the
treasure died with the last Pathan who died during the Second World
War, taking the secret location of the treasure with him. When Maharao
Bahadur Singh returned from Burma after serving in the army against
the Japanese, he launched an extensive search for the treasure hoard.
After months of searching the hunt was finally abandoned, and the
treasure still lies hidden somewhere within the fort walls.
¤ The Tunnel Routes of the Fort
Taragarh fort in Bundi in Rajasthan was once renowned for its tunnels
which crisscrossed the entire hillside surrounding it, leading into
the town below and forming numerous escape routes for a king and his
entourage. However, all of these underground passages are lost and no
maps are available to define which snaky routes they followed.
¤ The Fort Attractions
A tank within the fort fills up during the monsoons, and on a
specific day residents of the town below are made to desert the
streets. Then the water from the tank is released, gushing down the
steep approach to the fort and strong enough to wash people away.
Most forts in India have a varied mix of palaces, temples and other
buildings, but the Taragarh fort is an exception. Here, the main
palace lies outside the actual fort but is encircled by a fortified
wall. Another wall encompassed the fort, making it doubly
strenghtened.
Bhim Burj Stone Tower
A massive stone tower called Bhim Burj looms up from the fort. This
formidable bastion was built in the 16th century and was meant to
house Bundi’s fabled cannon,the Garbh Gunjam (translated: Thunder
from the Womb). The Garbh Gunjam was supposedly the second largest
cannon in India after Jaivan, the 8-meter long piece of artillery in
Jaigarh fort in Amber. Near the Garbh Gunjam a deep excavation was
provided for its gunners to jump into in order to dampen the
thunderous noise it made when fired, a sound which is also said to
have made a pregnant woman lose her unborn child!
¤ Fort Main Gateways
The fort’s original name was Ajay Meru Durg, and it was named
Taragarh because when viewed from the valley below, the lights of the
fort made it seem like a star against a blackened sky. A special
feature of the fort are its three Pols or gateways. The first gate is
Lakshmi Pol or the (Gate of Wealth) and the second is Phuta Darwaza
(Broken gate) as the arch has long fallen down. The final gate called
Gagudi ki Phatak is also in ruins and now stands as a silent reminder
of the lost glory of the fort.
Rani Mahal
However, not much actually remains of the majesty of the fort apart
from the Rani Mahal, a little palace built for the wives and
concubines of the rulers. The beauty of the harem is also fading away
and only fragments of its spectacular murals and stained glass windows
remain.
Garh palace
Unlike usual palaces in Rajasthan, Garh palace is one which has a
number of small palaces built around the main royal residence by
various rulers over the centuries. Built on terraces on a small hill,
portions of the palace now lie in ruins, but parts of it still retain
their majestic splendour amidst overgrown grass. A wall surrounds the
palace complex, making it seem more like a fort than a place of
leisure. The construction of Garh palace was begun by Rao Balwant
Singh in 1580.
 Garh
palace has a cadaverous history, and the most famous among them is
that of Hada Rani. Legend says that she was a newly wed bride whose
husband was going to battle. Hada Rani’s husband didn’t want
to leave her and so he came back from the outskirts of the
battlefield. When she heard of his return, she was filled with
disgust, for a true Rajput never leaves the scene of a battle until
victory or death is his. Hada Rani chopped off her head, and it was
sent to her husband as he entered the gates of the palace.
Chatar Mahal
Amongst all the palaces within this
complex, the Chatar Mahal is perhaps the finest. Built in 1660 under
the directions of Chatar Sal, the palace is a strong example of the
Rajput’s independence from Mughal authority, although he was
their ally. He was also the only Rajput to be made the Governor of
Delhi, a very powerful office. Chatar Sal proved his loyalty to Shah
Jahan in the Deccan in the seige of Daulatabad and later fighting the
usurper prince Aurangzeb in 1659, a battle in which the mighty Rajput
died.
However, his fondness for Mughal alliance did not interfere while he
planned Chatar Mahal. Disregarding red sandstone which was the Mughal
favourite, Chatar Sal chose stone from Bundi’s own quarries. The
palace was built in true Rajput finery with elephant motifs,
pavilions, curved roofs and small chattris.
Hathi Shala
The Hathi Shala towards the west of Chatar
Mahal consists of a number of columns and is so named because of the
elephants on each of these pillars. The Hathi Shala leads into smaller
chambers where Chatar Sal lived. The long chamber too has elephant
motifs on its walls and pillars while two smaller rooms at the back
are richly decorated with murals depicting Bundi life in the 17th
century.
Also built by Ratan Singh, the Diwan-e-Am (Hall of Public Audience)
is a large canopied pavilion with a white marble throne for the king
to cast a discerning eye on his subjects in the courtyard beneath.
Gates
Two huge gates at the end of a steep climb form
the entrance to the Garh palace. The Hazari Pol (Gate of One Thousand)
is the first towering gate. Two trumpeting elephants form an arch over
the second gate, Hathi Pol (Elephant Gate), built by Rao Ratan Singh
(1607-31). The elephants were probably originally cast in brass, but
were later replaced by concrete ones painted in bright colours. The
Hathi Pol leads into a courtyard beyond which is an arched façade
for stables.
Ismail Quili Khan’s gate aka Buland Darwaza (Great Gate) lies at
the foot of the hill and forms the entrance to Miran Hussain’s
tomb. Looming high over the mausoleum, the gateway is 19.5 meters high
and 5 meters wide, a splendid illustration of proportion gone haywire.
The gateway was originally built in red sandstone, but somebody
decided that it would look better in white, so the gate was
whitewashed. On each corner of the roof are two chattris or covered
pavilions, and along the sides of the high arch are inscribed verses
from the Koran.
Chitra Mahal
The Chitra Mahal used to be a spectacular
garden palace with fountains and little pools with exotic fish, but
now it is overgrown with grass and shrubs. Chitra Mahal’s name
stems from the fabulous murals on its walls (chitra: painting), for
Bundi was the beehive of miniatures during the 18th century. Like
Kota, Bundi encouraged miniature painting dealing with images of
Krishna and Radha in a distinctive style in blue, green and maroon.
From battle scenes to gods and goddesses, Radha and Krishna,
elephants, lovers and Garh palace itself, these paintings say it all
with a delicacy known only in Bundi. The innermost chamber of the
Chitra Mahal, the Chitrashala, made under orders from Umed Singh, is
still untouched by sunlight and moisture, and here the paintings seem
to glow with the originality of their painters.
and in case you thought that by painting we meant huge framed
portraits and landscapes, you’re wrong – the walls and
ceiling of the Chitrashala are painted, forming a dramatic panorama of
wall paintings.
Raniji ki Baoli
Baolis or step wells were important social
structures in medieval India where people from all walks of life
assembled. Outside the old walls of the original town of Bundi is
Raniji ki Baoli, built in 1699. Rani Nathavati was the younger queen
of the ruling Rao who had two wives. The elder bore him no male issue,
so he married again with the hope that his second wife would bear him
an heir. Rani Nathavati did give birth to a son and invoked the
jealousy of the queen. So she gave the child to the elder queen and
retired to a life devoted to serving her subjects. One of the finest
projects that she undertook was that of this step well, 165 feet deep
and a splendid work of Rajput architecture.
The entrance is through a narrow gateway of four pillars, joined at
the top by slender arches just under the roof. Stone elephants facing
each other stand in small nichés in the pillars at the top.
Beyond the entrance are broad steps leading down into the well, again
through archways. Ogee (S-shaped) brackets play an important role in
Raniji ki Baoli, and all arches are decorated with intricately carved
stone brackets.
Chaurasi Khambon ki Chatri
As the name suggests, this is a pavilion supported by 84 (chaurasi)
pillars. The pavilion was built in 1683 by Rao Anirudh Singh to
commemorate the services of Deva, his wet nurse. Standing on a high
platform, the structure is built in two storeys, serving as a cenotaph
as well as a temple. A Shiva linga (symbolic phallus) in the temple is
still worshipped with great fervour, and the importance of the
cenotaph seems to have taken a back seat. A short flight of steps
leads into the domed structure. The second storey is based on a flat
roof with a large bulbous dome in the middle complemented by four
smaller domes on each corner of the roof. Each of these domes is
crowned with narrow spires, and a few smaller domes lie around these
main cupolas.
The sides of the pedestal are decorated with carvings of animals, and
the pillars are engraved with beautiful images of contemporary Rajput
lifestyle during the 17th century. The ceilings of the pavilions on
both storeys are colourfully painted with battle scenes, Rajput fish
symbols, horses and traditional images.
Sukh Mahal
During the 17th and 18 centuries, the banks
of the Sukh Sagar (aka Jait Sagar) lake were the hot spot for princes
and their entourage to descend upon for days and nights of revelry. In
1773 during Umed Singh’s reign a palace was built on the
embankment of the lake for princes to engage in debauchery away from
the prying eyes of the Rao. The Sukh Mahal (Palace of Bliss) was the
venue of precisely such activities, and the secluded environment
certainly helped. Near the palace are the hilly jungles where rulers
of Bundi and Mewar would meet for the annual Aheria boar hunt. While
the Sukh Mahal was functional it had tunnels leading right into Garh
palace where the Rao resided, just in case something went wrong and
flight was necessary. The tunnels are now lost despite attempts to
find them.
The Sukh Mahal is a white edifice right on the banks of the lake
which makes it seems as though its foundations lie within the water.
The inevitable white marble chatri (domed pavilion) stands right in
the centre of the roof on the second storey, while the ground floor is
now semi-submerged.
Shikar Burj
At a short distance from Sukh Mahal is Shikar Burj, an old hunting
lodge of the rulers of Bundi. Umed Singh, Bundi’s ruler in the
18th century, retired to this tower after he abdicated the throne.
Kesar Bagh
On the opposite side of the Sukh Sagar is Kesar Bagh, a garden
created to house cenotaphs of Bundi’s rulers, their queens and
princes. 66 pavilions dot the Kesar Bagh, the first being built in
1581 and the last in 1821. Although the garden is now overgrown with
grass and weeds, the pavilions stand out as silent reminders of the
lost glory of the Bundi Chauhanas. Most of the centopahs are of white
marble, their ceilings, pillars and sides delicately carved with
motifs of elephants, horses, gods and everyday life. The main chatri
is topped with a Shiva linga, a feature commonly seen in most Rajput
architecture.
Lakes (Sagars)
Apart from Jait Sagar, two other lakes exist in Bundi, viz. Nawal
Sagar and Phool Sagar, for without at least one lake any Rajasthan
town would be incomplete. The Nawal Sagar is a square artificial lake
with a little island in the centre from which portrudes a temple. This
semi-submerged shrine is in honour of Varuna, the god of water, and
can only be reached by boat.
Phool Mahal
The artificial lake Phool Sagar is so named because of the palace on
its embankments. The Phool Mahal (Flower palace) is a fairly modern
construction and was commenced in 1945 by Maharaja Bahadur Singh.
However, it was never finished, and it still lies in its incomplete
state, and is currently the residence of the present `ruler’.
Visiting is not allowed and prior permission has to be taken before
dropping by to take a look inside.
Bundi Shopping Hubs
Bundi in Rajasthan lives in the shadows of the 19th
century, untouched by the outside world. Its bazaars are narrow and
crowded lanes where not much is available, but it certainly is a good
place to pick up a memento – anything from brightly coloured
odhnis (long scarf) to hand painted wood and metal wares, murals and
jewellery.
However, the bazaars of Bundi, Ragesthan are worth visiting, not for
what they sell but for their ancient shops. Some of these date back to
as far as the 17th century, now crumbling but still
selling variations of what they originally sold. Silver jewellery is
readily available, and prices here are much lower than any of the
major towns. Sadar bazaar and Chaumaukh bazaar are the main shopping
areas.
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