Jalore Fort Trip
¤ Jalore Town
The town is situated on the southern edge of the vast sandy plain of
Marwar, was known as Jabalipur in ancient medieval times. It was a
flourishing town in the 8th century A.D.
The city is known as the 'Granite City' with hoards of shops dealing
in granite. It is famous for the dances performed by the Bhils
tribals, specially the Dhole dance & others like Gauri- a
religious dance drama and Ghoomar.
¤ Jalore Fort -The Main Attraction
 The
main attraction of Jalore is its fort, which was one of the 'nine
castles of Maru', under the Parmaras in the 10th century.
Jalore retains an impressive fort which has been known over history
as the Sonagir or the 'golden mount'. It commands the town from a
rocky outcrop 336m (1,200 ft) high fortified with a wall and bastions
with cannon mounted upon them. This elevation takes a good two hours
to climb. The main approach to the fort is from the north, up a steep,
slippery road through three rows of fortification to a single rampart
wall 6.1m (20 ft) high.
¤ The Main Poles or Fort Gateway
Built into the fort wall are pols or gateways. TheSuraj Po, Dhruv
Pol, Bal Pol and the Siroh Pol are the mighty gateways that lead into
this fortress. The Suraj pol or the sun gate from the town is so built
that the first rays of the morning sun enter through this gateway. It
is an impressive gate with a small watch tower built over it. The
Dhruv pol is rather simple looking compared to Suraj pol.
¤ The Stepwell Attractions of Fort
The mahal ‘or the residential palace’ inside the fort is
now desolated, and what is left of it are the ruined symmetrical walls
with huge rock formations around it. Two considerable bauris including
Jalar Bauri (step well), chatris (cenotaph), Charan Paluka and the
Bhairon Dev Ki Chowki within the fort are the other structures that
have survived the brunt of time.
¤ Topekhana
One of the most important structures within the fort is the Topekhana
or the cannon foundry. The building is not in the best of conditions
now, but the telling architecture indicates that this structure must
have been awesome in the old days. The colonnade and the ceiling are
tastefully carved. The
¤ The Fort Mosques
Topekhana Masjid(Arsenal Mosque) and the Kila Masjid (Fort Mosque)
within the fort are also noteworthy as they demonstrate the widespread
influence of the architectural decorations associated with the
Gujarati styles of this period (i.e. late 16th century).
The latter recalled the architecture of Ahmedabad which is
characterized by a general effect of lightness, with a colonnaded hall
on either side of the main structure, stone screens, stone beams.
While the former has arcades of honeycombed stone screens, which was a
distinctive hallmark of Gujarati style.
¤ The Mosque Architecture
The mosques in Jalore are among many such structures that found
patronage from nobility. From the early 15th century
onwards under the influence of the Mughal, architectural patronage was
in fashion and many structures like the mosque at Merta, Hindaun and
the Idgarh in Bairat were built by nobles. All these works except for
the ones at Jalore which was built on the Surat- Ajmer trade route
were built in a region between Agra and Ajmer, an area where the
Mughals reigned supreme.
¤ The Jain Temples Attractions inside Fort
The structure that stands out the most among the dark fort walls and
rocky surrounding is the Jain temple. Built in white marble this
imposing structure in quite a sight. Other Jain temples in the fort
are the Chaumukhi temple,the Shwetambara Jain temple (built by the
Shwetambara sect) and a shrine dedicated to Parasnath (a Jain
fordmaker) built near the Bal Pol, which is situated north west of the
fort. A triple templededicated to Amba mata, Ashapuri and Hanuman (the
monkey god) is also located within the fort premises.
¤ Saint Jalindernath Maharaj Shrine
West of the fort is the shrine of Saint Jalindernath Maharaj. The
name Jalore has been derived from his. The origin of this ‘divinity
of Jalindernath’ is unpredictable, it might have been imported
from the Ganges or left behind by the Chauhanas. Some others believe
that it is a "remnant of the foes of Alexander, driven by him
from Multan" and use the caves of Jalinder in the vicinity as a
proof of this. What ever the origin it is now been incorporated into
the ally of indigenous deities.
¤ Shiva Temple
Next to it is the Shiva temple, which is an old temple devoted to
Lord Shiva. Another shrine in the fort is that of Saint Rehmad Ali
Baba.
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