Meherangarh Fort
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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