Charming Chitodgadh in Rajasthan State in India

State of Rajasthan in India is full of the historical cities having the history of bravery and sacrifice. One such important city is Chitodgadh. It has very important history of Rajput bravery and sacrifice of Rajputanis. Chitodgadh was the capital of Mewad having Rajput rulers. King Kumbharana was among the most popular Rajput kings here. He had a beautiful wife, named Padhmini. Mogul king Allaudin Khilji wanted to marry Padhmini and hence attacked Chitodgadh. The Rajputs showed lot of bravery but finally were defeated against very large army of moguls. Allaudin Khilji marched inside the palace to get hold of queen Padhmini. But Padhmini committed suicide (Jauhar) by jumping in to the burning fire before the Mogul king reached the palace. That is why Chitodgadh became famous all around the world for such outstanding bravery.

You can reach Chitodgadh by air, rail or road as it is well connected by all the three ways. The nearest airport is Dabot that is around 50 miles away. Many important trains like Chetak Express passes through Chitodgadh. There are regular State Transport buses available from Delhi and all the major cities of Rajasthan. You can reach here from Ajmer by road as it is only around 108 miles. There are many luxurious hotels available here like Hotel Padhmini, Hotel Pratap Palace, Shalimar, and Hotel Bassi. We had stayed at Hotel Shalimar that charged us around Rs.2000 ($50) per day for a nice double room. It is also located at very convenient place near the station. The best time to visit Chitodgadh is during the winter from October to March as summer is extremely severe here. The main languages spoken are Hindi, English, and Rajasthani that is very similar to Hindi. The most popular food here is of Rajasthani and Punjabi style. Some selected restaurants also serve Gujarati, Chinese, and continental types of delicacies. You may stay here for around 2 to 3 days to enjoy the places of tourist interest here.

The most important place to visit is Kumbharana's Palace. Though, this palace is now in very bad shape, it still can refresh us the memories of those old great times. There is one ancient Shiva temple located here in the palace, where all the royal family members were visiting. There is a small museum also that is having many specimens of those times. The pink sari that was worn by queen Padhmini in her life time is also kept here along with the large sword of king Kumbharana. The next place is the palace of queen Padhmini, which is situated at the bank of the lake. This was the place where queen Padhmini allowed Allaudin to see her image in the mirror to save Chitodgadh. However, seeing the beautiful face of the queen, mogul king became more adamant to possess queen Padhmini and continued his attacks. All the precious items of this palace were stolen by the mogul king Allaudin. Vijaystambh is the next place to be visited. This was made by Rana Kumbha in the year 1440 and dedicated it to the first tirthankar of Jain, named Adinath. There are temples of Kalima and Mirabai here. The fort of Kumbhalgadh is also one of the vital places to visit. This fort was made by Rana Kumbha in the middle of the 15^th century. This fort was made strategically and even the most powerful Mogul King Akbar could win it just once and that too after stopping the water supply of the city. This fantastic fort covers the vast area of 12 square kilometers and is located at the height of 3500 feet above the sea level. There are big palaces, temples, and the lakes inside this fort. City of Chitodgadh has a small shopping market where you can buy some souvenir items of Rajput kingdom. There are some rooms also available inside the fort to stay in case you like to stay on this fantastic fort.

Chitodgadh is always full of visitors that come here to know about the sacrifice and bravery made by the Rajputs. Many foreigners, interested in the history, also visit this famous place. I would call Chitodgadh a place of pilgrimage rather than the historical place as remaining close to the history of bravery is the most effective way to pay the tribute to all those brave Rajputs, who sacrificed their lives for their motherland.