Mehrangarh Fort Pleasures and Travel Memories

India is certainly a region to visit if you want to feel the beauty of the forts and the monuments here.

Jodhpur in India is certainly a land to be in, if you are in the pursuit of forts, monuments and palaces in your tours. This city in the western part of India is certainly a traveller’s ecstasy and a tourists dream come true. Jodhpur has a lot of forts which are quite popular in the tours to this part of the world. The Mehrangarh fort is one of these majestic forts in Jodhpur and certainly is amongst the larger ones. This is the most magnificent Jodhpur fort and is also very popular in Rajasthan. Situated at a height of around 150m on a hill, this is one place that was the discovery of Rao Jodha sometime in the yar 1459. This fort is near the city of Jodhpur around 5 kilometers and is approached through a circular road. The entire trip to this fort is an experience to cherish.

When I had gone here with my family, I still remember how I had got totally charmed by the whole concept of being in a land of exciting thrills and where you would certainly get the best of fort delights. There are seven gates that you have to cross when you reach the fort and the gates still have the signs of the innumerable battles that have been fought in this area and has the embers of a past history that existed here before. The second gate is still witness to the canons that were hit during the time the region of Jaipur was hit by the armies that attacked this city earlier. There is a gate here which means Jayapol which means victory. This gate was constructed by the Maharaja Man Singh and was used to commemorate the victories that the armies had over the cities of Bikaner and Jaipur. As we went around the fort, the simple magnificence of the fort struck us with a lot of wonder and we were quite charmed by the whole effect. We saw another gate called Fattehpol which also meant victory and was built by the Maharaja Ajit Singh and was built to celebrate the defeat of the Mughals by the Rajputs.

There were other attractions in the Mehrangarh fort and this included a lot of palaces that formed a part of the fort. The courtyards here were huge and sprawling and spanned over a certain stretch and covered an extent that is enviable. Amongst the many palaces, the Moti Mahal which also meant the Pearl Palace and which had the royal Jodhpur Throne. The Srinagar Chowki also was a part of the palace. The fort really looked resplendent with its many temples and galleries and I felt we were taken to an era that belonged to the past and that was extremely royal.

There is a Chhatri which is to the left of the fort of Mehrangarh and this belongs to a soldier called Kirat Singh Soda. It is believed that this is the place where he fell while he defended the Amber armies.

This is certainly a fort which is a testimony to all the hard efforts taken by the sculptors of Jodhpur and provides an insight into the skill of Indian artisans and the magnificence of the Indian constructions of the past. The Mehrangarh is one such living proof of the past culture and history of India.

In the year 1458, Jodha was the fifteenth ruler of the Rathores. The formal appointment of the prince or the Raj Tilak was done by Akhairaj his elder brother. He was the appointed heir who sacrificed all his claims for his younger brother as the latter had conquered every bit of the Marwar region.

Rao Jodha decided that a new capital had to be built and the Mandore fort in Rajasthan was over 1000 years old and was not safe or strong. Thus the foundation of the Rajasthan fort was laid in the year 1459 and Jodha himself laid on on a rocky hill that lay around 6 miles to the south of the Mandore region. The twenty metre high hill called the Bhakurcheeria had only one hermit called Cheeria Nathji. Today the hill which is also known as the Mountain of Birds or the Bird’s Beak or Cheeriatunk. Today too, as we were around, the fort was witness to many birds with the Cheel or Kite being the main sacred bird here.

It is believed that the fort was named after a Brahmin called Mehran and toady this Rajasthan fort is called Mehrangarh fort or Mehran’s fort. The fort is approachable by road, rail and air. The Jodhpur airport and railway station is the nearest airport and railhead. The fort is approachable by road from Jodhpur.

Tourists coming to this part of India are laden with travel memories that can be only seen to be believed. Mehrangarh fort is ones such example.