Kumbhalgarh Fort

This morning we had an early drive through the forests, gorges, valleys and jungle of the beautiful Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, ascending 3,500 feet to the great Kumbhalgarh Fort which nestles inaccessibly in the Aravali Hills.

This Fort is so remote that it was never conquered but it is exceptionally well fortified too. The walls are thirty-six km in length (second to the Great Wall of China) and are wide enough to take eight horses abreast. The Fort dates back to the fifteenth century and it has three hundred and sixty, mainly Jain, temples. We had nothing like enough time to explore properly, it would have taken two days to walk the walls but they would have been days well spent with tremendous scenery; and the temples merited an equal amount of time. It was difficult to get a shot that conveyed the sheer scale of this formidable place.

If you like bastions, parapets, crenellations, watchtowers, citadels, turrets, and anything to do with strongholds and fortifications (which I do), this place is a must. Also a must for its breathtaking views.