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About 150 miles southwest of Jaipur, the great fort of Chittorgarh stands atop a 500-foot high hill rising sharply from the surrounding plain. Today largely a deserted ruin, this fort perhaps more than any other symbolizes the honour and valor of the people of Rajasthan. Attacked repeatedly by invaders, three times it suffered the supreme sacrifies of the lives of all of its inhabitants. Despite the passage of centuries, the fierce struggles at Chittor are the subject of epic tales still told and songs still sung.
Chittorgarh became the first capital of the royal house of Mewar, descended from the sun, in the early thirteenth century. In 1303 the fort was attacked by Alaudding Khilji, the sultan of Delhi, reputed to be interested in claiming the beautiful Rajput princess as his own. If that was his goal, it was not to be realized, because as defeat became certain, Padmini and all the other women of the fort voluntarily committed themselves to the flames in ritual suicide. Their menfolk donned saffron robes and fought to their deaths.
Today, massive fort walls, huge gateways, palaces, temples and towers bear mute witness to Chittorgarh's turbulent past. |