Chittorgarh

The Ruins of Chittorgarh 

View over the valley

Shadows of the crenelations  

View of the sky from Inside the Palace

Hindu Temple

The Temple where Meera Bai Prayed and Danced

Victory Tower

Womens Bath

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva 

Temple Sculptures defaced by Muslim Invaders

Women at a festival

Fields of Opium Poppies

Back at the Palace

After breakfast we met Vijay for the 2 hour drive to Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in India. Along the way we saw fields of opium flowers. I always have been aware of the Opium Wars with China, where England forced China to buy Opium in grown in India in exchange for tea. We all know about the opium that is grown in Afghanistan that funds the Taliban and the drug trade. I was unaware that opium is legally grown in India. It is use for Medicine. I never thought about where the opium used in the opiates that are a staple in American medicine come from - however I am sure there is no legally grown opium in the United States. It must be imported from countries like India. Vijay informed us that there are villages where it is legal to buy Opium for personal use, however one needs to get a license to use.

Chittorgarh Fort is a massive complex sitting upon a mountaintop. To our eyes it appears to be impregnable. The story of this fabulous mountain top fort is one of tragedy. The Rajputs of India are of the Warrior Caste. They prefer death to surrender. Their Pride, Romance and Spirit are the heart and soul of Rajasthan mythology.

The fort was established in 600. It has grown over the centuries to be immense. Thousands of people lived and died within its walls. It was the center of Rajput Hindu life in Rajasthan.

When a Hindu man died his body was cremated. As his body was burning his widowed wife was thrown into the fire alive to die. The British finally outlawed this practice called Sati during the Raj. I was unaware of another practice called Johar. When the Hindu army went out to battle, if they lost the battle, all of the women would throw themselves into a giant fire, taking their children to die with them. They thought it would be more honorable to die, then to be captured as slaves during the subsequent sack of the Fort. Over the centuries three times the residents of Chittorgarh were defeated. Three times the women and children practiced Johar. In the first self-emulation 16,000 people committed mass suicide, in the 2^nd occasion 12,000 people died. The last time Johar happened 10,000 people died. We heard various stories about the women. Some people told us they willingly died, jumping into the fire to save their Rajput honor. Others told us, they were fed opium from the fields we saw to put them into a delirious state making the jump into the fire pit much easier. Either way it is incomprehensible, until you realize that women in areas overrun by ISIS today in the Middle East are willingly committing suicide rather than become ISIS sex slaves. Much like Jewish people honor the deaths at Mosada, the Indian Hindus honor those that died at Chittorgarh.

It does a disservice to call Chittorgarh a ruin. Undeniably buildings have been destroyed, yet those remnants that survive are beautifully maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. Unlike almost anyplace we have been in India, Chittorgarh is clean. You don’t see potato chip bags or refuse. It is almost as if it is hallowed space. There are many sites to see in the complex, luckily we had an excellent guide. One of the most unusual sites is the Victory Tower, the soaring watchtower that looks over the entire region. There are several active Hindu Temples with elaborate carvings. Unfortunately when the Mogul Muslim Invaders overran the Chittorgarh they defaced the faces of the statues, for much like the artistic atrocities of ISIS and Taliban today, they interpreted the Koran to say that human form can not be depicted. Who says history doesn’t repeat itself?

The small Krishna Temple of Meera Bai is a highlight of Chittorgarh. Meera was a devote of Lord Krishna and wrote poetry and danced to his delight. She is a revered figure in Northern India.

We were exhausted from walking in the hot sun up and down among the ruins. When we finally returned to our car we collapsed of happy exhaustion. Upon returning to Begu Palace, we relaxed then went for a walk to a part of the Palace in utter disrepair, but soon to be restored as more hotel rooms. We then walked around the Village of Begu. Another Step Well highlighted the walk for us, but this one after hundreds of years was still functioning. Rather than have people walk down the steps to gather water, the water was pumped from the deep well to an adjoining water tower.

You can watch a video of it here.

We then returned to Fort Begu. The staff was attentive to the fact of all the walking up and down steps at Chittorgarh and here at Fort Begu, and thoughtfully arranged for cocktails and our eventual dinner to be held on the deck in front of our room. We were appreciative. The food was excellent. We ate by candle light which allowed us to observe the stars in the Rajasthan sky. As an extra bonus, there was a wedding going on in the Village and music boomed through the air punctuated by fireworks. It quite a night.