Chittorgarh : wiki | Details | wikipedia | Historic place in India

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chittorgarh : wiki | details | wikipedia | historic place in india

Chittorgarh when it comes to this sound pronunciation (help·info) (as well chittor, chittaur, or chittaurgarh) is a city and a municipality in rajasthan state of western india. It lies on the berach river, a tributary of the banas, and is the administrative headquarters of chittorgharh district and a previous capital of the sisodia clans of rajputs of mewar.

Fiercely independent, the fort of chittor was under siege thrice and each time they fought bravely and thrice jauhar was dedicated by the ladies and children, primary lead by rani padmini, and later by rani karnavati. Chittorgarh is home to the chittorgarh fort the largest fort in india.

History
Chittorgarh fort precincts

Kirti stambha. Jpgindia 04 0019 chittorgarh. Jpgvictory tower. Jpg
Tower of fame|reservoir|tower of victory

Chittorgarh is the epitome of chattari rajput (indian warrior caste) pride, romance and spirit for individuals of chittor at all times chose death before surrendering against anybody. It reverberates with history of heroism and sacrifice that is obvious from the tales still sung by the bards of rajasthan. Though it may now be called a ruined citadel there is much more to this big fort. It is a symbol of all that was brave, genuine and noble in the glorious rajput tradition.
View of the tower of victory, 1927

With esteem to history, it is considered that chittor was built by the maurya dynasty in the 7th century ad. [citation needed] it was then named chitrakut after chitrangada mori, a rajput chieftain as inscribed on ancient mewari coins. The fort is surrounded by a circular wall which has seven big gates before one may enter inside the main fort area. A heap of accounts say that the mori dynasty was in possession of the fort when bappa rawal the founder of the kingdom of mewar seized chittor garh (chittor fort) and made it his capital in 734 ad. While a heap of other accounts say bappa rawal received it as a percentage of the dowry after marriage with the last solanki princess. After that date his descendants ruled mewar, which stretched from gujarat to ajmer, until the 16th century. Chittor was one of the most contested seats of power in india with in all probability a heap of of the most glorious battles being fought over its possession. It is renowned in the annals of the mewar dynasty as its primary capital (prior to this, the guhilots, forerunners of the mewar dynasty, ruled from idar, bhomat, and nagda), and renowned in india’s long struggle for freedom. By tradition, it remained the mewar capital for 834 years. With only brief interruptions, the fort has at all times remained in possession of the sisodias of the guhilot (or gehlot/guhila) clan of rajputs, who descended from bappa rawal.

The primary attack was by alauddin khilji in 1303 ad, who was enamoured by the beauty of padmini of which he had only heard. Rani padmini preferent death to abduction and dishonour and dedicated jauhar (an act of self immolation by leaping into a big fire) along with all the other ladies of the fort. [2] all the men left the fort in saffron robes to fight the enemy unto death. Chittorgarh was captured in 1303 ad by ala ud din khilji, sultan of delhi who led a big army. Elderly individuals then had the duty to raise the children. It was recaptured in 1326 by the young hammir singh, a scion of the same gehlot clan. The dynasty (and clan) fathered by him came to be known by the name sisodia after the village where he was born.

Rana kumbha (1433–68) was a versatile man a brilliant, poet and musician. He built mewar up to a position of assailable military strength building a chain of thirty forts that girdled the kingdom but, perhaps more primary was a patron of the arts to rival lorenzo de medici, and he made chittorgarh a dazzling cultural center whose fame spread right all over hindustan.

By the 16th century, mewar had become the leading rajput state. Rana sanga of mewar led the combined rajput forces against the mughal emperor babur in 1527, but was discomfited at the battle of khanua. Later in 1535 bahadur shah, the sultan of gujarat besieged the fort causing immense carnage. It is said that again precisely like in the case of jauhar led by padmini in 1303, all 32,000 men then living in the fort donned the saffron robes of martyrdom and rode out to face sure death in the war, and their women folk dedicated jauhar led by rani karnawati. The uttermost sacrifice for freedom, jauhar was again performed for the third time after the mughal emperor akbar captured chittorgarh in 1568. The capital was moved west to udaipur, in the foothills of the aravalli range, where rana udai singh ii (the young heir obvious) had conventional a residence in 1559. Udaipur remained the capital of mewar until it acceded unto the union of india in 1947, and chittorgarh gradually lost its political importance.

Chittorgarh is as well renowned for its association with two very widely known historical figures of india. The primary is, meera bai the most renowned female hindu spiritual poetess whose compositions are still popular all over north india. Her poems follow the bhakti tradition and she is conceptualized to be most ardent worshipper of lord krishna. Folklore says that her love for krishna was epitomized by her final disappearance in the temple of krishna in dwarka. She is believed to have entered the sanctum of the temple in a state of singing ecstasy after which the sanctum doors are believed to have closed on their own and when later opened, the sari of mirabai was seen enwrapped around the idol of lord krishna, symbolizing the culmination of her union with her lord.

The second evenly renowned person is maharana pratap, son of rana udai singh ii who is regarded as a personification of the values rajputs cherish and die for. He took an oath to spend his life living in the jungles and fighting until he could realize his dream of reconquering chittorgarh from akbar (and therefore reclaiming the glory of mewar). It was the dream greatly cherished by maharana pratap, and he spent all his life to accomplish this goal. He underwent hardships and a life of eating breads made of grass while fighting his lifelong battle. Maharana pratap is the largest hero in the eyes of the raputs of mewar. In the sheer dark era of rajput history, maharana pratap alone stood firmly for his honour and dignity, never compromising his honour for safety. With the character of a brave man with swell character even between his enemies, he passed away free in 1597.

Chittorgarh remains replete with historic associations and contains a very special place in the hearts of rajputs, as it was a bastion of the clan at a time when each other stronghold had succumbed to invasion. It is oftentimes called as the “bhakti aur shakti ki nagari” (land of devotion and strength). The fort and the city of chittorgarh as well hosts the largest rajput festival “jauhar mela”. It takes place annually on the anniversary of one of the jauhars, not the one by padmini which is most renowned. This festival is to commemorate the bravery of rajput ancestors and all three jauhars which happened at chittorgarh. A big number of rajputs which include the descendants of nearly all of the princely families do a procession to celebrate the jauhar. The fort at chittorgarh as well contains the ancient and beautiful temple to goddess kali called the kalika mata temple.