“Idhar se aap dekhenge to aapko puri Mewar dikayidegi..aur udhar se Marwar” . My guide Firoze smiles as our translator takes over. “He is saying that you can see all of Mewar from here and from there, Marwar, “ translates Rashmi Dhanwani , a human rights activist from Mumbai .

I am at the Kumbalgarh fort in Rajasthan with a group of achievers who have been part of the “Cerebrate team.”Rashmi from our group takes over the role of the translator .

Standing almost at the roof of the fort , I see a 360* landscape of modern day Rajasthan spanning out in front of me.Kumbalgarh fort built in the 15th century by Rana Kumbha in the Aravalli Range had forked Mewar and Marwar and was a political asylum for many princes ,including Rana Udai Singh who later on founded Udaipur, about 90 kms away from here .Feroze continues as Rashmi translates, “Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Kumbalgarh form Mewar , while Jodhpur,Jaisalmer , Barmer is Marwar.”

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

My eyes trace the 36 kms length of the wall of the fort, said to be the second longest in the world after trhe Great Wall of China. The soft hues of the setting sun caress the walls. My reverie is interuppted by Rashmi who narrates the story of Kumbalgarh. Rana Kumbha ‘s attempted to build the fory, but failed until he met a saint who offered himself as a human sacrifice. The martyr apparently advised the king to construct the fort after his death. “ He said to build a temple where the head fell and the main fort where the body lay and a wall was built along the entire stretch.” We pause by as Firoze shows us the two spots which are now worshipped.

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

There are nine gates to the fort, the most massive being the Ram Pol or the Ram Gate. We walk past the various gates and gather around Rashmi as she explains.“This is where the lamp was lit,”. According to a legend, Rana Kumbha used to light a massive lamp which used to shine brightly across all of Mewar. “ It is like a symbol of power,” translates Rashmi “and attracted even the queen of Jodhpur to abandon her husband and come here.” The story however did not end up like that of Helen of Troy, as the Rana apparently made the queen his sister and a war was averted.

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

There are more than 300 temples within in the fort, a mix of both Jain and Hindu temples. “This is where the legendary Rana Pratap was born as well ,” They patiently wait for us to take pictures, before resuming the narration,” Here you can see the royal queen’s rooms including her toilets !” The guide continues,as we walked down the fort and sit on the steps of a temple overlooking the fort. And then the fort relives its glory, but for a few minutes as the lights come on . We take in the scene as silence reigns .

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath