Being designated as the only living fort in the world, today, approximately a quarter of the total population of Jaisalmer resides within the fort. In olden days, the entire population of the city lived in the fort, which however, with the increase in the population, people had no option but to shift outwards in hunt for shelter at the base of the Trikuta Hill in the 17th century.

In the ancient days, the city was the major trade centre due to trade with Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and Africa. Being among the last princely defender and the crossroad of productive trade, this isolated city and fort behold the spirit of its rulers and artistic value in form of the palaces and havelis. The popular famous Indian movie director Satyajit Ray and the writer of a detective novel, made a film named Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress) out of that novel that was related to this fort.

History

Been erected in the center of the Thar Desert (factual meaning being the abode of the dead), it ascends like an optical illusion from the sand with its giant turrets peaking towards the sky. After the Chittorgarh of Rajasthan, the Jaisalmer Fort is counted among the oldest fort. According to the legend, Lord Krishna, who was the leader of the Yadav Clan, had forecasted to Arjuna that a far-off descendent of the Yadav Clan would erect his kingdom on the Trikuta Hill. His this foresight was fulfilled by Rawal Jaisal who was a descendent of the Yadav Clan and a Bhatti Rajput. He was seeking a new capital, as his present one, Lodurva, was quite susceptible to attacks. In his this desire to abandon Lodurva due to the advice of a local solitary, Eesaal, he chose the Trikuta Hills constructed the fort and the surrounding city.

This fort has witnessed many battles and tales of valor. In the 13th century, Alauddin Khilji invaded and seized the fort and thereafter ruled it for 9 years. The defeated king’s queen committed Jauhar during the seize of the fort. Jauhar (sati) is an act of voluntarily putting oneself in a funeral pyre of the husband. In 1541 A.D., the second battle took place when the Mughal emperor Humayun invaded the fort.

Architecture

Constructed on the triangular peaked hill of Trikuta, the fort emerges as a ray of sunlight of 250 feet tall from the desert. Armored by a commanding sandstone wall of 30 feet, the yellow sandstone fort spectacularly beholds 99 bastions symbolizing the strong defensive mechanism. 92 bastions of these were erected somewhere in between 1633 and 1647 and were utilized as the gun platforms. There are four attractive gateways to the fort namely, Ganesh Pol (Gate of Lord Ganesh), Suraj Pol (Gate of Sun), Bhoot Pol (Gate of Dwarfs), and Hawa Pol (Gate of Wind). The fort also beholds many eye-catching havelies and Jain temples of 12th to 15th centuries. Over the time since its construction, the ramparts have been extended well. Even until today, the wells within the boundary of the citadel are regular sources of water to the fort.

The fort comprises of three layers of walls, out of which the outer or the lower layer is carved from solid stone blocks and emphasizes the ruins of hill. The second wall forming the middle one twists around the fort, whereas the third wall, the innermost one, forms the place from where the Rajput warriors threw boiling oil, hot water, and giant round rocks on the attackers when they became captivated between the second and third walls.

Tourists’ Attractions

Apart form the living fort of the world, the other unique feature is an unusual device hoisted atop its ramparts. The use of this device was to forecast the weather, as there were hardly any Meteorological departments. To predict the weather, a flag was placed in its middle every year in April. Depending on its blowing direction, the annual weather was foretold. If the direction was north, it would signify famine and if west, it meant good monsoons. It would be difficult to believe but this forecast was as accurate as of the Met departments today.

The common attractions of the fort are:

• Raj Mahal (Royal palace)

• Jain temples
• Laxminath temple
• 4 massive gateways
• The huge Merchant Havelis (large houses) of complex sandstone carvings, ornate doors, rooms, balconies, and archways
• The palaces of Maharwals ahead of the Chauhata Square
• Maharwals’ marble throne atop their palace reached via marble steps
• The five-storied Tazia (metal) Tower near the throne and is known for its complex architecture and Bengali style roofs erected by Muslim craftsmen

Jain Temples

Open from morning 7 until noon, these seven temples are cultural heritage well connected by pathways and corridors. The first temple is of Shree Chandraprabhuji, the 8th Tirthankara (Jain Prophet) carved in 1509 out of detailed sculptures of sandstone. Carved pillars that provide a view of sequential toranas reinforce its hallway. Incredible to know that even though mortar is not used, prickly stonework is appreciated in form of iron staples with radial beams bending down all over.

The next temple is of Shree Parshvanathswami, the 22nd Tirthankara whose entry is possible through a huge and delightfully carved torana that ends in the Jain Tirthankara’s image at the top. There is also an amazing sculpting of gracefully dancing woman who is balancing balls on lifted arm.

Pillars hold the capacious mandapa; whereas the container of the dome holds the attention-grabbing dancing figures and musicians.

Days of Attraction

The best time is during the Desert Festival in January – February when the city echoes with the sounds of harmonious tunes, folk dances, and thrilling competitions – especially the turban-tracing contest. Further, Mr. Desert contest and camel races and craft bazaars make the city livelier even at night.

The alternative time to visit this place is from October to March.

Reaching Jaisalmer

By air, Jodhpur is the nearest airport at 285 km away. From here, cabs or train journey is available.

By rail, Jaisalmer is connected to major Indian cities via broad and meter gauges.

By road, nearby cities from where bus service is available are Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jalore, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur.

Looking at its design and layout, it would not be wrong to describe it as a small, walled regal city; as it also was the home of largest treasury and mint. During the reign of the Mughal Empire, it was the royal residence and center of governance of Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. Not only this, but the foreign ambassadors, visitors, and the celebrities, who were famous in the past during the British rule, also have marveled at this fort.

History

Initially, a brick fort taken over by the Sikarwar Rajputs, its name first was taken in 1080 A.D. Let’s take a look at the main events of this fort.

• 1487-1517
  The first Sultan of Delhi, Sikandar Lodi, lived in this fort to rule the country from here and made Agra its second capital. He died in 1517.
• 1517-1526
  Lodi’s son, Ibrahim Lodi then lived in the fort. During his reign, many palaces, wells, and a mosque were constructed. He was killed in the battle of Panipat in 1526. Soon, Mughals took over the fort, among which Babur was the next to stay in the palace of Ibrahim. Babur built a baoli, a step well, in the fort.
• 1530
  Humayun replaced Babur, but was defeated in 1530 in Bilgram. The next Mughal to rule was the Sher Shah who lived for five years.
• 1558
  Akbar arrived in this fort and made Agra its Empire’s capital. According to his historian, the fort was known as Badalgarh. However, until now, the fort was in a bad shape.
• 1565
  Akbar ordered to reconstruct the fort with bricks for the inner area and with red sandstone for the external surfaces.
• 1573
  The construction work was completed with the help of 1,444,000 builders.

After Akbar, his grandson, Shah Jahan, lived in the fort and it was in the same state as we have it today. He was the one to built the Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. However, he destroyed some ancient buildings in the Agra Fort to make new ones of marble and gold or semi-precious stones. Sadly Aurangzeb, the son of Shah Jahan, house arrested his father and locked him in the fort.

The Agra Fort was a place where the battles during the Indian rebellion of 1857 took place.

Honorable Facts

• In 2004, the fort has been given the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
• In November 2004, the country issued a Stamp to mark this award.
• The fort was shooted in the video of an Egyptian pop star’s hit song.
• In 1666, Aurangzeb put Shivaji into Jai Sing’s quarters from where he escaped smartly. Due to this event, a brave statue of Shivaji is built in the exterior of the fort.

Architecture

The fort has a semi-circular layout with parallelism to the river Yamuna and walls being at a height of 70 feet. Double walls or defenses consist of huge circular bastions.

On the four sides of the fort, lie the four famous gates among which the Khizri gate is the one that opens the way to the river. The other two gates are the Delhi Gate and the Lahore Gate also known as the Amar Singh Gate.

The Delhi Gate is an architectural artwork of the Akbar’s reign facing the city and decorated with white marble. From the main land, one needs to pass the wooden drawbridge to reach the Delhi Gate and further an inner gateway named Hathi Pol meaning the Elephant Gate withstanding two stone elephants with their riders is there to challenge you to enter the fort. Such an arrangement was intentionally made for the attackers making the entry impenetrable.

Lahore Gate is named so because it is in the direction of the Lahore city in Pakistan. It is this gate that is opened to public, not the Delhi Gate. This is because the Indian military are using the northern part of the fort.

Akbar’s historian Abul Fazal revealed that 500 buildings carved with Bengal and Gujarat architectural styles were constructed in the fort. However, Shah Jahan destructed some of these buildings for making white marble palaces, while British demolished some more in the 19th century for raising the battalions. Today the situation is such that only around 30 Mughal buildings are in the southeast facing the river.

Tourists’ Attractions

• Muasamman Burj
  Is an octagonal huge tower that is believed to be the Shah Jahan’s death place and that it has a marble balcony from where one can view the Taj Mahal.

• Anguri Bagh (Grape Garden)
  Is a cluster of gardens.
• Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience)
  Is a hall wherein speech was given to the people. It is at this place where there was the Peacock Throne.
• Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience)
  Is a hall wherein kings and dignitaries were greeted. The black throne of Jehangir existed here.
• Golden Pavilions
  Are the attractive pavilions whose roofs look similar to the roofs seen on the Bengali huts.
• Jahangiri Mahal
  Is a Jehangir’s palace made by Akbar.
• Akbari Mahal
  Is a palace of Akbar. Both Jahangiri and Akbari Mahals together previously were known as the Bengali Mahal.
• Khas Mahal
  Is a white marble p class=”article”alace wherein the worth seeing is painting on the marble.

• Macchi Bhawan (Fish Enclosure)
  Was an area of pools and fountains, now a huge space for harem functions.
• Mina Masjid (Heavenly Mosque)
  Is a private mosque.
• Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque)
  Is a mosque for the members of imperial kingdom
• Nagina Masjid (Gem Mosque)
  Is a mosque for the ladies of the kingdom
• Naubat Khana (Drum House)
  Is a house of playing musical instruments for the king’s musicians.
• Rang Mahal
  Is a palace where the king’s wives resided.
• Shahi Burj
  Is the private work region of Shah Jahan.
• Shah Jahani Mahal
  Is the palace that was first built by Shah Jahan.
• Sheesh Mahal or Shish Mahal (Mirror Palace)
  Is an imperial dressing room that contains miniature mirror-like glass-mosaic patterns on the walls.
• Zenana Mina Bazaar (Ladies Bazaar)
  Is a place where there are only female merchants selling things and is near the balcony.

There are nominal entrance charges and the fort is open from sunrise to sunset.

The miraculous ice pillar grows on its own during May to August and then slowly wanes, which is according to the moon’s phases. There are around four to five ice formations among which that of the Shiva is the highest. To his left is that of his son – Lord Ganesha ((the Lord of Wisdom and Prosperity)), while on the right is that the Parvati, Shiva’s wife, and Bhairava (God of Courage).

Located at 145 km away from Srinagar, the cave is at a height of 3,888 m above the sea level. Due to this geographical location and unfriendly weather, the route to this holy cave is unreachable from September to June due to snow covers. Therefore, the Amarnath pilgrimage from Srinagar or Kashmir is only permitted from the period of July to August. Even after this, the route is arduous and the peak’s height and low temperature can make it further tough. However, this has not affected the people’s faith due to their unflinching devotion and belief in Lord Shiva.

Due to terrorists, the Central Reserve Police Force, Indian Army, and Indian Paramilitary Forces have tightened the security due to which prior permission for pilgrimage is required from the Government of India.

Discovery of the Divine Cave

There is a mysterious story behind the discovery of this cave. According to this story, a Sadhu (saint) gave a sack of coal to a Gujaar (type of tribe) shepherd named Buta Mailk. Amazingly, instead of coal, the shepherd found gold coins in the sack when he opened it. In no limit to his happiness, the shepherd went back quickly to thank the Sadhu. However, when he reached place where he met the Sadhu, the Sadhu had disappeared and instead, he found the divine cave and the sanctified lingam. He publicized this event to all the villagers and from then, the cave is revered as the sacred shrine of Shiva.

There is another story to this discovery according to the ancient epics. According to this story, the current valley of Kashmir was actually a big lake in olden days. Kashyap Rishi, the grandson of Lord Brahma (creator/father of the Universe), drained the lake water via multiple rivers and streams. At this time, Bhrigu Rishi had come to visit The Himalyas. This sage was the first to worship the Holy Cave. He then told about this lingam to the people. Since then, Amarnath is regarded as Shiva’s abode and lakhs of devotees come for pilgrimage despite arduous terrain for obtaining eternal peace and joy.

Legend

There are two legends famous behind the significance of this holy cave.

Story-telling Legend

Considering the Hindu mythology, it was in this holy cave where Shiva revealed to his divine wife, the top secret of life and eternity. Crores of years ago, Goddess Parvati asked Lord Shiv – Bhole Shankar, her divine companion, to explain the reason of wearing the beads of heads (Mund Mala). Shiva answered that whenever you take birth, I insert one more head in my mala. Then, the goddess said, “My Lord, my body is destroyed every time and I die again and again, but you are immortal. Please let me know the secret of this.” As a reply, Lord Shiva said that this happens due to Amar Katha.

Maa Parvati insisted for the life’s secret repeatedly. However, Lord Shiva continued to postpone it for a long time. Lastly, on persistent request, he decided to reveal the immortal truth. To tell the truth, Lord Shiva began to look for a lonely place where no living being can heed the immortal tale. In his quench, Lord Shiva choose the Amarnath Cave. He began his journey towards the cave. On the way, at Pahalgam (Bail goan), he left his Nandi, the bull for his ride. Next, at Chandanwari, he took out the Moon from his locks (Jataon). Going further, at the banks of Lake Sheshnag, he took out his snakes usually found around his neck. Then, he left his son Ganesha at the Mahagunas Parvat (Mahaganesh Hill).

Next, at Panjtarni, Lord Shiva left the Five Elements from which a living being is made up of namely, Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Sky. He is regarded as the God of these elements. A popular belief is that both Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati performed a Taandav dance to commemorate sacrificing the materialistic world. After making himself free from all the worldly things, both divine souls entered the holy Amarnath cave.

Then, Lord Shiva took Samadhi on the skin of the Deer and began to meditate. Next, he ordered Rudra named Kalagni to lit fire to discard any living being in or nearby the cave so that no living being can hear this tale. It was now that he started explaining the reason behind the creation of life and this world to Maa Parvati. However, by chance, one egg was underlying the skin.

While Shiva was explaining this to Parvati, unknown to them, two mating doves from this egg eavesdropped in between to learn the secret and tend to dwell in the cave forever. These doves are reborn again and again and have made the cave their perpetual home. Many pilgrims on their way have seen and reported the doves-pair despite no vegetation being around the cave. This is truly an unbelievable miraculous truth in the history of this cave. Even today, you can see these two doves when you trek for pilgrimage in August.

Nectar Distribution Legend

There is another popular legend behind this cave. According to the legend, Lord Shiva gave the celestial nectar of immortality to all the heavenly gods to make them immortal. This act of Shiva bought him an award of the name Amarnath, which means one who is eternal and immortal. Since then, Lord Shiva also means Lord of Immortality and hence the cave dedicated to him.

Pilgrimage Route

There are two routes to this cave. One is the traditional route from Pahalgam and the other is from Baltal.

The Pahalgam Route

From Pahalgam, the cave is at 46 km at the end of the Lidder valley. Actually, it used to start from Srinagar that is 117 km away, but now a shorter route is taken through Chandanwari. Prior to the Journey, a puja (religious ritual) is performed at the Shankaracharya temple in Srinagar from where the pilgrims take a rod (mace) named Chhari Mubarak up to the cave.

Trekking is the only way to reach the cave. The trek from Chandanwari holds spiritual importance. You will come across the following halts or beautiful scenes.

• Sheshnag
  Is a mountain of seven peaks looking like a head of a snake. Other attractions are the glaciers and lakes.
• Mahagunas Pass
  This is at 12 km that goes down to the next stop.
• Panchtarni
  This is the last camp of grasslands from which the cave is at 6 km.

It is recommended to start early due to long distance and queues of people in darshan. If you do so, you can return to Panhtarni by lunch and Sheshnag by night. This journey to the holy shrine is fruitful for those who have immense faith in their hearts.

The Baltal Route

This is an isolated area and it is for those who do not want crowd. Baltal is a village in the foot of Zojila Pass at a distance of 15 km from Sonamarg. However, this route is steep and is slippery during the visiting time in August or monsoons. It takes a day to reach the cave via this route and so there are many teal stalls and Langars (big kitchens) at Brarimarg, Sangam top, and Domail. The rout at the Sangam top coincides with the Pahalgam route.

You can take up a pony ride to reach the cave available at the standard rates.

Days of Attraction

When the ice Shivling is at its peak on the full moon day in August (Hindu holy month of Shravan), lakhs of Hindus and other tourists reach the cave to worship the amazing lingam by trekking from Pahalgam.