JAIGARH FORT Location: Jaipur in Rajasthan, India Built In: 1726 AD Built By: Raja Sawai Jai Singh When To Visit: October-March

A Castle of Intrepid Stones

Amber Fort Hawa Mahal Kumbhalgarh Fort

Junagarh Fort Jaisalmer Fort

Mehrangarh Fort Nahargarh Fort

Amidst the countless ways that Rajasthan captures the world's attention as a tourist's paradise of exotic dimensions, is the one related to architectural splendor; not all of them are exquisitely carved buy still they stand tall, like a victorious gladiator raising his radiant sword on the face of sky. These forts have served as excellent battlements in medieval years and now they love standing at barren hilltops, glistening with the nostalgic glory of a faithful servitor.

A winding road from Amber Palace leads to one such example; the Jaigarh Fort or the Victory Fort in Jaipur, which stands amidst the thorn-scrub hills that cast a sterner look to the already forbidding Fort. This placard of victory was built in 1726 by maharajah Jai Singh. This imposing fort once served as the treasury of the Kachhwahas, and some people are convinced that at least part of the royal treasure is still secreted somewhere among the corridors. The fort was sealed for seven years by the government to verify the realism, which however was never really been found despite all the search made by the government custodians and was hence opened to the public in mid-1983. A remarkable feat of military architecture in a fine state of preservation, the famous Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur indeed provides a top-of-the-world fiesta of the Spartan surroundings.

Jaigarh Fort - Jaipur

The Fort And The Cannon

Jaipur Jantar Mantar

City Palace - Jaipur Forts And Palaces

Palace on Wheels

Chiefly constructed for defense purposes, the Jaigarh Fort is a huge moated castle containing all the gadgets of a full-fledged citadel. One of the exigent charms of this majestic fort is the world's largest cannon on wheels, the Jaivan. It has a 20-foot-long barrel, its wheels are 9 feet in diameter and it took 100 kg of gunpowder to fire a single shot. Parables say that the cannon was used only once and the shell fell some 35 km away on a village! But that's quite dubious, since a deeper scrutiny of the cannon actually debunked that it had been fired at least a couple of times.

The historical Jaigarh fort palace in Jaipur also has a magnificent water channel management system for harvesting rain water. One of those reservoirs measures 158 feet by 138 feet and is 40 feet deep, and can hold 60,00,000 gallons of water; an artificial oasis made to satiate the thirst for water and eternal glory simultaneously.

The Enchanting House of Memorabilia

Because it is considered as one of the most well fortified structures in India, because this fort was never being captured, because it has myriads of motifs and bastions, you get a real feeling of its glorified days. The armory displays numerous majestic swords, adamant shields, unforgivable guns, impenetrable muskets and even a 50 kg cannon ball; think about the strength the robust maharajahs used to have! The Museum in the fort presents a large array of photographs of the Maharajahs, royalty, buildings and processions and even a circular pack of cards besides many other antiques of the past.

Get Going

A 20 min drive through the bushy winding road from Jaipur fetches you at the famous Jaigarh fort in Rajasthan. The fort, with its water reservoirs, residential areas, granary and a puppet theater is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission cost is free if you have a ticket to Jaipur's City Palace which is less than two days old. You can hire a tourist cab or get into one of those video coaches which provide a visit to this fort as a part of their own tourist packaged tour.