Tuesday 26 October Mehrangar Fort

Had a noisy, hot night due to the aircooler. After breakfast we walked to the clocktower and found a rickshaw driver to take us to the fort. Approached by a steep narrow road which zigzagged up between the walls this red sandstone edifice towered above us it was awe inspiring, built on a perpendicular cliff it stands 400 ft above the town, and looks invincible.



We arrived at the paypoint and decided to hire an audiotour which we were to find very impressive, beautifully narrated with comments, history and anecdotes by the Maharajah, the Queen Mother and others, much more than one would normally expect to hear.




There are seven entry gates and just inside the Lohapol, on a plaque are 31 red handprints of the widows of Maharaja Man Sing who perished on his funeral pyre in 1843, the last time this was to happen - I'm a bit confused because I think there were 15 widows. So very moving.




We stayed over three hours looking at many unusual items such as solid silver howdahs, paintings, armoury, Akbar's sword, cannons on the ramparts one of which was captured in the Boxer Rebellion. The Pearl Palace, The Pleasure Palace, The Flower Palace have wonderful rooms, the Zenana and so much more. We enjoyed a rest in the Holi Chowk where Holi was celebrated and then went up to look down through the lattice screens which allowed the women to watch.

It was incredibly sad to hear the Maharajah speak of his childhood and how he learnt of his fathers death in a plane crash, he was only four years old, he went on to tell his memories of the ceremony at which he was anointed the 38th Chief of Marwar at Mehrangarh. The Queen Mother spoke too of her upbringing in the zenana. We finished by walking on the ramparts where it was very hot but there was a bit of a breeze, John inspected all the cannons while I enjoyed the fantastic views, which are wonderful, great to look down at the blue city and to hear so much life going on down there.










We found a rickshaw to take us back for food at Pal Haveli where we we given a warm welcome again. We did a bit more exploring of the market and streets before returning to the guest house.

Tonight we thought we would have dinner at The Haveli Hotel as there was to be Rajathani dancing and music, the rooftop restaurant had good food and views but the entertainment was disappointing - it was hijacked by mainly Indian men trying to join in the dancing and posing for photos nearly all the time. Shame we were looking forward to something better.