Welcome back to another episode of Incredible India. It's been a long time since the last episode of this series. In the previous episode, I talked about the marvolous monument in Rajasthan known as, Alwar's Moosi Maharani ki Chattri. We are still exploring Rajasthan but have travelled to another district (Bharatpur).

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We will be covering one of the strongest fortresses in Rajasthan, the Lohagarh Fort.

Lohagarh Fort

Lohagarh Fort (or Iron fort) is one of the strongest fortresses built by Bharatpur's ruler Maharaja Suraj Mal. It remains uncaptured even during the Seige of Bharatpur by British forces.

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This fort was constructed on an artificial island that is surrounded by a moat and has only two entry gates that take you into the fort. One at the north and the other at the south side of the fort.

It was built in the 18th century and it still has many old structures inside it like Jawahar Burj, Vijaya Stambh and many temples and palaces.

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^{Kishori Mahal}

How to reach

Lohagarh Fort is located in Bharatpur District in Rajasthan. This city is well connected with big cities like Agra and New Delhi. You won't find an airport here but it is connected by both road and railway.

You can take many trains from important junctions and get to Bharatpur railway station easily. Moreover, the road infrastructure is getting better and better each year.

We travelled on road from Gurgaon. Many foreign tourists often visit the Taj Mahal in Agra and they can easily take a little detour (50 km) and explore Bharatpur as well.

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This fort has thick and high (100 feet) walls made from bricks. There were 8 burjs or Towers each had big canons installed on them. One of the biggest burj is Jawahar Burj.

Jawahar Burj

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You will see a complete 360-degree view from here. It served as a watch tower during the operation of this fort and now is a popular tourist attraction.

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A few pavillions are standing here as well. Each of these has floral motifs and intricate carvings all over them.

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The ceiling of these pavilions was painted with small paintings depicting many scenes including some battle scenes and places of high importance, divine figures and previous rulers. Most of them have eroded now but if you look closely you will recognize some names, (I can see "Chitrakoot", "Shishupal", "Indraprastha" etc)

~Sorry, my phone camera makes them much harder to see~

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Arches are a big part of any old monument from India, they were used to increase the aesthetics and had a great influence on India's architecture.

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The central pavilion is a two-storey structure located on the left of Vijaya Stambh.

Vijaya Stambh

The Vijaya Stambh (or Victory column) is an Iron pillar which has all the names of the previous rulers engraved on it. There are 64 Jat rulers whose names were engraved on this pillar, the latest was Maharaja Brijender Singh who was the ruler from 1929 to 1948.

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Maharaja Suraj Mal's Statue

Maharaja Suraj Mal was one of the most powerful and successful rulers, he built many forts during his reign in the 18th century, Lohagarh being one of the strongest ones. To commemorate this great ruler and hero who fought against the invading forces, the Rajasthan government built a statue to keep his legacy alive.

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A complete account of all his battles and achievements was listed there. Locally used to visit here and pay their homage.

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There is a small Shiva Lingam as well beside the statue and the locals come here to pray as well.

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There were many old structures that locals are living in. Only some of the buildings of high importance and cultural and historical significance came under government control.

Kishori Mahal (or Kishori Palace) is the palace built by Suraj Mal, it is one of the biggest structures inside the fort and contains many artefacts that were used by the then rulers. Sadly, entry to this palace is not permitted for tourists but you can see some of the artefacts in a museum that's inside the fort as well.

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Banke Bihari Temple

The Banke Bihari Temple is a temple inside the fort where devotees come to worship Lord Krishna.

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There was some construction work going on around the temple. An aarti took place here twice each day. We were in time to catch the morning one.

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Lohagarh Fort is a thriving place with so much history, culture and great heroes who contributed in many ways to the betterment of this place. One will learn so much about the Jat dynasty and rulers and how they fought against invading forces. It stood firm even after the Seige of Bharatpur and British troops tried to conquer it for weeks but failed miserably.

I will highly recommend this place to any history enthusiast or architecture lover. This place has a lot to offer to any Indian who wants to feel proud of their heritage and culture.

To everyone going to visit the Taj Mahal, you should add a day in your travel plans and include this. You won't regret this. There is a National park in Bharatpur as well, I am sure you won't regret going there as well.😉

Thank you for taking this virtual tour with me.

Namaste 🙏

Stay tuned for more episodes...