Floating through the Badal Mahal at Kumbhalgarh Fort

First Published on December 28, 2015

It was that hour of the day when the magic took place
She ran towards the window of her beloved palace of clouds - her favorite space.
Her eyes lit up as she saw the sunlight diffuse across the swirling mist
Spreading an orange glow to all that it touched and kissed.
These were those moments that made her Badal Mahal Kumbhalgarh a special place
One that no other palace of Mewar could displace.

It is true that the sight of the second longest wall in the world at Kumbhalgarh fort had me spellbound. However, it was my visit to the enticing Badal Mahal in Kumbhalgarh fort that made me fall in love with this UNESCO World Heritage site. I had first spotted this “Palace of clouds” or Badal Mahal Kumbhalgarh from Ram Pol gate of the fort. That was enough for me to decide which part of the Great wall of India I wanted to include in this visit to Kumbhalgarh fort.

My earlier post covers the mighty walls and the structure of the Kumbhalgarh fort. It even covers the history of this fort and gives you a glimpse of all the places to visit in Kumbhalgarh fort. In that list of Kumbhalgarh sightseeing places, I have mentioned several palaces of the fort. This post is dedicated to these Kumbhalgarh palaces – Badal Mahal being my favorite among all of those. So, let’s get on with this tour of Kumbhalgarh fort.

The Kumbhalgarh Palaces

There are three major Kumbhalgarh Palaces that can be visited. These include Jhalia ka Malia, Badal Mahal and Kumbha Palace. The rest of the palatial structures are in ruins. These palaces are not as ostentatious as the other Rajasthan forts like Mehrangarh fort or even the Udaipur City Palace. One of the key reasons for this could be that this fort was more of a refuge than a ruling capital. The Mewar dynasty did not really spend too much time here. However, there are significant events that happened here like the birth of Maharana Pratap. All that and more as we explore further.

Climbing up to the Jhalia Ka Malia

The climb to the palace is easy but a steep one. One needs to go through Pagara gate and follow the central cobbled path keeping Badal Mahal in your sight. Beware however – there are delights along the second largest wall in the world that will keep straying you off the path. I have shared most of these in the earlier post. Climb on till you reach this gorgeous bend and there you will spot a signboard saying “birthplace of Maharana Pratap.”

What you encounter is the first of the three main palaces of Kumbhalgarh fort – Jhalia ka Malia. This is the palace of Queen Jhali and it is in one of those rooms that Maharana Pratap was born.

The entrance to the room is through a flight of stairs along the side of the palace. The room itself seemed removed from the main palace, possibly used as an infirmary or a room where midwives were called to help out the queens. The staircase did not have any handholds and though restored, it was steep nonetheless.

Faded paintings and crumbling walls greet you in the empty room. The place did not seem like a Queen’s chamber at all and I think my earlier guess of this being a midwife’s room, was possibly true. While the room may not have anything major to talk of, the view from the room did.

From that high platform of the chamber, you can see the rest of the hills and the green cover around the fort. The golden rays of the sun make the landscape even more spectacular, so much that I spend some time here capturing a few memories from every possible angle.

Rana Kumbha Palace

The Kumbha Palace was established by the founder of Kumbhalgarh fort – Rana Kumbha itself. This part of the fort is one of the older parts and currently, is in ruins. The only functional part of this palace is its Kuldevi temple with the Akhand Deep. This temple was highly revered by the Mewar family and it is believed that none of them left the fort without seeking the blessings of their clan deity – Durga mata.

My visit to this temple was a little chilling. While exploring the ruins, I saw a few shoes left outside and religiously removed mine to go have a peep. Dark as it was, I saw one candlelight and then, something moved and beckoned me in Hindi to come in. Goosebumps erupted! But nothing to worry about, for it was an old lady, possibly the priestess in the temple room. I was a little shaken as my eyes had still not adjusted to the dark and a voice in the dark totally unnerved me.

It was the Priestess who finally explained the significance of this temple in Kumbha Mahal to me. She also, pointed to an oil lamp – the Akhand Deep that has been kept burning for the last 700 years.

The rest of the ruins consist of large halls, a kitchen area, little tunnels and small terraces. Seemed to me that these ruins were possibly homes of the help here or the kitchens for the palace.

Badal Mahal Kumbhalgarh

I think I ventured a little too long into these ruins for later, I could hear my daughter, hubby and friends shouting out for me, as they could no longer see me. :-D. I suppose they thought I fell down a rabbit hole 😉 From there on, we went ahead and climbed that staircase that opened up to what seemed the main entrance of the Badal Mahal in Kumbhalgarh Fort.

The palace is not as huge as I imagined it to be and nor as ostentatious as the Meherangarh fort of Jodhpur or the Udaipur City Palace. Simple and charming is how I would describe it.

Built by Rana Fateh Singh, the Badal Mahal clearly has two parts – the male chambers (Mardana Mahal) and the female rooms (Zenana Mahal). You can easily identify these sections from the decor – where the Zenana Mahal has a lot of jhalis or windows that would shield the women from the public eye and yet allow them to see the court proceedings. The male section is a little more colorful with their green and blue walls.

A large central courtyard connects the various rooms in a section. The entire palace is two-storied and you can see the open terraces from the central courtyard itself. I mentioned the word Simple earlier and am re-iterating it here as so far in all the palaces and forts of Rajasthan, the central courtyard had a centerpiece of architecture –  be it the gorgeous doors of the Pritam Nivas Chowk of Jaipur City Palace or the Mor Chowk of the fabulous City Palace of Udaipur. I suppose, possibly because the fort was meant as a safe house, the place was devoid of such elaborate work.

While there is no major architecture or interiors to rave about, every corridor and room has some beautiful wall paintings. There is some bit of restoration work that seems to have been done as the paintings seem quite bright and fresh. The ceiling in the rooms and the doorways seem quite low that even a shortie like me had to bend my head to enter the rooms. 😉 I think that too, was by design so that the enemies if they ever reach in, would slow down.

Sadly, the rooms are not well maintained. One more unusual thing that I noticed was that the rooms were quite dark. Possibly they were used only as sleeping chambers while the terraces and corridors were used more as sitting areas. Every doorway was designed with these beautiful arches, which added charm to them.

One unusual feature of the rooms in Badal Mahal are the presence of jhali windows and the duct-styled inlet pipes. Both these facilitated ventilation – almost akin to air conditioning. The inlet allowed cool air from the bottom of the room.

There are several small narrow steps through dark corridors – some that take you to the terrace area while some connect two sections of the palace. When I say narrow, they allow only one person to pass through. The dark narrow corridors can get quite claustrophobic but for me, they were quite thrilling. Felt as if I were on an adventure trip. One has to use these corridors to access the other section of the palace. And trust me, you really don’t want to leave without having visited this section.

A central courtyard with large windows that open up to the gorgeous view of the hills and valley. It is here that I truly understood why this palace is called Palace of Clouds or Badal Mahal. Right amidst the clouds, it felt as if we were floating through the sky.

The windows have a ledge for you to perch onto and enjoy the lovely view from it. The breezy atmosphere coupled with the glow of the setting sun over the fresh green valley was enough to make this part of the palace my favorite spot, so much that my travel buddies had to literally drag me out of here.

The terrace is a different story. The view from here is spectacular. What made them adventurous was the low ledges and low railings. The connecting passages allow you to walk only in one file and the low walls do get a bit of your adrenaline pumping.You can see the railings along the sides of the terrace – these seem to be added recently. With none of them earlier, imagine how flat and boundary-less this terrace was.

I was here, right on time to see the gorgeous sunset and grab dozens of pictures to add my stack of memories. This is where I ended my tour of the Badal Mahal in Kumbhalgarh Fort. I headed back down to the entrance of the fort, with lots of lovely memories and a fair bit of wonder. I end this post now with a picture of this gorgeous sunset captured from the terrace.

In my earlier post, I took you through some astonishing facts about the Kumbhalgarh fort walls and in this part, I completed the rest of my tour by taking you to all the lovely palaces including my favorite – Badal Mahal of Kumbhalgarh. I am sure that you will be marking this as one of your must-visit places in Rajasthan. So go on, pin these and plan your trip to Kumbhalgarh Fort.

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Travel and Photography Tips

• You can find a few restaurants near the fort – including one inside the fort.
• Flat shoes are highly recommend during your visit to Kumbhalgarh fort. Also, be prepared to climb stairs and inclines.
• Cotton clothes would be ideal during the day. Keep a light woolen shawl or a light jacket if you plan to be around in the evening.
• A wide lens and a regular prime lens is recommended to capture the architecture of Kumbhalgarh fort. I would not say no to a telephoto lens for the various views along the walls of Kumbhalgarh fort. If you are headed here for photography, pick early evening for the lovely sunset that you will get from Badal Mahal.

Booking Resources

• Booking.com is a good place to find hotels in Kumbhalgarh. You can use the given link to book one for yourself in Kumbhalgarh
• Klook.com offers online booking of various tours in and around Rajasthan. They even have a day tour from Udaipur to Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur available for booking. The site also, offers fast-track tickets to the fort.
• Another online resource to book your trip to Kumbhalgarh is through GetYourGuide.
• If you use Amazon for your home and travel purchases, do consider using this link to browse and buy your requirements

Disclaimer: This article includes affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, I will receive a small commission if you purchase through my link. Thank you for supporting me with this.