Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh (Kumbhalmer) is a Merwar fortress in the Rajsamand District of Rajasthan state in western India. The fort has perimeter walls that extend 36 kilometres in length, claimed to be the longest in the world after the Great Wall of China. Over 360 temples are within the fort, 300 ancient Jain and the rest Hindu. The vista from the palace top typically extends tens of kilometers into the Aravalli Range. Built during the course of the 15th century AD, and enlarged through the 1800s, it is now accessible to the general public as a museum.

Kumbhalgarh is also a birthplace of Maharana Pratap, the great king and warrior of Mewar.

According to legend the Maharana of Kumbhalgarh tried so many times to build the wall of the fort but each time failed to do so. They consulted a local pilgrim about their construction problems. The pilgrim advised that he be beheaded and after cutting his head to build a temple where the head should fall, and to build the wall and the fort where the rest of his body lay. Following his advice, they succeed in building the world's second largest wall.

See also

* [http://www.kumbhalgarh.in/ Kumbhalgarh Fort of Rajasthan]
* Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary
* Maharana Pratap