Royal fatigue

After travelling for about a month in Rajasthan I have gotten tired of forts and palaces. I call this Royal fatigue.

All the forts and palaces have a pattern to them.

1. Gates

There will be a series of gates (Prol or Pol) leading to the fort. One of them will be called Suraj Prol and one will be called Hanuman Prol. Others can be called with any other names. There will be story around their arrangement. All of it will be to resist the enemy from coming in easily. Some will have a zigzag pattern, some will be extremely steep, some will have special doors and so on.

2. Fort wall

There will be a story about the wall. How big and long it is and what it is made if. There will also be details around watch towers, places where stones and hot oil will be poured from, if the enemy enters, cannons above the walls and so on.

3. Location

The fort will mostly be on an elevated ground. Some hill of sorts. There will be strategies around why this spot was chosen, how many times it was attacked and stuff.

4. Temples

There will be both Hindu and Jain temples. Each of them will have a back story. Many temples will be destroyed by Mughal invaders. In some cases there might be a Gurudwara and a mosque.

5. Palace

The fort will have a place which will mostly be converted into a museum. It will have a display of clothing, armours, utensils, photos/paintings, gadgets, vehicles of the royal family.

6. Courtyards

There will be a lot of courtyards. They will have beautiful floors and amazing carvings in the walls around them. There will also be places where the queens would stand, display themselves or see the events they happen on the courtyard.

7. Rooms

There will be a Shesh mahal (room of mirrors), Phool Mahal (either due to the paintings or cause it’s near a garden), Moti Mahal, Badal Mahal (cause it’s been made cool by some watering system) and so on. All of them will have carpets and chairs and pillows with the walls and ceilings carved or painted. There will also be queens’ chambers.

8. Garden

There will a garden even though the place is arid and dry. It will be the Kings way of showing that they can grow a garden in the desert.

9. Views

There will be places where you can see the entire city below. Mostly cause the fort is in an elevated location. Obviously you can see an amazing sunset from the fort. Sunrise points are rare as the fort won’t be open so early.

10. Present King

The present king might be currently residing in the palace and the direction to his residence will be shown. You can’t see the actual residence. His photos and his family photos will be littered all around the palace.

I am taking a break from visiting another fort or palace for a while, to recover from this Royal fatigue.