84km north of Udaipur is located the remote hilltop fort of Kumbhalgarh, the second principal fortress in Rajasthan after Chittorgarh. The fort is perched atop the Aravalli hills and forms a must visit on your Kumbhalgarh travel. It is the most formidable of the 32 forts constructed by Maharana Kumbha in the fifteenth century. On your travel to Kumbhalgarh you can visit many fine temples, beautiful palaces and well laid-out gardens. The fort has a great historical significance. It has the distinction of never being successfully besieged but only once when the Mughal army led by Akbar poisoned the Sisodias' water supply. The Badal Mahal or Cloud Palace offers a wonderful bird's eye view of the surrounding countryside. Kumbhalgarh travel offers you an oppotunity to visit the nearby Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary replete with a wide variety of wildlife.

Kumbhalgarh is replete with history. The territory of Mewar is spread in all directions during the rule of Rana Kumbha. It stretched from Ranthambore to Gwalior that included vast tracts of present-day Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Mewar's rulers were famous for giving patronage to the Indian martial and fine arts, architecture, and learning. It is said that out of the 84 fortresses defending Mewar, 32 were designed and built by Rana Kumbha. Of these, Kumbhalgarh is the most impressive. It has 36-kilometer long wall and soaring towers. The present fort of Kumbhalgarh stands on the site of an ancient citadel of the 2nd century AD belonging to a Jain descendant of the powerful Mauryas. It defined the boundaries between Mewar and Marwar and became a refuge for Mewar's rulers in times of conflict. Its steel gray ramparts encircle the fertile Shero Mallah Valley is encircled by steel gray ramparts. The valley is dotted with ancient monuments cenotaphs, ponds and flourishing farms. The impregnability of the Kumbhalgarh fort can be gouged from the fact that it fell only once in its history, to the combined forces of Emperor Akbar and his general Raja Man Singh of Amber.Travel to Kumbhalgarh to know more about the city and its rich past.