Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh was the second most important fort of Mewar after Chittorgarh, and the place its rulers went when everything else fell. Rana Kumbha, who built or repaired 32 forts, began this one in 1443 with the architect Mandan, and the result is a wall that runs 36 kilometres over the ridgelines, up to four and a half metres thick, with seven gates and hundreds of bastions; a legend says a human sacrifice was needed before the foundations would hold. Inside are more than 360 temples, most of them Jain, the fifteenth-century Neelkanth Mahadev with its tall lingam, and Badal Mahal, the Palace of Clouds, at the summit, added in the nineteenth century, where the view from the roof takes in the whole wall snaking away into haze.

Maharana Pratap was born here in 1540, and Prince Udai Singh was hidden here as a child. The fort is open all day, and the walk from the gate to Badal Mahal takes about an hour; after dark, a light and sound show floods the walls with colour. Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary wraps the fort in 610 square kilometres of dry forest where Indian wolves den, leopards hunt and sloth bears forage; jeep safaris and guided treks run from Kelwara.

Ranakpur is an hour away, so the two combine naturally into a day from Udaipur or Jodhpur, though a night in the hills is better.