Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, Junagarh Fort, Phool Mahal

Travel to India > Bikaner > What to See in Bikaner > Junagarh Fort in Bikaner

Junagarh fort in Bikaner is a famous tourist destination. The fort of Bikaner was built by Raja Rai Singhji who was the 6th ruler of Bikaner. He ruled from 1571 to 1612 AD and marshaled revenues of the kingdom. He did so by increasing conquests and had half of marwar and Gujarat. He used these funds to construct the Junagarh fort in Bikaner. He held a very high rank in the imperial court of Emperor Akbar. He traveled far and wide during his tenure which gave him vision and great ideas about art and architecture. All of this contributed in the construction of the fort.

As the popular legend goes, one of the sheep fell apart from the herd and gave birth to kids. At night when the wolves attacked the kids, the mother sheep bravely protected them. Omen tellers comphrended the episode and declared that this place will produce very brave men. Hence this site was chosen for the Junagarh fort and it was thus built in 1585.

The fort is a gem displaying Indian architecture in the midst of the desert. The walls of this fort are built in Turkish style slanting inwards and the bastions are small and reduced to mere ornaments. The palaces in the fort have a good view over the town. This is a typical characteristics adopted from the Mughal Palaces in Agra, Lahore and Delhi. The fort is quadrangle and has a perimeter of 1078 yards. It has 37 bastions of average height of 40 feet. It is surrounded by a strong curtain of wall that is encircled by a deep moat. The moat is 30 feet wide, 20-25feet deep and has water in it. The fort has two entrances: Karan pol and suraj Pol.

Karan Pol is the main entrance and you can see some symbolic hands on a vertically fixed stone slab. These hands are Sati hands symbolizing the royal ladies who performed sati. The doors are very strong and have iron spikes on them.

Some palaces inside the junagarh fort are worth visiting. The main palaces are Moon Palace, Phool Mahal, Karan Mahal and Anup Mahal. All the palaces are built in red sandstone and have beautifully carved courtyards, balconies, kiosks, towers and windows. There is a chapel inside the fort called as Har mandir which is used as a place of worship by the Royal family. There are about 700 idols made up of precious Bronze inside this temple.

Karan Mahal has a classic style made up of pure white marble. The ceilings are as the ones seen at Diwan-I-Khas, rang Mahal and Mumtaj Mahal at Delhi. The ceilings are wooden and rest on a broad cornice. There are beautiful arches surrounding the gallery that rest on the short bellied columns seen during the period of Aurangzeb.

Phool Mahal is decorated with motifs of trays, flower vases and rose water sprinklers. These will remind you of the decorations during the Jehangirian Era. The walls are decorated wit Stucco Work and Glass inlay work.

Chander Mahal has some very beautiful dadoed paintings that resemble the precious stone inlay work at Agra. One of the rooms display Hindu Idols placed under the ceiling nitches.