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"A Palace that might have been built by Titans and coloured by the morning sun."
Rudyard Kipling
The carved balconies crowning the towering bastions of the Fort were particularly impressive as we made our way towards the main entrance hall, where some of us opted for an audio guided tour.
To the left of one of the innermost gates - Loha Pol one couldn't help noticing several Sati handprints, dating back to 1843, left by the wives of the Maharaja before having joined him in his funeral pyre, having thus re-affirmed their devotion and faith to him.
This seems to have been a commonly practised custom in the Rajasthan area, the last officially recorded case having occurred in 1953.
We started our visit by walking into the Fort's Museum, which (among other valuable objects) houses an amazing collection of old Royal palanquins (a very popular means of travel for the ladies of nobility) including the elaborate domed Mahadol palanquin won in battle in 1730.
(To be continued)
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