Getting in and out of Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan

A trip to Southern Rajasthan is not complete without a visit to the magnificent Adinatha Jain Temple at Ranakpur and the unconquered (except very briefly) fort of Kumbalgarh. But driving in this area can be confusing for many reasons. This has compelled me to put these tested directions, suitable for car driving, here.

Firstly, this is a protected forest area and probably the reason it's not well surveyed by Google Maps (As of August 2012). So, even the names of villages mentioned here will not come up on the Google Maps.

A quick look up on directions from Ranakpur to Kumbhalgarh gives you a 9.5 km route. Do not believe this route; it will lead you nowhere on your car. Some blogs have pointed out that it is a trekking route. Hotels will give you each a different route depending on whom and where you ask.

Commonly suggested route:

If you are staying in Sadri or Ghanerao, come down to Sadri main junction (12 KM West of Ghanerao) and proceed on SH49/32 to Ranakpur (East of Sadri). Ranakpur temple comes up at 9 KM and cannot be missed. From Ranakpur, proceed to Saeraa/Sairaa and then proceed to Kumbhalgarh. The distance to the fort from the Jain Temple is 45 km on this route. This is the most commonly suggested route but the same can be done in half as much.

Tested route from Ranakpur: 

Driving from Ranakpur to Sairaa (general direction East/ North East), about 5-6 km down, you will see a road to the left (roughly north) pointing to Kambha. Take this turn and follow this road for about 17 KM. Look for milestones to Kelwara and if needed confirm that the road is leading to the Qila. This route takes you to Kumbhalgarh fort in about 22 KM (from Ranakpur).

Caution about the Kambha route: the road has an initial 4 KM stretch that is seriously steep. So, if you are not comfortable pushing your car to this limit, not comfortable driving steep gradients or if you are have
passengers who get sick on steep/winding roads, avoid it. But this is a beautiful stretch and gets you there in half the time.

Best route from Kumbhalgarh to Udaipur:

Many will suggest the route via Gogundha. However, the route suggested below offers a broad two-lane road in superb condition.

From the fort, come down to Kelwara and follow the same road for about 45 KM towards Iswal/ Iswaal Chouraha. Iswaal is right on NH8 toll-free expressway. From here, you can reach Udaipur in less than 20 minutes.

Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh are not to be missed. Make sure you spend more time there, than driving to and fro.

Road rage, unprovoked, is clear & present in Mumbai

NOTE: For the protection of identity of my friend, all factors of identification have been obfuscated, but the incident is real and an FIR is lodged with one of the police stations in Mumbai.

Right on the heels of Gurgaon’s Seema Kataria case (Read Here), comes a case in in Aamchi Mumbai.  Shocking, more so because this has happened to someone I know well.

A friend of mine, a lady, let’s called her Jane, was driving alone in what could be considered an safe, quiet and innocuous neighborhood in Mumbai.

The particular stretch of road is narrow and just about allows two vehicles to carefully pass each other. A BEST bus halts at a designated stop and Jane stops her car waiting for the bus to pass. A biker, a man with another one on the pillion, in a hurry tries to overtake the bus but is faced with a stopped car of Jane. But unless the bus moves, neither Jane's car nor the bike can get beyond the point. That’s all there to the start of this scene. What happens next is unbelievable but has really transpired…

The biker starts abusing her for ‘blocking his way’. Jane double checks that her windows are rolled up and doors locked, and patiently waits for the bus to move hoping the enraged biker goes his way. The biker's barrage of verbal abuse goes on for about half a minute. But ruffled by Jane’s patient wait, this guy loses it all and pulls out his helmet (so far suspended to the bike's handlebar) and starts pounding it into the windshield of Jane’s car. Within a few seconds the windshield is cracked all over, but thankfully does not collapse down on her. The act of blatant unprovoked vandalism happens in the presence of at least 30 onlookers, several shopkeepers around and other drivers on bikes, cars and the BEST bus nearby. Jane keeps her cool, despite being paralyzed by fear, and thinks about the options she has. She decides that doing anything would enrage the biker, he having already done so much damage unprovoked and audaciously in the presence of the public. The BEST bus moves, biker finds his way out and rips away. Jane manages to note down the registration number of the bike.

Jane drives down to the the police station a few hundred meters away expecting that the information about the enraged biker would be followed up immediately. But, she is informed that they cannot do anything without an FIR and that FIR can be filed only in the main police station a few kilometers away. There is no further explanation provided to her. Soon after, Jane drives down to the Main Police Station and files her FIR, knowing very well that this would be only useful for insurance claim and nothing much else by way of justice.

But, the bigger question looming over this is whether the public can feel protected from audacious goons. Do such unaddressed cases of unprovoked vandalism only encourage such unscrupulous behavior? What’s happened here can happen to anyone anywhere and is a daily phenomenon. When it happens to us, we realise we have been living in our little cocoons made of cotton candy and we wake up to the reality of the grim state of affairs. Fearing uncontrolled dire consequences we remain silent about these issues.

After all not every case can be highlighted in the media and not everyone has access to the top level of police machinery, to ensure justice is meted out in time and in every case.