Gwalior Fort - Structures

Structures

The fort and its premises are well maintained and have many historic monuments, Hindu and Jain temples (of 11 shrines, seven are Hindu temples) and palaces, out of which the famous are the Man Mandir palace, the Gujari Mahal (now an Archeological Museum), the Jahangir Mahal, the Karan Palace and the Shahjahan Mahal.

The fort, which has a striking appearance, has been built on the long, narrow, precipitous hill called Gopachal. The fort spreads over an area of 3 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi). The fort, 35 feet (11 m) in height, is built over massive sandstone rocks. The fort wall is built all along the edge of the hill, though of uniform height, presents an irregular appearance due to the topography of the land over which it has been built. It has two main access gates - one from the North East and the other on the South West. The fort rampart is laid all along the periphery of the hill connected by six towers or bastions. It is approached through the north east through a lengthy access ramp. The main entrance or gate to the fort, called the Hathi Pul (means "elephant gate" as elephants could pass through this gate), is accessed after passing through six other gates. Apart from the Hathi Pul gate to the Palace, there is another large ornate gate, known as the Badalgarh Gate. The Man Mandir palace or the citadel is located at the northeast end of the fort. Its construction is dated to the 15th century but it was refurbished in 1648. The fort precincts also have many monuments such as palaces, temples and water tanks. The water tanks or reservoirs created in the precincts of the fort could provide water supply to a 15,000 strong garrison, which was the estimated requirement of manpower to secure the fort. On the approach from the southern side, intricately carved rock cut temples of 21 Jain thirthankaras are seen set deep into the steep rock faces. One such statue of 40 feet (12 m) height, identified as that of Parswanath, the 23rd Jain thrithankara (or saint), escaped demolition ordered by Babar since he lost control of the fort.

Man Mandir The prison dungeon is also located below this palace where many royal prisoners of the Mughal dynasty were incarcerated and killed.

The palace grounds have witnessed atrocities committed by Mughal emperors. Aurangzeb, initially, imprisoned his brother Murad at this fort and later killed him on the reasons of treason. The name of the fort is also linked to the practice of sati (voluntary burning to death of women of the harem at a funeral pyre) at the 'Jauhar Kund Palace' where sati was performed by the womenfolk of the royal family when the king of Gwalior was defeated in the year 1232 AD.

Hathi Pul

The Hathi Pol Gate (or Hathiya Paur) is the main gate in the fort leading to the Man Mandir palace built by Man Singh. It is the last gate at the end of a series of seven gates. It is named after a life-sized statue of an elephant (hathi) that once adorned the entrance to the gate. The gate built in stone on the south-east corner of the palace has cylindrical towers. The towers are crowned with cupola domes. Carved parapets link the domes.

Gujari Mahal museum

Gujari Mahal, a palace that was built by Raja Man Singh for love of his wife Mrignayani, a Gujar princess, because she demanded a separate palace for herself with regular water supply through an aqueduct structure built from a nearby river source called the Rai River. This mahal is well maintained now as it has been converted into an archeological museum. The rare artifacts on display at the museum are the Hindu and Jain sculptures dated to 1st century BC and 2nd century BC, miniature statue of Salabhanjika (shown only by special permission), Terracotta articles and replicas of frescoes seen in Bagh Caves.

Teli ka Mandir temple

The Teli-ka-Mandir, or “Oilman’s Temple” or ‘Oil Pressers temple” is inferred to have been built in the 8th century, but 11th century has also been mentioned. Based on the sculptures and ornamentation in the two temples, Louis Frederic, an archeologist, has inferred that the two are 8th century shrines. It is considered the oldest monument in the fort, which presents a unique blend of various Indian architectural styles (fusion of south Indian and North Indian styles) and is called a Brahmanical sanctuary. Basically, it has an unusual configuration: shrine-like in that it has a sanctuary only; no pillared pavilions or mandapa; and a Buddhist barrel-vaulted roof on top of a Hindu mandir. Buddhist architectural influence has been identified on the basis of Chitya type of hall and elegant torana decorations at the entrance gate. It was refurbished in 1881-83 with garden sculpture. In plan, it is a rectangular structure. It has a tower built in masonry, in nagari architectural style with a barrel vaulted roof, 25 metres (82 ft) in height. In the past, the niches in the outer walls had sculptures installed in them but now have horse shoe arch or gavakshas (ventilator openings) with arched motifs, in north Indian architectural style. The gavaksha design, has been compared to trefoil, a honey comb design with a series of receding pointed arches within an arch that allows a "play of light and shadow". The entrance door has a torana or archway with exquisitely sculpted images of river goddesses, romantic couples, foliation decoration and a Garuda. Diamond and lotus designs are seen on the horizontal band at the top of the arch, which is deciphered as an influence from Buddhist period. It was originally dedicated to Vishnu, but later converted to the worship of Siva. The details of the doorway design has been vividly described by an archeologist as:

The combination of vertical and horizontal bands produces a composition of rectangular shapes-all within one large rectangle surmounted by an elaborate honeycomb design of gavaksa motifs. The vertical bands on either side of the door are simple and restrained, and although the figures have been badly damaged, they still retain their graceful, rhythmical form and movement. The small group of dislike objects immediately above the doorway suggest the finial or crown (damalaka) of an Indo-Aryan Shikhara.

The highest monument in the fort is that of the Garuda, dedicated to the Pratihara Vishnu. This structure considered a fusion of Muslim and Indian architecture is seen close to the Teli-ka-Mandir (see picture). >>This is not the Teli ka makdir, But it was the temple of Lord Shiva. The worshippers used to install a Bell Called in Hindi Taali on the fullfillment of their desire by praying there. Which again Taali was converted to word as Teli ka mander, due to the ignorance of the local people.

Sahastrabahu temple

In the 10th century, with the control of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty of Gwalior declining, a regional dynasty called the Kachchhapaghatas started wielding power. During their rule they built several monuments, which included two temples original name was Sahastrabahu(Thousand Hands form of Lord Vishnu) Temple, one small and one large (both are seen but in ruins, but the smaller one is more elegant and better preserved) located adjacent to each other. These temples were initially dedicated to Vishnu. An inscription on the larger of the two temples records its building date to 1093 AD. A unique architectural feature of these pyramidal shaped temples built in red sandstone is that they have been raised several stories high solely with the help of beams and pillars, and with no arches having been used for the purpose. The main temple looks dauntingly sturdy. The stylistic smaller Sahastrabahu temple is a replica of the larger temple.