Legend of Chittaur: What is it and Why You Should Visit It


With the controversy that surrounded Padmavati, the movie, one thing is for sure, people have been incredibly interested in the legend of the beautiful queen that once lived in Chittaur.
This is how the legend of Rani Padmini goes:

It was in the fourteenth century when Alauddin Khilji, the then Sultan of Delhi, was intrigued by the stories of Rani Padmini’s beauty. It was said that she was so beautiful and so white that you could see the water that she drank through her neck. Interested in knowing a woman that legendary, the Sultan decided to verify that by himself by making a visit to her fort.

Now this is something that most of the readers are aware of. However, the legend started way before any of this happened. During that time, Raja Ratan Singh was the ruler of chittaur who was not only a loving husband, a just king, but also a patron of arts.

In his court, stayed many artists among which Raghav Chetan was also a talented flute artist.
Unknown to many, however, he was also a sorcerer and was caught trying to revive evil spirits in order to bring down his competitors.

It was because of this that he was banished from the city. It was during this time that Alauddin khilji heard the beautiful sound of his flute and asked him to come with him.
Hearing that, a revengeful Raghav Chetan asked why the sultan wanted a simple man like him when there were better things to be possessed. That is when the sultan heard of Rani Padmini’s beauty.

Thus, the sultan sent a message to Raja Ratan Singh, Padmini’s husband, requesting an encounter with the queen. After a lot of discussion, the two reached to the consensus that sultan would be allowed to see not her directly, but her reflection.

Accordingly, Alauddin went to up the hill, unarmed and caught a glimpse of the beautiful queen standing by a lotus pool. So taken was he with just her reflection that he decided to have her at once. In the same pursuit, khilji attacked on Chittaur.

When Rani Padmini heard the rumour that her husband had died in the war, she decided that she could not have khilji take away her dignity from her. Thus she, along with hundreds of her daasis performed sati in the same Chittaur Fort.

Today, the fort stands as a representative of fight for dignity and is visited by hundreds of people every day to marvel at the beauty of the fort as well as imagine how hard it must have been for those many women to make a decision to take their own lives in the name of honour.

Make a short trip to this beautiful place as a part of you rajasthan tour package or a 2 day 3 night golden triangle tour. After all, this is a place that you cannot afford to miss out on!

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