Kumbhalgarh is a fort in the Aravalli hills of southern Rajasthan, about 85km north of Udaipur, built by Rana Kumbha of Mewar in the fifteenth century. Its defining fact is the wall: THE RAMPART RUNS FOR ABOUT 36 KILOMETRES AND IS THE SECOND LONGEST CONTINUOUS WALL IN THE WORLD after the Great Wall of China.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Roman Trail earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What Is Here
THE WALL IS THE POINT AND IT IS BEST UNDERSTOOD FROM ABOVE. It runs along the ridgelines enclosing 13 hilltops, in places wide enough for eight horses abreast, and from the upper palaces you can follow it with your eye for kilometres in both directions. The aerial at the top of this post is the only way to see its scale properly.
The fort climbs through seven gates to the Badal Mahal at the top. The Cloud Palace sits at about 1,100 metres, painted inside in pale greens and blues, with the Aravallis spread out below and the Thar desert visible to the west on a clear day. The climb from the entrance is sustained and stepped.
The walls with people on them are the second image, which is the only way to grasp how wide they are.
MAHARANA PRATAP WAS BORN HERE, the Mewar ruler who refused to submit to the Mughals, and Kumbhalgarh was the refuge the dynasty retreated to when Chittorgarh fell. The fort was taken only once, by a combined Mughal and allied force, and then only because the water supply was poisoned.
The Trikuta temple and the Jain temples inside the walls are older than the fort itself in places, and the Neelkanth Mahadev temple holds a six foot Shiva lingam.
RANAKPUR IS 50KM AWAY AND IS THE BEST REASON TO STAY TWO NIGHTS. Its Adinath temple has 1,444 carved marble pillars, no two alike, and it is among the most extraordinary buildings in India.
The Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary surrounds the fort, with leopard, sloth bear and wolf present and rarely seen, and the walls themselves are the best wildlife viewing platform.
When to Go
October to March. November to February is best, with clear air and comfortable days.
Winter nights at 1,100 metres fall close to freezing in January, which visitors to a Rajasthan itinerary do not expect.
April to June exceeds 40C and the fort is exposed stone with long climbs: avoidable and worth avoiding.
July to September brings the monsoon, which turns the Aravallis green and is genuinely beautiful between showers, though the stone is slippery.
There is a sound and light show in the evening, which is worth checking the current timing of rather than assuming.
Getting There
By road from Udaipur, about two hours; from Jodhpur, roughly four and a half.
By train to Udaipur or Falna, then road. There is no station near the fort.
By air, Udaipur is the nearest airport at two hours.
Most visitors come as a day trip from Udaipur, often combined with Ranakpur. Staying overnight nearby gets you the fort at opening and the wall in evening light.
Is Kumbhalgarh Safe for Women?
Kumbhalgarh is a rural archaeological site with a small settlement and is quiet and safe. The FCDO does publish advised-against areas for India, and being precise about them matters more than a general warning. It advises against all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, except air travel to and movement within the city of Jammu, and against all travel within 10km of the India-Pakistan border, where the Wagah-Attari crossing is closed. It advises against all but essential travel to the state of Manipur, including Imphal. None of that is anywhere near this destination, and it is worth knowing which parts of a very large country the warnings actually describe.
The FCDO advises against all travel within 10km of the India-Pakistan border, and the clause that matters for a desert trip is the next one: the border is UNMARKED IN SOME AREAS of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Approaching it away from an official crossing point could be dangerous and, where it is unmarked, could mean entering Pakistan illegally. The Wagah-Attari crossing is closed to tourist transit except for the daily retreat ceremony, so anyone planning to cross overland between the two countries needs a different plan entirely. A dune excursion sold locally will not be measuring its distance from an international boundary for you.
THE CLIMB AND THE DROPS ARE THE REAL HAZARDS. The route to the Badal Mahal is a sustained stepped ascent of a few hundred metres of height, the steps are uneven and worn, and the rampart walks have unprotected edges in many places with long drops on both sides. There is no modern railing on most of the wall and there should not be; it is a fifteenth century fortification.
Do not walk the wall away from the fort complex alone. It runs for 36 kilometres through wildlife sanctuary, there is no phone signal on much of it, and the sanctuary holds leopard and sloth bear. Walks along the wall are available with guides.
Monkeys are present and bold around the gates and the food stalls.
There is almost no shade and no water inside the fort, and at 40C in May that combination is dangerous rather than uncomfortable.
The Kumbhalgarh Packing List
A long exposed climb at 1,100 metres, with cold nights and a serious hot season.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women does three jobs on a fort day: it keeps the sun off your arms across a site with almost no shade, it keeps working while you are damp from a sustained climb, and it satisfies the covered-shoulders expectation at the temples inside the walls. From November to February add a heavyweight merino base layer, because a January night in the Aravallis at 1,100 metres approaches freezing and the heritage hotels are often unheated.
A fleece mid layer for the evenings and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket during the monsoon.
Merrell Moab 3 waterproof hiking boots with ankle support and Darn Tough merino socks. THIS IS THE LINE THAT MATTERS: the steps are uneven and worn, the rampart surface is broken, and the edges are unprotected, so footwear is a safety item here rather than a comfort one.
A wide brim sun hat and a RAYMYLO insulated water bottle carried full from outside, since nothing is sold inside.
Not linked and worth packing: A LARGE SCARF for the temples and for dust; SUNGLASSES; A TORCH for the darker palace rooms; and CASH for the entry, the guide and the sound and light show. Cards work at the heritage hotels.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Kumbhalgarh
Emergency numbers: 112 is the single national emergency number and works from any phone. 100 reaches police directly, 108 ambulance and 101 fire. 1091 is the national women's helpline and 1098 the child helpline.
The rampart walks have unprotected edges in many places with long drops on both sides, and there is no modern railing on most of the wall. The climb to the Badal Mahal is a sustained stepped ascent on uneven worn stone. DO NOT WALK THE WALL AWAY FROM THE FORT COMPLEX ALONE: it runs 36 kilometres through a wildlife sanctuary holding leopard and sloth bear, with no phone signal on much of it, and guided wall walks exist for exactly this reason. THERE IS ALMOST NO SHADE AND NO WATER INSIDE THE FORT, which at 40C in May is dangerous rather than uncomfortable: carry water in. MONKEYS ARE BOLD around the gates. WINTER NIGHTS AT 1,100 METRES APPROACH FREEZING in January and the hotels are often unheated.
US State Department travel advisory: the India advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/india, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: there is a small health centre at Kelwara, the nearest town. Serious cases go to Udaipur, about two hours away by road, which has good private and public hospitals. Dial 108 for an ambulance. Insurance covering road evacuation is sensible for a rural hill site. Healthcare in the large Indian cities is genuinely good in the private hospitals and variable in the public ones, and the private sector expects payment or a direct insurance guarantee up front. Carry insurance with a high medical limit and repatriation cover, and carry proof of it. The commonest problem by far is not dramatic: it is stomach upset, so drink sealed bottled or filtered water, and be more careful with raw salad and cut fruit than with hot food cooked in front of you.
Official health authority: the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. covers the Rajasthan state health service
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in New Delhi.
Official tourism authority: Incredible India, the Ministry of Tourism's official site. publishes the fort entry arrangements, the sound and light show timings and the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary permits
Takeaways
Thirty six kilometres of wall, second only to the Great Wall. See it from the Badal Mahal.
Carry water in. There is none inside and almost no shade.
Do not walk the wall alone away from the fort. It crosses a sanctuary.
Pair it with Ranakpur and stay two nights rather than day-tripping from Udaipur.
Solo women safety assessment: Kumbhalgarh is easy for a woman alone in the way rural archaeological sites usually are: the visitors are Indian families and small groups, there is a guard presence, the paths are busy in daylight, and the settlement below is tiny and entirely used to foreigners arriving from Udaipur. Dress covered, as at any site with working temples inside it, and nothing else about the social situation requires management. 112 IS THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY NUMBER, with 100 for police, 108 for an ambulance and 1091 the women's helpline, and Udaipur's hospitals are two hours away, which is the practical limit on what can be done quickly. THE FCDO'S INDIAN PROHIBITIONS ARE ELSEWHERE ENTIRELY: Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, the Naxalite states to the east, and the 10km India-Pakistan border strip, which is several hundred kilometres north west of the Aravallis, so the unmarked-border clause has no bearing here. THE DANGER AT THIS FORT IS PHYSICAL AND IT IS THE EDGES. The rampart is the attraction and for long stretches it has no barrier of any kind, which is correct for a fifteenth century fortification and means the responsibility is yours: the surface is broken, the drops are substantial on both sides, and the temptation to walk further along the wall for a better photograph is exactly the thing to resist. THE SECOND, AND THIS IS THE ONE PEOPLE GET WRONG: the wall continues for 36 kilometres through the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, there is no signal on most of it, and the sanctuary holds leopard and sloth bear. Do not set off along it alone. Guided wall walks exist and are the right way to do it. THE THIRD IS HEAT, because the fort is a long exposed climb with no shade and nothing to drink inside, and in May at over 40C that is a genuine medical risk. The inverse catches people too: a January night at 1,100 metres in the Aravallis is close to freezing, in hotels that are rarely heated.
Reading On
Kumbhalgarh is Mewar and Udaipur is its capital. The Udaipur packing list covers the lake city two hours south and the Chittorgarh packing list the older Mewar fort east, with the Mount Abu packing list for the state's only hill station. North and west the Jodhpur packing list, Jaisalmer packing list and Bikaner packing list cover the desert, and the Jaipur packing list, Pushkar packing list and Bharatpur packing list the east. South, the Ahmedabad packing list covers Gujarat. For the country the India travel guide for women and the India packing list carry the transport, the dress expectations and the practical material in full. For why wool suits a long hot climb and a freezing night, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
