Day 249 of Indian places making you smile –The city of the old fort Junagadh
After driving through the Girnar hills we found ourselves at Junagadh which literally means old fort. And we had time to see just one important sight-seeing attraction of this place- an actual ancient fort called Uperkot. We entered the massive gates of the fort and drove past the impressive Jama Masjid. Our first stop was next to the huge 15 foot Cannon from where we could get bird’s eye view of the city. This was supposed to have been made in Egypt which meant that the ancient rulers had relations with people across the world!
My son was sick with fever and decided not to step out for our next stop at the massive old well called Adi Chadi Kuva with steps going down almost till the base. Our guide said that due to shortage of water in these regions, the ancient king decided to sacrifice 2 virgin girls and then construct these wells to ensure a permanent supply of water to the inmates of the fort. Giving in to the intense heat of the mid-day sun, we decided against going down the steps.
We then went to see some old Buddhist caves which were carved within the hill side. We admired the carvings in stone, took out our customary photographs inside, yet did not learn much from our guide who seemed to be in more of a hurry than us.
The next stop was the Navghan kuva which had a circular steps around the inner wall of the well. As we peered from above we could not even make out the base of this well and wondered at the immense quantity of water that was a source of life to the ancient inhabitants of the fort.
Just further ahead was the huge granary for the storage of food for the people in the fort. This was covered with mesh wire and I wondered how the people lived in self-sufficiency in this fort through the attacks of the invaders. Our guide said that this fort was besieged 16 times in the preceding 800 years of history.
We drove through the rest of the fort, said bye to the lethargic guide out and made our way out of the city. Just got present to how important it is to have a good guide, we obviously see the place through his eyes, there must be still so much more to see in this ancient city of Junagadh!
So which Indian place made you smile today?
Please share your experience of Indian places that made you smile
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