Chittaurgarh

	Chittaurgarh, Udiapur
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Of all the former Rajput capitals, Chittaurgarh (or Chittor), 115km northeast of Udaipur, was the strongest bastion of Hindu resistance against the Muslim invaders.

No less than three mass suicides (johars) were committed over the centuries by the female inhabitants of its fort, whose husbands watched their wives, sisters and mothers burn alive before smearing ash from the sacred funeral pyres over their bodies and riding to their deaths on the battlefield below.

An air of desolation still hangs over the honey-colored ramparts, temples, towers and palaces of the old citadel, which sprawls over a rocky plateau high above the Mewar Valley. Though less imposing than Jodhpur's Meherangarh fort, the ruins evoke more vividly than any other in Rajasthan the zeal of medieval Rajput chivalry.

Below the fort, the modern town, whose population of 85,000 is spread over both banks of the River Ghambiri, holds little to detain travelers beyond the narrow bazaars of its old quarter, and some tourists choose to squeeze a tour of Chittaurgarh into a day-trip, or en route between Bundi and Udaipur.

A one-night stop, however, leaves time for a more leisurely visit to the fort and a stroll through the town.