At Uparkot
A vicious writer’s block has me in its grip, as does my January vacation in Saurashtra and Kutch. I sometimes shut my eyes and find myself transported to the white expanse of the salt desert, in the (numerous) bead workshops of Dholavira, or in the cavernous depths of Uparkot Fort. And because I want to write about it all but don’t know where to begin, I end up not writing at all.
Given that royal intrigues seem to be everywhere today, I’ll start with the second part of the journey in Saurashtra (or the Kathiawar peninsula), where a sleeper bus deposited us after a night’s journey from Bhuj. We had underestimated the power of the cold winter air in a non-AC bus on a January night in a state with winters; fortunately, the wind that rushed in through the narrow gap between the glass pane and the window frame didn’t hurt us much. That said, we were glad to get into the warmth of our hotel and to wait till sunrise before we stepped out again.
We had chosen Junagadh as the base for our travels in Saurashtra, and since we arrived well before dawn and our room wasn’t ready, we set out on our exploration rather early. It was so early that restaurants weren’t open yet, and because it didn’t occur to us to go back to the hotel, we wandered down the road to look at Mahabat ka Maqbara. The mausoleum and adjacent buildings rise impressively across a vast courtyard, a curious mix of Islamic and European architecture. The gates were locked and unsure of the etiquette here, we moved on to make a stop at a bakery that was just opening its doors for a royal feast of donuts and a cream roll; the owner realised we wanted breakfast, and brought out fresh puffs as well. We then headed for Uparkot Fort at Girnar Hill on the outskirts of Junagadh, hoping for a relaxing walk on its ramparts — not anticipating the wealth of history it would unfold.
Uparkot Fort is believed to have been established during the Maurya period, but lost importance over time until it was rediscovered by the Chudasama king Graharipu, who is said to have restored it. The fort is maintained well and looks over Junagadh city and the Gir hill range. According to some scholars, Girnar can be identified as Mount Raivataka in the Mahabharata.
The walking paths are dotted with plaques that take the visitor on a trip through the history of Junagadh. Stories of strife, treachery, sacrifice, and cowardice, narrated through the profiles of important characters of Junagadh history, take you on a whirlwind, mind-bending tour. This is a city with an ancient, interesting past — it has a rich Buddhist history and is one of the sites of Ashoka’s rock edicts; a place of pilgrimage for Jain worshippers (twenty-second Tirthankara Neminatha is believed to have attained moksha at Girnar); and home to a number of Hindu legends (famously, the story of Muchukunda in the Mahabharata) and the place where Narsinh Mehta composed a number of Krishna bhajans. Junagadh also saw a long period of Muslim rule, during the later part of which the British arrived in India. At independence, Junagadh was one of the three princely states to refuse union with India, but was eventually annexed in 1948, even as Pt Jawaharlal Nehru called for a plebiscite. It turns out that Pakistan’s protest in the UN against Junagadh’s annexation is still open.
The entrance to Uparkot fort is dotted with little shrines, including one dedicated to a goddess mounted on a crocodile; this is probably Khodiyar Mata, who is worshipped widely in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The arches at the entrance are carved with flower and animal motifs, as well as other decorative patterns. Cannons dot the walls of the fort. The neat gardens are fed by ample water storage, filtration, and distribution systems; we were reminded of the reservoirs at Dholavira, where water management was taken quite seriously, in keeping with the relatively arid nature of this part of the country. Within the complex are also a palace (or replica), a dargah, and the remains of Buddhist caves. The palace was the home of Queen Ranakadevi, wife of Ra Khengara and coveted by Siddharaja Jaisimha, king of Patan. While legends of Ranakadevi’s life abound in folklore, her very existence is not certain as she is not mentioned in Chalukya literature.
Among the most fascinating structure in the fort are the stepwells cut into the rock of the hills. Deep flights of stairs lead to the bottom of the wells, but with the number of pigeons in attendance, we chose not to proceed beyond a point. The rock-cut tunnels (Lashkari Vav) that the soldiers used are equally marvellous; it doesn’t take much imagination to populate the corridors with weapon-yielding warriors who lay low in anticipation of battle.
Uparkot Fort was restored in 2023 and this might be a good time to visit it, before graffiti-scribbling, wedding-photoshoot hordes descend upon it. Most of the visitors we saw were locals out on a morning walk, or boys skipping college. The crowds must have arrived later, but being among the earliest visitors that morning, we had most of the fort to ourselves, and enjoyed the long walk that whetted our appetite for Junagadh history, and also prepared us for the Kathiawari thaalis later that afternoon at Geeta Lodge.
