It was September of 2015, rains had already ignored Delhi that year. So with that extended spell of harsh summers almost coming to an end, a family outing looked desperate when you know that coming 2nd October is a long weekend.
And with a week to go, all of us started looking for a new destination to explore and relax our minds, that’s when my dad comes up with a place I’ve never heard of – Patan Mahal in Kotputli, Rajasthan.
I did some googling, but couldn’t find anything much about the place, but since the place was 3 hours drive from Delhi, we took off on 2nd.
With almost zero expectations we were blown away by the place when we reached there.
It was a sprawling estate comprising of three structures – a palace on the ground, a ruined fort cum palace on the slope of hill on the opposite side and an intact fort on the top of that hill.
Apart from the palace on the ground, the remaining two structures are abandoned but you can still trek to reach there.
The palace on the ground which is now converted into a luxury hotel has a swimming poolsurrounded by a lush green garden with colourful flowers, indoor games like pool table, table tennis, they have their own kitchen garden and a private forest, yes you heard it right, they have their own private forest.
The outlook and the entrance of the building is where you’ll fall in love with the place. Once you enter that huge wooden gate, you will find yourself in a courtyard with colonial style furniture and those colonial royal photographs hanging everywhere.
You are welcomed with a traditional welcome drink which would evaporate your travel fatigue.
The rooms are brilliantly designed in Rajasthani architecture. That red sandstone and those colourful glasses windows will mesmerise you. Each room has a different layout but the interior is simply breath taking.
They had a separate dining area all together where you have a buffet of Rajasthani cuisine including the traditional kair-sangri, gate ki sabji, lal maas and much more. The chef is in-house and knows his business well.
We wanted rooms next to the swimming pool and garden but they were already booked, so we chose the top floor, which was a good decision. After our dinner we sat outside, watching those zillion stars twinkling.
The place had a different vibe, that alluring silence of the hills, that mild breeze, that smell of sand in the air, the sound of the slightest movement of footsteps of some wild animal afar, that shadow of the fort on the hill top opposite to you. The whole thing just takes you back in the time and you start to think how it would have been in those times, and you just don’t want the night to end. But alas it did.
Next morning I started the trek to the two forts on the opposite side and it hardly took me 20 minutes to reach the first one. It certainly was in bad shape with walls crumbling and revealing the secrets of the old times. If any of you wondered how these huge forts, beautiful palaces we built, you should go to this place.
This fort has 5 levels. The lowest was an underground level where rain water was stored which was then used for internal purpose of the occupants. The two above that were huge halls for meetings and indoor activities, but was now occupied by thousands of bats. Move with absolute silence if you are there, you certainly don’t want to feel what batman feels standing in between those flying bats around him.
Fourth floor is where you enter the fort, moving through those tight rooms you reach the top of the structure from where you could see the Patan Mahal from where you started your climb. This is the place where the king once used to sit and enjoy the music and dance happening one level below him.
The place had many rooms around the main structures, which is believed to be of those maids and servants that used to work there. It even had a stable area for the horses and elephants.
And then there was a huge hall which was otherwise hidden hadn’t its roof been broken. I spent 4 hours looking how to get there, but couldn’t get to it. By then I was so tired and thirsty that I couldn’t gather the courage to trek to the top of that hill for the second fort. So I came back to Patan-mahal and spent the rest of the day in the pool sipping on my beer.
All in all it was a nice peaceful getaway from the rat race of Delhi.
Article credit: travdiary.com Dated: 15th July 2016
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