Being located within the precincts of the largest fort in India, the Chittorgarh Fort in Chittor district near Bhilwara, Fateh Prakash Palace Museum Chittorgarh is a heritage site for tourists. A visit to the fort in itself is one of the biggest achievements for tourists because they can see for themselves, the biggest fort constructed in India and the grandest in the state of Rajasthan. This fort originally belonged to the Guhilot kings which were given to the Sisodia Rajput clan. As per the historical data, the fort was originally constructed during the Mauryan Empire in 7th century for which the name has been derived from the Mauryan King, Chitrangada Mori as per some inscriptions in the coins. But in later centuries, Sisodia rulers of Mewar had possession of this historic fort for about 8 centuries continuously, when a series of attacks started on the fort from 16th century onwards. Some anecdotes are related the city of Chittor and the fort to the era of Mahabharata and the powerful Pandava brother, Bhima.

Structure of the Chittorgarh Fort and its Constituent Buildings

Circumference of the Chittorgarh fort is somewhere around 13 kms spread over an area of about 700 acres. Since it was built over a hill, it was difficult to be approached, further made difficult by the passing of the Gambhiri River just before reaching the fort. There are seven approachable gates designed during the rule of Rana Kumbha. Similarly, a number of palaces were constructed during the successive rulers of the Sisodia clan, one of which was the Fateh Prakash Palace. Inside the fort complex, there are about 65 historic structures, 19 large temples, 20 water bodies which are still functional, 4 palace complexes and 4 memorials. Fateh Prakash Palace was probably added during the year from 1885 to 1930. This palace was constructed by Rana Fateh Singh, near to the oldest palace structure of Rana Kumbha Palace, much of which is in ruins now. This palace complex has a small palace for residence and a museum besides a school.

Formation of the Fateh Prakash Palace Museum Chittorgarh

Even though the palace building was constructed in the early part of the 20th century, the Fateh Prakash Palace Museum Chittorgarh was established in 1968, where a major part of the palace complex was converted into a museum. It started with the showcasing of antique collections of the royal families through the years. Plenty of sections were created for displaying various kinds of items from different eras. The section for sculptures is the largest as these items have been collected from a lot of places and are also of different ranges of designs. Sections are dedicated to coins, sculptures, arts, weapons and various wood items, which are supposedly present in this region of Chittorgarh. Nearby Bassi Village is well known for the wooden structures and artistry.

Sculptures are found in plenty in the Fateh Prakash Palace Museum

A visit to Fateh Prakash Palace Museum will reveal the exotic nature of the collections, which have been divided into different sections so as to enable the tourists to check out the available features in the best possible manner. Some of the sections include the weapons and armoury, coins, paintings and photographs, wood crafts and sculptures, the last being the largest in this museum. Among the sculptures, there is a statue of Lord Ganesh from Pangarh, which is quite attractive and believed to be belonged to the era of 8th – 9th century. Lord Indra statue and another statue of Jain Ambica are also worth seeing. These statues belong to the medieval era and have been collected from the nearby regions, showing the rich cultural and religious history of the society in those ancient days.

Weapons display in Fateh Prakash Palace Museum Chittorgarh seems to draw a huge number of tourists. In this museum, all the weapons and equipments used in the battlegrounds of the Rajputs are displayed in broad details. There are daggers, knives, shields, axes, helmets, costumes and uniforms of soldiers, farsa and few other types of equipment required during war. Many clay models of people wearing these costumes and the fighting gear are kept in the museum. Wood crafts from the local traditional designs and also a number of items from the royal families are found in the palace cum museum in Chittorgarh.