A Kutchi Summer: Day 5- The Uparkot fort at Junagadh

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Ten of us skipped the last ride into Gir sanctuary, in order to make a quick dash to Junagadh. For sure, the rest would see spectacular sightings without us, that was a given! But I could not come so far, and go back without dipping into this part of ancient Indian history. Junagadh, linked to the Mauryas, important to Buddhists and Jains, a nawab who wanted to accede to Pakistan, the Girnar range of mountains...
The early morning sun falls on the Hiren river, as we set off to explore Junagadh
A purple moorhen watches us go - an Indica and a Qualis, ten of us peeled away from the lions of Gir.

First stop, the Uparkot fort. Believed to have been built by Chandragupta Maurya in 319 BC! The Neelam and Manek guns are displayed here. According to a board there, the Sultan Bahadurshah of Gujarat invited the Turkish naval force under Suleman in 1538 to fight the Portugese in Diu. the Sultan was killed, the Turks defeated and the guns abandoned! tehy were installed in Junagadh later.

Click on the picture and zoom in on the lovely detailing around that window on on of the walls of the structure that housed the Jami Masjid. The fort was abandoned for several centuries, some historians believe that there was a flood and the city was evacuated.
The inner courtyard. This part is believed to be a later addition when Muslim conquerors occupied and restored the fort, say tenth to fifteenth century AD. The pillars were arranged so that the roof had an octagonal opening.
One of the side corridors
The engravings over the mihrab
A closer look at the marble detailing, surrounded by graffiti. How did they get so high up to scribble, I wondered.
The Girnar mountains must have served as a natural barrier and protection. We did not have time to explore the temples on the highest peak (1100m and an extinct volcano), where you need to climb 5,000 steps to reach the Jain temples as well as aHindu temple.
Kites swooped and soared overhead
The upper ramparts
A view of the walls after we had descended to the site of the Buddhist caves
The entrance to the Buddhist caves, which are scooped out, in three levels from the surface downwards. The ASI board dated the caves, "stylistically" to the second century AD, the Satvahana period. There was a lot of kshatrapa pottery found buried in the caves, datable to 3rd-4th century AD.
This was the first chamber, a pond that collected rain water directly and also through a sytem of channels! Ingenious no?
Vanishing decorations along the roof. It was a hot day, but down below, it was remarkably cool. There were stone alcoves that probably served as beds for monks.
We could just about make out the carvings on the base of the pillars, down in level 3, floral ornamentations.
Emerging back up, and out from the caves.
A brahminy mynah was busy feeding its young.
A short walk brought us to the top of the Adi kadi Vav, a 162-stepped well!!
Here we are the head of the steps, looking down some 41 m. Its cut in the rock. Its probably one of the earliest stepwells in the country. Imagine, in times of siege, the fort thus had its own water source, but then again imagine walking up those steps laden with water!
The walls reminded me of the Petra rocks in Jordan, but what was really really sad was the state of the well. If you have the stomach, click on the picture and zoom in, the muck you see at the bottom of the steps is the well. I did not descend further because there was a foul smell emanating from below, and it is a shame that the ASI, which is charging an entrance fee, is not doing anything to keep this well clean.
A little further up was the Navghan kuvo, another stepwell, with a more elaborate forecourt.
I enjoyed the play of light and shadow, as I peered down those innumerable steps.
And was that a whole bank of pigeon-holes in the walls? The home for the official courier pigeons of the kingdom?

The sun was high in the sky, and we were glad to bundle into the cars and head out of the fort. Next stop, the rock edicts of Ashoka!