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A Mukherjee World View | ||
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Underground and Over
Apparently this passage was more convoluted and extensive than the part you are now allowed to walk through. It had numerous cells and was used to keep prisoners. There was provision for dropping food down holes and even, it is said, some rudimentary waste disposal system, so that prisoners could maintain some level of hygiene. Another point of interest was the moat. Well, not the moat itself, so much as the method of crossing it. It wasn’t a drawbridge, exactly, it was more a kind of drowned bridge. The bridge had been built quite low, lower than the ground level on either side, and was accessed by going down a steep flight of steps. So, when they wanted to close entry, they would simply release water from the tanks built on either side and the water would flood the bridge, rendering it inaccessible. Then, to bring the bridge to the surface again, they would drain the water. Somewhat like a submarine in reverse. Nowadays, this ingenious mechanism has been barred off and you must cross the moat over a mundane, modern iron bridge at ground level.
The Baradari, the most visible part of the fort, was an octagonal white shape close to the top of the hill. It looked more like a pleasure palace than a place intended for defence or escape. Beyond it was another gateway, and beyond that the citadel, at the very top, with two cannons and the flagpole. Lower down were various other buildings: the strawberry pink chand minar, the double Olympic size tank or swimming pool, the Jain temple which looked like a mosque and housed a Mother India idol inside (?!), the chini mahal, the Ganesha temple, the Janardhanaswami cave and sundry others. It was altogether hot, huge and exhausting. We could easily have spent the entire day there, but we had not carried any food with us (highly remiss) and so our growling stomachs drove us out by 1.30 pm. We caught a passing bus and were back in Ellora before 2.00 pm. |
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It was this subterranean passage that was at once the most intriguing and the most advertised feature of this fort. It starts at an insignificant doorway close to the moat. On passing through the doorway, you find yourself very soon plunged into complete darkness, groping your way forward with a sort of morbid horror of touching anything (lest it be dead and rotting). Rumour has it that in olden days there were chambers where a smoky fire could be lit. Ventilation had been craftily arranged so that the smoke would get pushed into the tunnel, creating suffocation and panic among any unwelcome guests who happened to be wandering there. And if the confused wayfarer rushed forward in panic, he would find himself falling down a hole that led straight into the moat. If that failed, he might even find hot oil being poured on his head or burning coals rolling along the floor in his direction. Makes you wonder what on earth happened to good old fashioned hospitality and inviting people in for a cup of tea. 
All around the fort there were lovely panoramic views: the black rock of the hill, the ruins of what would once have been graceful palace buildings and rugged fort walls, the rust coloured grasses, the bare white tress, and beyond all this, vast, bare, golden-brown, the plains dotted with green trees, stretching away to low hills in the distance.