Idar Fort: Hill Architecture of Sabarkantha

The Idar Fort crowns a 900-metre granite hill above Idar town in Sabarkantha district, one of Gujarat's most dramatically situated medieval fortresses. The fort was the seat of the Idar Rajput state, a princely state that survived into the 20th century, and was historically connected to the Rathore rulers of Jodhpur. The steep granite hill required construction of the fort walls along natural rock contours, with gateways (darwazas) at intervals up the winding path. Inside, ruins of palaces, temples, and water cisterns remain, as well as a Jain temple that is still in active use. The view from the fort summit surveys the Sabarkantha hills and plains for kilometres. Local tradition credits the fort with never having been taken by assault due to its steep approach. Granite quarrying on adjacent hills, supplying black and grey granite for construction across India, has damaged the visual setting of the heritage monument.