Haldighati, Rajsamand and the Maharana Pratap trail
Udaipur · 9 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹3450 for the whole vehicle, up to 8 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹3450 for the vehicle.
- Tata Sumo: Rugged 8-seater. The most room for the money. ₹4000 for the vehicle.
- Innova or Ertiga: The comfortable one on a long hill day. ₹5500 for the vehicle.
How Mewar fought back
Chittorgarh tells you how Mewar fell. This day tells you how it fought back. Haldighati is the narrow, yellow soiled pass where Maharana Pratap met Akbar's army in June 1576, and it is twenty minutes of your attention plus a museum that does the rest of the work.
Then north to Rajsamand, where a 17th century dam carries the Nauchowki: nine carved pavilions on marble steps, with the longest stone inscription in India cut into the embankment, and almost no visitors.
It is a quieter day than the forts and a better one for anyone who already knows the story.
Your day, stop by stop
1. Haldighati pass
The narrow defile with the yellow, turmeric coloured soil that gave it the name, where Pratap's army met the Mughals in 1576. Open ground and a short walk.
2. Maharana Pratap Museum
The museum beside the pass: the battle laid out, Pratap's armour and weapons, and a light and sound retelling. This is where the day's substance is.
Museum entry and the show ticket
3. Chetak Samadhi
The cenotaph to Pratap's horse, who carried him out of the battle and died of his wounds a short ride away. A small, quiet monument and the most affecting stop of the day.
4. Rakta Talai
The field below the pass where the heaviest fighting happened, with cenotaphs to the clan chiefs who fell. Open, unkempt and unvisited.
5. Haldighati's rose stalls
The pass sits in rose growing country and the roadside stalls press gulkand, rose water and sherbet. Ten minutes, good colour, worth a photograph.
Anything you buy
6. Rajsamand Lake and the Nauchowki
The 1662 dam with nine carved pavilions on marble steps down to the water, and the Raj Prashasti, the longest stone inscription in India, cut into the embankment.
7. Dwarkadhish Temple, Kankroli
The Vallabhacharya temple above the lake at Kankroli, from the same tradition as Nathdwara and a fraction as crowded.
Prasad and offerings
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the full day
- Pickup and drop at your stay in Udaipur
- Fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking
- All the Haldighati stops, which are spread out and usually missed
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Museum and show tickets
- The camera fee
- Guides
- Meals
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- Maharana Pratap Museum entry and the light and sound show ticket
- Camera fee at the museum
- Anything bought at the rose stalls
- Prasad and offerings at Kankroli
- Lunch and anything personal
Who this suits
Anyone who wants the Mewar story rather than another fort, and anyone travelling with someone who has had enough of forts. All of it is level or a short walk. The museum is the longest stop and is indoors and cool.
What to bring
Sun cover for the pass, which is open ground with no shade, cash for the museum and the stalls, and knees and shoulders covered for Kankroli.
Open ground in the heat, green in the monsoon
The pass and Rakta Talai are open ground with no shade, so from April to June go early and spend the middle of the day inside the museum. In monsoon the rose country is at its greenest and the pass is at its best. Nothing on this route closes for rain.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund
- After the start time: No refund
Safety and the operator
Licensed commercial vehicle, a driver who runs these routes regularly, and a GoExplorer support number live for the duration of the booking. Seat belts fitted in all three vehicle classes.
Questions
Is this better than Chittorgarh?
It is different. Chittorgarh is a huge fort and a long walk, and it tells the story of three sieges and a city falling. Haldighati is small, flat, and about one battle and one man, carried mostly by a museum. If you only do one fort day, do Chittorgarh. If you have done it, do this.
Can we add Kumbhalgarh?
No. Kumbhalgarh is in the other direction from Rajsamand and the combined day runs past thirteen hours with two hours of fort climbing at the end of it. Kumbhalgarh runs with Ranakpur as its own day.
Is Nathdwara on this route?
You pass within ten minutes of it, and we deliberately do not stop. Shrinathji darshan needs two hours and a flexible slot, which would end the rest of this day. It runs as its own trip with Eklingji and Nagda.
What is actually at Haldighati?
A pass, a cenotaph, a battlefield and a museum. It is a place that rewards knowing the story rather than a monument you walk around. The museum is what supplies the story, which is why the day gives it ninety minutes rather than twenty.