Question
What are the most interesting castles or palaces in the world? What makes them interesting?
Answer
In terms of candidates from India, people generally pick the pretty palaces/forts on the Rajasthan tourism trail.
My personal favorites though, are less attractive forts that have more interesting stories attached. I'll share two (I've been to the second one)
The first is Chittorgarh fort, associated with the famous story of Rani Padmini. The fort was attacked by Allaudin Khilji, as legend has it, because he wanted Padmini in his harem. She committed suicide by jauhar (self-immolation) rather than give in to him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi...
The second one is Daulatbad fort, near the Ajanta/Ellora cave temples/paintings in Aurangabad. I've been to this one. It's rather decrepit, but due to its somewhat central location, in Maharashtra, it has played a pivotal role in wars in the subcontinent from about 1204 till the last Mughals. It is somewhat unique in that it has played a role in the military history of both the north and the south, since it is at the edge of the Deccan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dau...
I couldn't find a good picture, but another interesting feature is that its fortifications are of a rather unusual design for the subcontinent (a kinda spiral road up a mountain, somewhat like the Gondor fort in LOTR: Return of the King).
My personal favorites though, are less attractive forts that have more interesting stories attached. I'll share two (I've been to the second one)
The first is Chittorgarh fort, associated with the famous story of Rani Padmini. The fort was attacked by Allaudin Khilji, as legend has it, because he wanted Padmini in his harem. She committed suicide by jauhar (self-immolation) rather than give in to him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi...
The second one is Daulatbad fort, near the Ajanta/Ellora cave temples/paintings in Aurangabad. I've been to this one. It's rather decrepit, but due to its somewhat central location, in Maharashtra, it has played a pivotal role in wars in the subcontinent from about 1204 till the last Mughals. It is somewhat unique in that it has played a role in the military history of both the north and the south, since it is at the edge of the Deccan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dau...
I couldn't find a good picture, but another interesting feature is that its fortifications are of a rather unusual design for the subcontinent (a kinda spiral road up a mountain, somewhat like the Gondor fort in LOTR: Return of the King).