Introduction
Bundi lies embraced by hills, the capital of the Hada Rajputs who established their craggy stronghold in these forested hills, but fate and the forces of power created Kotah, a breakaway part of Bundi that went on to become larger and more powerful than its parent state. And yet, the strength and the delicacy of the fort of Bundi has not been recaptured by that in Kotah. Not that it is any less impressive for that. For the kings of Bundi and Kotah were patrons of art and commissioned Chitrashalas or picture rooms where scenes of hunting and paintings of the court cover entire rooms in the particular Bundi and Kotah schools. In these halls, elephants trumpet, horses march to battle, scenes from shikar are delicately recreated, complete with trapped tigers and hunters on horseback. The size of both forts is impressive, and their collection of royal memorabilia recounts centuries past.

Both Bundi and Kotah, fortunate to be located close to the river Chambal, and fringed by ravines, have attempted to create palaces around waterbodies, whether it is delicate pavilions set afloat amidst water in Bundi, or complete palaces such as Jal Mahal set upon lake-islands in Kotah. When in Bundi don't forget to visit the waterfalls on the Menal river. The falls lie on the Chittaur-Bundi road. The cavernous gorge down which the Menal river plunges is over 122 metres in depth and is the location of several Hindu shrines.