Standing at the top of a cliff plunging 366m to the plains, Rupmati’s Pavilion has a subtle beauty unmatched by the other monuments – and some of the dinkiest stone staircases you’ll ever climb. According to Malwa legends, the music-loving Baz Bahadur built it to persuade a beautiful Hindu singer, Rupmati, to move here from her home on the plains. From its terrace and domed pavilions, Rupmati could gaze down at the distant glint of the sacred Narmada River.
In fact, the pavilion was built in two or three phases and the style of its arches and pillars suggest it was completed 100 years before Rupmati’s time. Nonetheless, the love story is a subject of Malwa folk songs – not least because of its tragic ending. Lured by tales of Rupmati’s beauty, Akbar marched on the fort and Baz Bahadur fled, leaving his lover to poison herself.
This place is simply gorgeous at sunset.
