ex-Marine and Travels With Sheila were lucky enough to see a real, still standing, “Elephant Gate” during the journey through Rajasthan. It might have been at the Mandawa Fort, Castle Mandawa…or the Junagarh Fort in Bikaner (the most likely) but wherever it was, the Elephant Gate was astonishing.

Imagine an over 30-foot high massive wooden gate studded with lethal spikes at elephant-wounding level with an small door inset lower for human entrance! Not only that, but these two elephant gates had wooden, movable pillars. I had never even heard of an Elephant Gate let alone seen one.

An Elephant Gate is called Hathi Pol, and this one was decorated with beautiful designs on the outside. Elephant Gates were usually protected by statues/paintings of Lord Ganesh, a deity with the head of an elephant on the body of a human who stands for luck and success. (Ganesha is the only Hindu god I recognize out of the 330,000 of these supernatural beings.)

Elephants were very important to the Rajputs. They were the principal war machines, transported heavy goods and products and used in processions. Invincible forts were perched on steep summits to make the enemy’s approach difficult while the spikes defended access to the fortress. Elephant Gates…suttee handprints…forts…fairy-tale Castle Hotels… a few eye-opening sights out of the thousands to be seen in Rajasthan…