Jaisalmer Fort
In 1156, Raja Rawal Jaisal built the Jaisalmer Fort that dominates the countryside of the India – Pakistan border. The complex is called Sonar Kila (“Golden Fort”) for its gleaming golden sandstone walls and buildings, flourished on the east-west caravan path which conncts India/Central Asia to the Middle East and North Africa. Merchants built elaborately designed havelis, temples, bazaars with residences inside the walls of the complex of Jaisalmer Fort.
The fort was protected by double fortification walls with circular bastions that formed the key physical components used for defense and battle. A pathway between inner and outer fortification walls that allowed soldiers as well as horses to move throughout the structure at times of war.
The need for extensive water-management infrastructure could not have been foreseen by the builders of that time. Yet, as tourism is increasing & many homes were changed to guest houses, water drainage has become a real problem. The increase of water at a site built for a dry, arid climate caused water seepage into the clay rich soil under Jaisalmer Fort, further destabilizing it and setting off the collapse of more than 73 of its 469 structures. With frequently changing weather patterns like severe monsoon is endangering the fort.
In 1997, WMF partnered with INTACH to conserve and re-build a collapsed wing of Queen’s Palace. In 2001 work began on the courtyard of the King’s Palace. Both buildings were restored, the Queen’s Palace is now a interpretive center and the King’s Palace remains a museum of the Jaisalmer fort.
In July 1999, two bastions, a section of the pitching wall collapsed during intense rainfall