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Holding the fort!
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Staying in the old fort in Unchagaon is like living life in the glorious past
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IMPOSING STRUCTURE The Fort Unchagaon is a good weekend holiday option
It was a sad start for me. Just a day before, a friend was off on a trip to the swishy city of London, and early next morning, I was to head for Unchagaon, an unknown dot on the banks of the Ganga, a few miles off Bulandshahr. She wanted to borrow my
camera for her trip and I happily obliged, thinking with a sneer, ‘What photo op would Unchagaon have to offer?’ “But where is Unchagaon?” Half-heartedly, I told my folks, “One hour from Garhmukteshwar in Uttar Pradesh. We will have to take the Hapur highway. It should be about three hours drive from Delhi.”
Well, that was not to be. Just early morning, I got a call from Paan Singh, the manager of my destination, The Fort Unchagaon, a haveli-turned-heritage resort, now run by Leisure Hotels. The Hapur highway was clogged the day before, he said, and so, I should take the alternate route. Reach Bulandshahr, ask for Anoopshahar Road, then ask for Jahangirabad, and then find Amargarh and ask for Unchagaon from there.
Well, my cabbie was conversant only till Bulandshahar Golchakkar, so from thereon, our ‘khoj’ for Fort Unchagaon began. Thanks to Singh’s directions, and to the village people’s earnest effort at sending us to our target, we reached Unchagaon in flat three hours.
Through a wobbly dirt road, passing by tractors heading to the ‘mandi’ stacked up with sugarcane, at times, parking on the side to let the unmanned ‘bael gadi’ (bullock cart) pass! But yes, a thorough fun it was for the joy of watching village after village waking up to one more day of work, a life poles apart from the mall-filled Delhi.
Passing through Unchagaon’s Saturday morning saga, a village bazaar with domes of fresh potatoes, onions, cauliflower and the like up for sale besides a few household knick knacks, I finally set my eyes on the fort.
With a huge ring of a wall round it, with a tall arch of a gateway complete with cannons, the fort first looked like a set for a period film. Going by the entry gate, I saw horses flicking their tails aimlessly.
And then came the first view of the haveli. And my God! In absolute white, it stood silently, but so imposingly. Covered with tall trees of all kinds, some of them as high as the fort, some with their pink flowers sprinkling prettiness to the panorama. A regalia caught in the middle of nothingness.
The effect of the first glance remained till the time the friendly waiter ushered me into my first floor suite. With a comfortable sitting room complete with period furniture. One of the reclining chairs had ornate silver work on the sides! Plus, my room had valuable art works and a picture of Delhi “Before the Siege”.
Soon walking through the garden path, up a few steps to the dining hall for breakfast, I met the new generation owners of the fort. Though these two brothers often move to-and-fro from Delhi, their father resides in the fort. “His father Surendra Pal Singh, is in Delhi. He is 90 years old now and can’t travel much,” said R.P. Singh, the younger of the two brothers, pointing at a photograph of his grandfather holding his gun with one foot on a dead tiger. R.P. Singh also informed that Unchagaon is actually Amarthal on papers. Originally a mud fort, the present colonial style structure was built in the 1930s. A Rajput zamindar lost the fort to the British during the 1857 War of Independence and the present family got its possession in 1859.
Now open to tourists, the fort has over 20 rooms and suites, each different from the other. With fabulous pieces of old world furniture and other relics.
Some part of my day was spent taking a boat ride on the Ganga, looking for Gangetic dolphins but in vain. But the riverside lunch organised by the resort was a great idea. My trail back to the resort was on a tractor and it was a singular experience.
It shook me so much that nothing mattered after a while. With a lot of admiration, I was looking at the women sitting on the trailers of the passing tractors for doing the drill day in and day out. After a round of badminton with a fellow traveller, the eventful day called for an afternoon snooze.
For those interested in sporting activities, there’s a billiards table, a squash court, a jogging track and the resort also organises bullock cart rides for children, a visit to a nearby sugarcane factory and to the potters’ village. My dinner was organised at the fort’s orchard nearby, preceded by an evening of chaats and golgappas. After a sumptuous breakfast the next morning, I trot back to Delhi, leaving behind a page of history, still kept alive by birdsongs, interrupted only by silence. Carrying with me a kilo of fresh gur (jaggery)! Next time, I want to take my camera with me, to freeze the moment.
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A night’s stay at The Fort Unchagaon is priced from Rs. 3,200 to Rs. 3,800 per couple with breakfast. For reservation, contact the manager at 01573-4279130 the Leisure Hotels’ Delhi office at 011-46520000
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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