File:Water-harvesting structures.jpg

Summary
The Chittaurgarh fort has many water tanks built within its structure. These are actually rock-cut cisterns called take or tanks that accumulate and store rainwater. These tanks were created when the rocks needed for the construction of the forts were extracted from the ground. A total of 80 such takes can be seen in the fort. At some locations, there are dressed stone walls around these tanks to increase the height and the storage capacity of the tanks. These tanks stored the rainwater for four to six months, following the rainy season. Different types of water cisterns are found on forts, some are open to the sky, some are built-in caves in the rocks, and some others are dug under the ground and on the slopes. In some cases, cisterns were built in groups so that the surface runoff was diverted into the cisterns and water could be recharged and stored better.