Bundelkhand : Off The Beaten Track

Winter, a season I look forward too, brings its own romance, with the freezing cold, a cup of steaming ginger tea,  lazing in the sun, cracking moongphalis, eating mooli-gajar with kala namak, juicy green guavas, sweet peas….surrounded by the vibrant colours of the chrysanthemums and dahlias.....It is also the perfect season to travel in India.

It was on one such winter afternoon that the wanderlust bit me again. And believe you me that it was in half an hour that I had coerced by husband to book our tickets online and we were set ……for Orchha, a small town in Madhya Pradesh which I had read about years ago, in a travel magazine on a flight. The pictures had remained somewhere in my mind with a promise to visit.

A five hour comfortable Shatabdi train journey and we were in Jhansi, with Orchha just about 20 kms away. Orchha literally springs on you after a short drive of about 35 minutes on the single lane meandering country road. As we neared the sleepy medieval town, the outline of the majestic temples, palaces and cenotaphs became visible from a distance, framed by a lush green forest cover in the background and the calm waters of the river Betwa. Orchha means hidden and in true sense of the term, Orchha is really hidden from the typical tourist circuit and remains a quiet town of a few thousand people.

The town was founded in the early sixteenth century by the Bundela Raja Rudra Pratap Singh and was the capital of the former princely state of Central India. It saw glorious times till the late 18^th century after which, it fell into decay as the capital was shifted to Tikamgarh by  Maharaja Vikramjit.

Bundelkhand is not altogether new to me, as my maternal ancestors hailed from Jhansi and one of the first postings of my father in the IAS, was in Lalitpur, a small town on the border of UP and MP. So one had visited the area as a little child, but this was a totally different experience. As we entered the town, we could see the stately portals of the Raj Mahal on one side of the road and the gates of the Ram Raja temple on the other side. One enters the town only after marking attendance at the Ram Raja temple, we were told. How the temple came about is a very interesting tale. Folklore has it that in the time of Raja Madhukar Shah, his queen Rani Kunwari Ganeshi was a devout ‘bhakt’ of Lord Ram, while her husband, the king, was a devotee of Lord Krishna. After many arguments between the couple, over their deities, the king challenged the queen to get Lord Ram to Orccha in thirty days to prove her faith, or else never come back. The queen took on the challenge and proceeded to Ayodhya where she meditated to convince Lord Ram to accompany her to Orchha. After thirty days were over and there was no sight of Lord Ram, she threw herself in the river Saryu to end her life. However, the Saryu threw her back, and lo and behold, Lord Ram appeared before her as a child. The Lord agreed to accompany her back to Orccha on three conditions. One, that she would have to carry him and walk back to Orccha, two, that he would reign as king of Orchha and finally, he would remain wherever she put him down first.

The priest in the Ram Raja temple very obviously enjoyed recounting this folklore, as he told us how in those days, even with no mobiles, it was possible to telepathically communicate with each other. Which the Rani did, by telepathically seeking her husband’s permission  to give his kingdom away to the Lord. The king, through a dream to the queen, not only permitted to give away his kingdom but also informed of the majestic temple he was starting to build for the Lord. And that is how the queen agreed to all the conditions of the Lord. After months of a long and tiresome journey, the Queen reached Orccha with Lord Ram in her arms. As the temple was yet not complete, the Queen temporarily placed the Lord in her palace. And that is where the Lord stayed, as per his condition, and refused to move to the new temple, now called the ‘Chaturbhuj’ temple. Today, the majestic ‘Chaturbhuj’ temple, built upon a massive stone platform towering over the town, stands very near the palace, which has come to be known as the ‘Ram Raja’ temple. Unlike other parts of the country, in Orchha, Ram is revered as a king and not as a god. He is accorded a guard of honour by the Madhya Pradesh police, every day, as would be accorded to a ruler. It is said that Lord Ram stays during the day in Orccha and goes to Ayodhya to spend the night…………… ‘ Diwas Orchha mein rahat, shayan Ayodhya vaas’.

One may call it folklore, but there is something about that palace turned into a temple. Perhaps it is the posture of the deity…Lord Ram sits in Padmasan, with the left leg crossed over the right thigh authoritatively like a king, with a sword in his right hand and a shield in the other. The idols of Sita and Laxman flank him on either side and idols of other gods make up his darbar. The prasad too is unique like a royal repast, which includes ‘paan’ and cotton dabbed with ‘ittar’ to be put in the ear. It is said that if one sights the thumb of the left leg of the deity, one is blessed and the wishes come true. I am looking forward to mine coming true.

Orchha is replete with such lores, which include stories of valour of the brave prince Hardol who took on the might of the Mughals and is still revered, and those of love of Raja Indramani and his paramour, poetess and musician, Rai Praveen. A beautiful palace built by the king for Rai Praveen stands testimony to their love. During the 17^th century, Rai Praveen performed in the court of Raja Indramani, and was as known for her enchanting beauty as her art. Her fame spread far and wide, captivating the Mughal emperor Akbar who summoned her to his court. Raja Indramani was too weak kneed a ruler to ignore the summons of Akbar. It was only the wit of Rai Praveen which saved her and the kingdom from the wrath of Akbar. While presenting herself in the court of Akbar she sought his permission to recite a couplet..’ Vinti Rai Praveen ki suniye sah sujan, Juthi patar bhakat hain, bari, bayas, swan’. Loosely translated it says, O good and intelligent, please listen to the prayer of Rai Praveen, it is only the lower castes, crows and dogs who eat from a plate from which food has been eaten by somebody else. Akbar understood the import of what Rai Praveen was conveying and sent her back to Orchha with full dignity and honour. A sound and light show at the Raj Mahal very eloquently captures the history as well as the folk lore of Orchha, transporting one to the era of romance, palace intrigue, valour and devotion.

As Orchha is yet to be truly discovered, it retains its old world charm and is not run over by tourists. The fascinating wall paintings in vibrant vegetable dye colours in the Laxmi Narayan temple and the Raj Mahal, seem as if they were made yesterday. The palaces feel very lived in and one can just imagine the royal family packing their bags and leaving for the new capital, Tikamgarh. Sadly, the flip side is the evident lack of any notable conservation efforts. The local people will tell you how statues in temples are disappearing and theft of artifacts is common.

Fascinated with this region, we decided to explore some more and headed towards Chanderi, a town made famous by its sarees. Chanderi is about 110 kms from Jhansi, a two hour drive. While we did come across a few tourists in Orchha, Chanderi is totally unknown to the world of tourism. The town is known to have its origin back in the Vedic Period, and is believed to have been founded by Lord Krishna’s cousin, Shishupal.  A quaint town situated in the picturesque and fertile valley of the Betwa, Chanderi is surrounded on all sides by the Vindhya ranges and dense forest. There is a Budhi (old) Chanderi and the relatively modern Chanderi which itself dates back to the 10th century. It seems, due to an outbreak of some deadly disease, the ancient Chanderi which is about 13 km from the later one, was abandoned and the new Chanderi flourished. Its strategic location helped, being situated on the ancient link road which connected the North to the South of the Indian subcontinent. It is said that the Chanderi fort was attacked more than 20 times over the ages, by invaders including Balban , Allauddin Khilji, the Delhi Sultanate and Babur. The well known traveler Ibn Batuta also visited Chanderi during his travels in India.

The citadel of Chanderi stands on the hill top, with a birds eye view of the entire town. Standing on its ramparts, one can see large gardens and orchards with the hills towering behind them on the horizon on all sides. The place is dotted with lakes, tanks, baolis and sarais which serviced the ancient travelers on this once important trade route. The town seems like a secret yet to be unveiled, which has retained its traditions and one can still see numerous old havelis and residences made of local beautifully carved grey and white sandstone, besides old sarais which housed the travelers. One such sarai which can be seen, has rooms built upon tall pillars, providing space for camels to be parked under the rooms !!

 

Since the link road lost its importance as years went by and with no major modern highway passing through the town, Chanderi has got lost in time. The fort is now mostly in ruins. There are remnants of a beautifully carved mosque and a Jauhar tal where the Rajput women performed Jauhar before Babar’s victorious entry into the Fort. Interestingly, the monument which caught my eye was a small oblong platform with a stone tablet stating that it was the Samadhi of the famous musician Baiju Bawra who was supposed to be a bigger talent than Tansen. Many may recall the vintage movie on this legend ‘Baiju Bawara’ with a young Meena Kumari and Bharat Bhushan.

Chanderi, I think, is most known today for its sarees. It occupies  a special place because of its centuries old weaving specialty of producing finely textured fabrics of silk and cotton embellished with zari woven work, which were patronized by royalty. The production of Chanderi has today been protected by India as a Geographic Indication (GI). In my search for a genuine chanderi handspun saree, I came across an NGO working for the upliftment of chanderi weavers community through technological interventions, which help them to showcase the magic of Chanderi weaving to the world. The NGO provides a platform for use of any single weaver or weaver self help groups (SHGs)/cooperatives to produce and sell their products through a portal, besides assisting the weavers with design inputs and handling of the supply chain, sales and marketing. The group includes very motivated young men passionate about their work. There was a young graduate from the prestigious NIFT, working with the weavers to upgrade designs, and a  computer engineer who had set up the digital platform, trained the weavers to use IT tools, and who was working towards setting up an internet/WiFi network throughout Chanderi. From a small office in the city palace, with weavers sitting on their looms in the running corridors of the ancient building, they were helping the weavers to bypass middlemen and reach out to the world. And yes I found some very exquisite sarees which I picked up directly from the weavers !!

I wish I had more time to spend in Chanderi so that I could do justice to this town and explore the alleys where architectural marvels seemed to suddenly appear at every turn. Not surprisingly, I am told that the town is well on its way to earning a UN Heritage City tag.

It was a picturesque drive back to Jhansi through the massive Raj Ghat and Mata Tila dams on the Betwa river and the undulating countryside. As night fell we stopped for dinner at the Irrigation guest house on the Mata Tila Dam. The cold night, the bonfire and the fresh fish right out of the Betwa waters, indeed was a suitable end to a satisfying day.

The holiday ended too soon for my liking. We had to catch the Shatabdi back the next day from Jhansi and I just had time to quickly visit my nani’s ancestral house in Jhansi before we left. It was an emotional moment when I saw the old sprawling haveli, inside the maze of alleys which make up the old bazaar area near the Jhansi fort. It does not happen often that your childhood memories remain true when you grow up. I am happy to say that mine did. The house was exactly as I remembered it as a child and I must compliment my aunt and uncles who stay there, for keeping its character intact.

Though the visit to Bundelkhand was short, it was enough to give a glimpse into the secrets which this region holds. While one part of me wishes that the secrets are never revealed to the world, attracting hordes of camera wielding tourists, with commercialization creeping in, robbing the region of its natural charm and romance, another part hopes that the rich heritage of this region is recognised and preserved for all to enjoy.