Gwalior – Gopachal- The Glorious
India is vast, and it has everything in
abundance and variety, be it nature, history, monuments or be it sheer people
power!
And in this vast land, there are glamorous
cities with impressive skyline, rich places to shop and aromatic places to savour
and relax; there are majestic monuments of bygone era, whiff of prayer flowers
in the premise of age old temple bustling with devotees and many more things
along with an aura of importance!
And then there are tiny towns which are
nothing but ordinary! May be a legendary water body or presence of divine or
just the crisp fresh air from Mother Nature but all this making them very visible
on tourist radar!
But then there are still some places devoid of
any such popularity. They are dusty and crowded, small town cities or overgrown
towns, just functional, carrying on with their day, struggling in their own
world! But somewhere something lures you
from the pages of old guidebooks and forgotten stories, and there you go !
 |
| Gwalior Fort wall |
Gwalior is almost the midpoint of the vast north
Indian plains. The slightly hilly
fertile land of Bundelkhand , watered by the great Chambal is like the first
gateway to Delhi while coming from Deccan plateau. The area around Gwalior is
rich in history. This country was part of Chedi desh mentioned in Mahabharat.
And is also part of 16 Mahajanpad in known history. The northern slopes of
Vindhya come closer to the eastern cliffs of ancient Aravali in this region.
Several towns, obscure villages and
remotest of the places are now on the ever evolving heritage map, thanks to the
piece of faith preserved in their hearts in the form of an elegant temple, a
fallen wall or a sculpted to perfection stone art!
Gwalior is characterized primarily by the
majestic fort guarding the plains around. The Gwalior city has snuggled close
to the fort from all sides. Sharp cliffs of brick red sandstone, now withered
and blackened in extreme climate of central India are visible from anywhere in
the city.
Earlier known as Gopachal, this solid rock is
conquered, adorned and cherished by various royal dynasties for almost for 2
millennia.
The
first fleeting references appear when Hun king Mihirkul lost this fort to the
rising powers of Gurjar-Pratihar at the start of sixth century. There is a reference to a sun temple built on
the fort which is now lost in time. Gurjar Pratihar although operating from
Kannauj, accorded necessary importance to this key location in central
country. Several temples and inscriptions
are attributed to them and their successors, Kachchhapaghata rulers who followed them with an equally
long inning extending up to 12’Th century.
 |
| Gwalior Fort |
The winding steep road leads to the tourist
entrance gate of the Gwalior fort. A few steps and the ornate bastions,
intricately carved with peacock blue, looking splendid on the almond coloured
stone structure give a very impressive opening. The blue sky accentuated by a
mile long wall of this 'pearl in the necklace' is a sight to behold!
The beautiful palace that we see today is
built by Mansingh Tomar , the lion king of Tomar dynasty in 16'th century.
Lavishly carved interior in marble and sandstone, the ‘jali zaronkha’ or carved
windows, the tiny artistic galleries and several halls ! The opulence is visible!
The medieval palaces built by Tomars in 15'the
century and later by Mughals occupy the entire north eastern wall of this
gigantic fort. The blue and green patterned tiles on the outer walls have
become the trademark of Gwaliar fort. This tile making and their use in
construction is an art form we have almost forgotten. Further to the north as
you walk past several royal buildings, their domes reaching the sky and
minarets soaring up with richly carved balconies along with ornate door frames,
all befitting the brave kings and queens of those times.
 |
| Jauhar Sthal, Gwalior Fort |
Just round the corner is a big water tank, now
solemn and calm, reflecting on the past stories... This was the place where princess
Karnika bravely entered the flames of fire along with the queen, sacrificed her
life as the king Malayvarman and his soldiers opened the gates of the fort for
one final retaliation! Giving up life to
the fire in order to protect the women from brutality and mutilation from
invading barbaric armies of Delhi Sultan Iltumsh, Karnika along with 1300 other
women committed Jauhar and King chose the battle knowing well that the defeat
is imminent. Such courage and conviction, no wonder Rajput men and women are
precisely famous for this same commitment to duties, faith and Dharma!
An antidote to this saddening and angering
tale is to look around and see the tender love story between of Mansingh Tomar
and his Mriganayani Gujari Raani blooming in the wilderness around fort. The able king and his artist archer queen is
part of popular folklore.
While we admire their saga of love and devotion,
we need to travel back in time, a few centuries precisely to see some of the
greatest architectural works in form of temples, still standing and some
exciting discoveries too.
As we walked down the huge ornate gate on a
spacious pathway in blazing mid morning sun, the impressive fort wall towered
above giving some soothing shadow. One more turn, and we were facing an ancient
wonder. Built in 876 AD, this temple is dedicated to Chaturbhuj Vishnu, the one
with four arms. Fully carved in single stone, monolithic in nature with a
simple pillared veranda and inner sanctum, the temple is small. However the
real treasure is hidden on an inscription carved on the inside wall. The first
occurrence of number zero in inscriptions found in Indian subcontinent is here
on this tablet on the wall. The inscription tells us that it was in year 933 of
Shaka Era, in the bright half of month
of Magha, someone named Alla has built the temple and assigned this village for 50 flower garlands to be
supplied to the temple daily.
The
inside was dark and it was difficult to actually see the inscription and more
difficult to find a zero in it. But this discovery has put forward the fact
that decimal number system was well established and very much in practice and
part of day to day culture of people in the region.
 |
| Teli Ka Mandir, Gwalior Fort |
Back in the fort, on the western frontier
stands a real gem blocking even the sun by its astounding height. Standing tall
at 100 feet this exquisite temple known as 'Teli ka mandir' is a unique piece
of architecture. The shikhar is upsidal
or Vallabhi style, seen many times in southern temples. The carved celestial beings on the doorframe
and beautifully carved temple miniatures on the walls zooming upward will stun
you with their elegance and grandeur. Built in 8’Th or 9’Th century, the credit
is either to Yashovarman, the Gurjar Pratihar ruler or to Mihirbhoj. The
inscription found in the temple is dedicated to multi armed goddess. Hence experts
infer that this temple with unique
architectural style could have belonged to Sapta Matrika or some form of
goddess.
On the eastern cliff stand the twin temples of
Sahastra Bahu, the Vishnu. The smaller one further to the east, now glitters in
setting sunrays of golden hue. The larger one stands tall at 80 feet.
Intricately carved with sculptures, both the temples date back to 11’th century
and must have been constructed during Kachchhapaghata rule. This
Sahastra Bahu has colloquially become ‘Saas Bahu’ temple and this name is now
prevalent. However it is a massive structure dedicated to Vishnu, a thousand
armed one! Interestingly there is one more temple of SahastraBahu Vishnu and it
is also known as Saas-Bahu temple. It is also notable that these are always set
of two temples, be it on the banks of Banas in Nagda, Rajasthan or in central
country of Gopachal!
 |
| Sahastrabahu ( Saad-Bahu) Temple, Gwalior Fort |
How tranquil it would be to hear the entrance
bell ringing melodically, to breath in the combined fragrance of flowers and
oil lamps and incense sticks, to see the hustle bustle of devoted feet and
folded hands, and to submit to the rhythm of ancient chants echoing from the
corridors!
But instead what you experience is a dead
silence, occasional flutter of bats, almost empty courtyard and the uneasy
peace settled over the whole area.. The dusk descended heavily on the tall
pinnacle of temple, the Fort quietly gathered back the strewn memories of past
and held it close to the heart, to unfold them again tomorrow for new set of
listeners..
The saving grace was the soothing sound of
Gurubani from the nearby Gurudwara !
Coming down the royal fort, your eyes are
captivated by huge sculpted Mahavir idols. Carved in larger than life
perspectives these massive sculptures came into being during Gurjar-Pratihar
times.
The evening rays illuminating these carvings
linger in your mind for a long time to come, memory is cherished, the flame rekindled..
Comments