Unsung UP – I: Jhansi

The moment I hear the word Jhansi, the first image that comes to my mind is of Jhansi ki Rani, and the famous poem that I studied in school ‘Khoob ladi mardani who to Jhansi wali rani thi’. As I landed at the Jhansi station, image of warrior queen came in my eyes, and I tried to feel the ground on which she had fought the first battle of Indian Independence. Jhansi is a huge railway junction and is primarily used as a transit point to go to Khajuraho, which is its primary link to tourism. Geographically, it is unique as it technically falls in UP, but all roads from it lead to MP. Even the guidebooks cover it under MP instead of UP.

There are two major attractions that you can see in Jhansi, one is the Rani Mahal, which was the residence of Rani Laxmi Bai, and Jhansi fort, from where she fought the battle she is known for. Rani Mahal today is in the middle of city and from the outside looks like a large old house. It has been converted into a museum of artifacts that have been excavated from various areas around Jhansi. Some of pieces that would get to see here are better preserved than anywhere else, but sadly they are just lying around neglected and there is no one to explain them to you. As you enter the courtyard of the palace, you see the artifacts all around you on the ground floor and the place looks just like an old haveli, nothing special about it. But then as you follow the board directing you to Rani’s bedroom, you feel the specialty of the place. The stairs leading to the room are colorfully painted with floral designs. The walls of the palace are painted in traditional yellow and the windows painted with red and white scratch paintings. The color red stands out and so do the beautifully painted peacocks, a mix of mughal motifs and hindu colors. In its hay days it must have been an extravaganza of colors. The bedroom has some of the most exquisite paintings that you would ever see. I stood there and wondered at a life so short and yet so complete.

Jhansi fort is a typical fort, built on top of a hillock, gives a bird’s eye view of the city around it. The fort was built by the Bundela kings of Orchha, and it was faintly visible from there and the queen when she saw it first said it looks like ‘jhain sa’, which means like a shadow, and that’s how this place got its name Jhansi, after this fort. The famous battle that Rabi Laxmi Bai fought against the British was fought from this fort after her husband expired and her brother in law conspired against her. She jumped from the top of the fort with her famous horse Badal and reached Gwalior, where Scindias also betrayed her and she died while fighting there. The fort has anecdotes from her life, the five storied sheesh mahal where she came as a bride and lived with her husband, temples where she got married and prayed, gardens where she played and the spot from where she jumped off on her horseback. Our guide told us all the stories with a lot of pride and emotion. There is a light and sound program that happens every evening in this fort that we had to miss, but my guess is it would be worth watching. There is a museum also that was closed on the day we were there.

I would say, if you are there, you must explore Jhansi as well. Guidebooks do not do justice to this lovely city.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Why is it that when you read a bestseller, more often than not, you are disappointed? This book also is not as great as all the reviews make it out to be and how lots of women are raving about it. The fact that I am from India, the place where one third of the book is based, and I understand this country fairly well, could be my bias while reading the book.

The book begins with the explanation of 108 chapters in the book, which are equally divided among three countries that the author traveled. The three words in the title describe her quest or her discovery in each of these countries. She discovered pleasure through food in Italy, devotion through prayers (read staying in an ashram) in India and love in Bali or Indonesia where she wanted to balance her pleasure and devotion. It seems more than a co-incidence that the three countries have names beginning with I and the book is supposed to be a self discovery for the author.

First few chapters are devoted to set the context by describing a divorce that the author has gone through. Now we all know and have seen that divorces are painful and traumatic for the people involved, but the author seems to be focused only on her side of the pain, even when she shares that it is her who is willing to walk out of the marriage and not her husband. The book was paid for by the publishers, so the whole trip of one year looks like being planned out for the book, rather than the experience being shared in the form of the book.

I did not discover anything new about any of the three places she mentioned after reading the book. All I could gather was her personal journey that too was very self focused, with no connection actually established with the place. Though in the Bali chapter you would like to believe there is a connection that she had with a few people, but it was only till they were giving her selflessly.

Overall I found the travelogue very shallow and missing in depth. The concept was terrific, but the content could have been far more intense. But probably the book was written with the western audience, especially women in mind, and they may find this level of intensity fine.

Recommendation: Light travel reading, you may read.

Shashi, thanks for gifting me this book…:-)

Mesmerizing Madhya Pradesh – III: Khajuraho

Khajuraho is famously known all over the world as some of finest sculpted temples in the world, and also for the eternal question about co-existence of spirituality and erotica. It had been on my list of to be visited places for a long time, and finally it happened this December. The first thing that you wonder about when you reach Khajuraho is the obscure location and the existence of such magnificent structural gems in the middle of nowhere. It is told that this place was a dense forest once, though it is difficult to believe it so now. You just keep wondering where all the forests have gone and why did Chandela kings chose this place to build these temples. Another thing to be noticed is the existence of Jain temples with Hindu temples in every era and in every form and shape.

Khajuraho can be described as the temple town, though Bhubaneshwar competes for this name as well. There were supposedly 85 temples built over couple of centuries, from 10-12th century by various generations of Chandela kings, but as of now only 22 or so remain in varied degrees of preservation. The temples exist in bunches spread over a small area. This is similar to what I saw in Pattadakal last month, and am still trying to figure out why did they built the temples so close to each other. From a tourist perspective the temples have been divided into three main groups i.e. western group of temples which are classified as world heritage site, southern group and eastern group. Western group has the better preserved temples and if you observe the temples chronologically, you can clearly observe the evolution of the craft carefully depicted in and outside the temples. Over the period, the figures do not change much, but the body proportions, the expressions on the face, the body movements and the multi-angular view of the figures gets refined.

The Kandariya Mahadev temple is one the best preserved and most evolved temple of all the temples in Khajuraho and specifically in western group of temples and you can almost fall in love with this temple with an intricate ‘Makar Toran’. As the sun circles around this temple, you get a feeling of a temple made from sandalwood. There are 84 shikharas in all in the temple and you would get lost counting them. When you look closely at the figures on the outer walls of the temple, you would get a feeling as if each of them is trying to tell you a story, a philosophy or is trying to tease you and at times invite you. The body proportions are just perfect. Artists have depicted motion using tribhangi (dividing the body into 3 parts by bending or twisting) technique. The depiction of jewellery and clothes is so fine that you wonder at the mastery of the artists who would have first conceived them and then crafted them on stone.

Other noticeable temples are Lakshama temple, Chitragupt temple and Vishwanath temple in the western group, and Jain temples in the southern group. Matangeshwar temple just outside the main complex is also interesting, and is the only practicing temple as of now, with a huge Shivalinga. You can hear the enchanting aarti in the evening and early morning there. Chausath Yogini must have been a very different temple, but it is in such ruins that it is difficult to imagine how it must have been. There are some temples that are still being excavated in and around Khajuraho and you can visit those sites if you like.

All the temples define the Nagar style of temple architecture, where there are 3 or 5 major portions of a temple, in which the subsequent shikharas increase in height as you go closer to the garbhgriha. As per the vaastu all temples face east and have been designed in such a way that the first rays of sun fall on feet of the main deity of the temple in the garbhgriha. Observe this phenomenon early morning as the sun rises, and you will feel divinity around you, even though the temples are not practicing temples anymore.

Khajuraho is again one of those sites which are frequented more by non Indians than by Indians, and you can see the preparedness of the town to handle foreigners all around. Literally everyone can speak decent English. There are books and guides available in at least 10-12 languages from around the world. There is a good market of Indian art and craft which is mostly priced in international currency. If you are wearing western clothes, hanging a camera around your neck, have lonely planet in your hand and curiosity in your eyes, you would invariably be asked ‘Which country are you from?’, and if you say ‘India’, you would see a bit of disbelief and disappointment in the eyes. But none the less, they will move on and try to sell you the merchandise that they have. There are art and craft shops in literally every house in town, apart from the marketplace.

The renovation work is still going on at Khajuraho and Archeological survey of India is working on maintaining the look and feel of the temples as it must have been designed by the architect himself. Temples open at sunrise and remain so till sunset. When you visit it early morning, with very few visitors around, you would hear the sound of stone being chiseled. As you follow the sound, you would reach a corner of the complex, where you would see some people working on the sandstone, which matches exactly with the stone that has been used to build the temples. I tried my hands at chiseling some of the stones and now when I look back, I feel being a part of the legacy. And more importantly I enjoyed talking with the current day artists, who said everyone comes and sees the temples, but no one comes to meet them.

Khajuraho per se needs only one complete day, but if you want to cover temples in detail and the surrounding spots as well, you can plan yourself for two days. Like Hampi and Pattadakal, this is also a place where your camera would love to flirt with the sculptures, carvings, skylines, symmetry and the feel of the place. Early morning you can just go on clicking the amazing art scattered in front of you. Tour guides are awfully costly here and you can try reading the literature and taking an audio tour which is good. Guides can point out a lot of things that you may miss out on your own, but I feel they need to be genuinely priced.

There is a new railway station coming up in Khajuraho, which should make the connectivity better and more affordable. I don’t think place needs any recommendation, if you have the slightest interest in architecture, it is a must visit. And because of the way it is placed, this special place deserves a special trip.

Mesmerizing Madhya Pradesh – II: Orchha

Orchha is small hidden gem in MP, which in all probability you would not have heard of. As I was planning a trip to Khajuraho, a friend mentioned that while I go via Jhansi I should also visit Orchha, and I am glad I listened to him. It is the second capital city of Bundelas and had flourished in early 17th century. Like most kingdoms, Orchha is the cornerstone of legacy left by the Bundela dynasty.

It is small town that you can cover mostly on foot, but what is amazing is the fact that the town exists among the palaces and temples. So from wherever you are, you get to see the beautiful chataris, which are typical of the local architecture, creating a beautiful skyline, making it picture perfect. Orchha has palaces, fort, temples, samadhis in form of chhataris, beautiful Betwa River, a nature reserve and interesting stories. All the buildings give a kind of burnt look, as if the heat of central plains of India has left its marks on the buildings.

The most visited places in Orchha are Raja Mahal and Jehangir Mahal. Raja Mahal built by the Bundela king Madhukar Shah, is relatively simple externally, but has some exquisite paintings in the bedrooms of King and the main queen Kunwar Ganeshi. The legend has that the King was the worshipper of Lord Krishna while the queen was a devotee of Lord Rama. She dreamt of making a temple of Rama in Orchha and she went all the way to Ayodhya to get Lord Rama. She sat on the banks of river Saryu in Ayondhya and finally lord Ram came to her in the form of a small kid. As she tried to get him to Orchha, Rama had few conditions like she will have to take him to Orchha on foot, and wherever she keeps him in Orchha first he will stay there and not move from there. It took the queen some 12 years to get the idol from Ayodhaya to Orchha, while the king engaged in building a huge temple that would be visible from the queen’s bedroom. When the queen reached Orchha, the temple was still not complete, so she kept the idol in the palace kitchen and thought she would shift it to the new temple when it is completed. But she forgot the condition that Rama had put, and when the temple was complete and the queen tried to shift the idol, the idol refused to move. So the kitchen was converted into the temple and the new temple was dedicated to Lord Vishnu, and is now known as Chaturbhuj temple. Looks like in all eras it was the lady of the house who decided the faith to follow. People in Orchha worship Ram in form of king and believe him to be the King of Orchha. They believe that Ram comes to Orchha every morning and goes back to Ayodhya every evening. Both the temple and the Raja Mahal are preserved as they are not very old, but they could definitely be far cleaner than they are.

A new museum, Saaket, showcasing the different forms of paintings from across India is being built by Adiwasi Lok kala academy. This is located in what was once the Baarood Khana of the fort. As of now it has Madhubani of Bihar, Chitrakathi of Maharashtra, Kalamkari and Cheriyal Pattam of Andhra, Patua of West Bengal and Patta of Orrissa. All of these depict the scenes from Ramayan, glorifying the reigning deity of the town, Lord Rama.

Jehangir Mahal is a palace that was built for mughal king Jehangir, who visited Orchha for a day and stayed in this 236 roomed palace along with his troops. It took 22 years to build this place where the guests stayed only for a day. There was a sheesh mahal also that was a part of this palace, which has been converted into a hotel now. Jehangir mahal has been built in a fusion mode and depicts motifs that can be attributed to Hinduism as well as Islam. Walls have been painted using blue and green color representing the two religions and depicting the co-existence of these faiths in the times of Bundelas. The carvings on the sandstone doors and around the structure are all a mix of two types of architecture. While the domes are round in shape like Islamic buildings, but on top of that you would find lotus and peacocks representing Hinduism. The co-existence of both signs can be seen all around the structure. From the top floor of this 3 storied building you can get a view of the town of Orchha and also see the extent of the fort all around, along with some ruined buildings and Rai Praveen Mahal, which was a palace dedicated to the legendary dancer of the kingdom. From the top you can see the dancing platform where she used to regularly perform.

There is Lakshami temple, which is built very interestingly in the shape of an Owl, a rectangular temple which looks triangular from most angles as the main entrance is placed on one of the corners of the rectangle. There are some of the most amazing paintings of Orchha that are painted on the walls and roofs of the galleries of this temple. There are paintings made with vegetable colors and there are scratch paintings, which are made by scratching a pre-painted wall, usually done in red and white color. The paintings depict scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, lives of local kings and scenes from India’s first freedom struggle in 1857, indicating that the temple paintings were updated regularly by the local kings. Climb on top of this temple and you would get the view of Orchha through its delicate arches, again making it a picture perfect view. Do not miss the beak of owl on top of the entrance gate, built to make temple look like an owl, a vehicle of Goddess Lakshami.

The chhataris on the banks of River Betwa are the samadhis of Bundela kings and their families. This is the only place where I have seen samadhis of Hindu kings, and typically built in a variation of tombs. Most of the chhatris are 3 storied and built in Panchayatan style with peaks built in Nagar style of temple architecture. There are palaces, temples and baithaks dedicated to the Bundela kinsman Hardaul, who committed suicide to prove his innocence in an alleged affair with his elder brother’s wife. I met a woman who comes there and worships outside his temple everyday from morning to evening and believes that anyone who prays to Hardaul, gets anything that he or she wishes for.

Something that guide books never mention about Orchha is the nature trails that exist on the other side of Betwa. You can cross Betwa through a low bridge built on it, which you can walk on almost as you walk out of the town. There are various small trails that you can take and walk across the jungle, through Orchha nature reserve. There is river rafting also conducted by the MP tourism on Betwa, though I could not see much white water around the town, but probably they take you somewhere where there is some.

The things that really impressed me in Orchha, other than the destination itself were the hospitality of MP tourism and the first lady guide that I came across in India. We stayed in Orchha retreat, an excellent property run by MP tourism, located on the bank of River Betwa, has beautiful cottages and tents, reasonably priced and well maintained. The staff of the resort was very courteous, responsive and well informed. The manager himself was attending to most guests and the restaurant staff communicated with care. I have rarely seen state run properties being handled so well. Second was Premlata, the lady guide, who took us around the town and was very honest in sharing details, unlike some of her colleagues who wanted to rush through the locations or hide the fact that they did not know the complete stories, or tried to tell wrong timings for the monuments. She is still in the learning stage, but is probably a representative of upcoming India, where in small towns also the women take on some off beat and strenuous professions.

Though the guide books and even the local guides would tell you that you can do Orchha in 2 hours, but to see Orchha properly you need at least 2 complete days. There is lot of filth around most monuments in Orchha, which if taken care of, can make Orchha a major tourist destination. There were not many Indian tourists there, most of the tourists that we met were foreigners. The place probably needs some more publicity so that more tourists, especially Indians can visit the place. Like its name which means hidden, the place is actually hidden from most eyes. If you are there do not miss looking at buildings from the arches of another building. You can almost see every other building through every other one and take some excellent pictures.

My recommendation is that if you like history, picturesque locations, riverside and a bit of nature and hospitality, you must visit Orchha. MP tourism should probably look at introducing some walking tours of the place.