The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
Gwalior. The name, it is said in legends, comes from
the sage Gwalipa, who lived here in the 8th century.
The sage would have lived here in peace, without any fame accruing to him, if it wasn’t for the prince, Suraj Sen. The prince, suffering from leprosy wandered lost, in search of a cure. Arriving here, he met the sage, who asked him to bathe in a lake nearby. Lo and behold, the prince rose from the lake, cured of his disease. The sage asked for no fee, except that the prince build a wall atop the hill, to protect the sages who lived here, from the wild animals of the forest. The prince kept his word, naming the place after the sage, and so began the story of Gwalior Fort. At one time, it kept its inmates safe from the wild animals, but as the years passed, the fort grew as did the town, the wild animals disappeared and the fort now protected its inmates against their very own kind. The fort has seen innumerable battles, has stood strong, and given way, and yet stands to tell its tales.
The sage would have lived here in peace, without any fame accruing to him, if it wasn’t for the prince, Suraj Sen. The prince, suffering from leprosy wandered lost, in search of a cure. Arriving here, he met the sage, who asked him to bathe in a lake nearby. Lo and behold, the prince rose from the lake, cured of his disease. The sage asked for no fee, except that the prince build a wall atop the hill, to protect the sages who lived here, from the wild animals of the forest. The prince kept his word, naming the place after the sage, and so began the story of Gwalior Fort. At one time, it kept its inmates safe from the wild animals, but as the years passed, the fort grew as did the town, the wild animals disappeared and the fort now protected its inmates against their very own kind. The fort has seen innumerable battles, has stood strong, and given way, and yet stands to tell its tales.
The stories of the fort, and the land it protects, are
many and varied. The hill itself, once called Gopachala, had settlements on and
around it since prehistoric times. The region has been ruled by almost every
clan in Northern India, from the Maurya-Sungas, the Hunas, the Nagas, the
Gurjara-Pratiharas, the Kacchapaghatas, the later Pratiharas, the Delhi
Sultans, the Tomars, the Mughals, and finally, the Marathas and the British.
Every single one of them etched their identity on Gwalior, and on the fort, and
this is what makes Gwalior Fort such an interesting place. There are so many
stories, to be heard, and to be told, and this post is nothing but my own
feeble attempt, to tell the story of my visit. It is, by no means complete, so,
as you read further, please do keep in mind, that this is Gwalior Fort, as seen
through my eyes, and not necessarily a guide to the fort itself.
Our driver dropped us at the parking lot of the fort, and
we were besieged by guides. The Audio Guide apparently, was unavailable, and we
had no choice but to hire one of them. We finally settled for one of the older
men who had a license, and entered the fort complex. Instead of entering the
fort, our guide led us to the Amphitheatre built opposite, for the sound and
light show, and began with the story of the fort. Even as I listened, with half
an ear, to stories I already knew, my eyes strayed again and again, to the distinctive
blue, green and yellow tiles which covered the outer walls of the Man Mandir
palace.
The Man Mandir palace was built by Man Singh Tomar
(1486-1516), and the four storeyed structure is a triumph of architecture, with
two storeys above and two below the ground. The outer walls are covered with
beautiful tiled work, depicting all sorts of animals and birds – tigers, lions,
leopards, elephants, parakeets, ducks and monkeys, and even mythical creatures
such as makaras.
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| Elephant with a banana plant. The banana is a common motif on these tiled walls |
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| A tiger... |
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| Parakeets (in green) and makaras (mythical creatures resembling crocodiles) |
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| Ducks walking in a row... then a monkey appears (see centre) and the ducks (on the right) are disturbed and flap their wings! |
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| A leopard.. |
On the inside, the two levels over
the ground have exquisite works on the inner walls, including some amazingly
detailed jaalis or lattice work. The jaali which covers the balcony of the dancing hall,
so that women could see the performance without being seen, for example,
depicts dancing girls!
And even the brackets which hold the ceiling together are
carved to resemble elephants and peacocks, a recurrent theme.
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| Intricate work on the wall of a chamber, believed to have been the bedchamber of the king.. it is also believed that these walls were studded with precious jewels! |
If the top two floors are intricately designed and decorated, the lower
two are simple to the extreme. However, here, the detail lies, not in ornamentation,
but in design, allowing air flow, light, as well as communication with the outside
world! Passages are cunningly designed to let in air and light, while keeping
out arrows, thus making the subterranean levels extremely well protected from
all sorts of danger. At the same time, hidden pipes allow for communication,
between the rooms, as well as the upper floors.
However, the very same features led to the use of
these subterranean floors for purposes other than originally intended. They were
built to be used by the king to relax with his wives, with water pools and
swings. However, once captured by the Mughals, they were used as dungeons, to
hold, torture as well as execute prisoners. Among the most famous members of
royalty to be held and executed here were Kamran, a cousin of Akbar, and Murad,
Aurangzeb’s brother.
Awed as I was by the brilliant design of these subterranean
floors, I also felt extremely claustrophobic. Surprisingly, relief arrived in
the form a bunch of architecture students visiting from Punjab, on a field
trip. Their voices and excitement changed the atmosphere completely, and I could
imagine the place as it once had been, bustling with happy voices, songs and
laughter.
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| A girl sits on the window sill of one of the subterranean rooms. |
Coming out of the Man Mandir, I realized that so far we had seen
just one monument within the fort. The long wall we had seen from outside, and
the various domes and spires we could see, hinted at many more. And, sad to
say, I was already tired from the high steps of the subterranean floors. But our
excitement was high, and we were eager to see the rest of the fort. Would these
other monuments be just as interesting as this one? Wait for my next post to
find out!
beautiful... Is on my to visit list :-)
ReplyDeleteWill be happy to help you plan, Aarti... there is so much to see...
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