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Discovering Gopachal and Siddhachal Caves: Rock Cut Jain Temples of Gwalior
We visited a group of rock cut Jain monuments on the hill sides atop which sits the Gwalior Fort. The monuments find mention in the reports of Alexander Cunningham, who later went on to found the Archaeological Survey of India. Siddhachal Parvat – Cluster 1 We visited the Siddhachal Parvat first. This group of monuments are located near the Urvai road, near the Teli Ka Mandir within the Gwalior fort. The first series of monuments that come into view are a pavillion of 5 Tirthankars recessed into twin alcoves the hill side with 2 moreTtirthankars standing on the outside walls. No surface is left unadorned without carvings and there are…
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Bateshwar – The Divine Jigsaw
What is the biggest jigsaw puzzle you’ve done? I’ve done ones with 500 and 1000 pieces. Once, I finished a 5000 piece puzzle. I’ve also attempted a 40000 piece puzzle once. What if you had to put together a giant puzzle where each piece needs more than one person to lift it? Sometimes a forklift to do the work? Well, that’s the task at hand for the men and women at work in the Bateshwar cluster of temples at Madhya Pradesh. How to get there How to get there? The Bateshwar temple cluster is about 35 km from Gwalior, in Morena. There are buses that drop you off close to…
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Datia Palace – An Ode to Friendship
Datia Palace was built by Raja Vir Singh Deo (Bir Singh in Bundela) from 1614 CE to 1623 CE. Plan your trip Getting there We took a cab from Orchha to Datia, about an hour’s drive away. Our driver assumed we were on a pilgrimage to Datia and took us straight away to a temple. Expecting a palace to be our destination, we shared a few confused looks when our driver announced we’d reached our stop. When we explained that we wanted to visit the Datia palace, he didn’t know which palace we were talking about. We showed him the route on Google Maps, but the last stretch couldn’t have…
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Laxmi Mandir, Orchha
The Hidden Town of Orchha Orchha means ‘hidden’. This town in India’s Madhya Pradesh on the banks of the Betwa River was the stronghold of the Bundela Rajputs. True to its name, Orchha conceals many treasures of Indian history, art, and architecture. One such unique and breathtaking gem is the Laxmi Mandir, a temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess of wealth – Laxmi. The Origins of Laxmi Mandir Raja Bir Singh Deo, a Bundela chieftain built this temple in 1622 CE. The site of the temple is on a hill, near the Orchha palace-fort complex. The vantage point from the temple offers an expansive view of the palace fort of…
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Orchha and around – 2 Day Itinerary
The word Orchha means ‘hidden’. This was the stronghold of the Bundela Rajputs, who expanded their territory to what became Bundelkhand. There are a couple of origin stories regarding the clan’s name. In one version, the name originates from ‘Bund’ (pronounced ‘boondh’) or drop in Hindi. A ruler fell upon hard times and was exiled to the Vindhya range by his enemies. He became a devotee of the Goddess Kali and prepared to sacrifice himself to the deity. The deity appeared and promised the restoration of the dynasty’s lost glory. The deity bestowed the name Bundela on the dynasty to commemorate the drops of blood he spilt in devotion. In…
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Orchha Fort – of Gods and Men
The Hidden Town of Orchha Orchha, in present-day Madhya Pradesh, was the Bundela Rajputs’ bastion. The Orchha Fort is the name given to a complex of many monuments that were built by King Rudra Pratap Singh and successive Bundela rulers between the 16th and 17th centuries CE, as they expanded their territories into what became known later as ‘Bundelkhand’ or the Bundela nation. Internal strife caused the ‘princely states’ of Datiya and Panna to secede from Orchha. The dynasty fell prey to the Mughals and later the colonialists, who took advantage of the perennial conflicts and intrigue between the different Bundela ‘states’. The main fort sits on an island. The…
