travelindiathroughmyeyes.com/jhansi-shivpuri-surwaya-off-the-beaten-track/
My first solo trip:
I had gone alone to many cities of India and Middle East on official visits but I had never gone on a solo exploration cum pleasure trip. In the first week of March of 2017, after rounding up our Gwalior & Morena region trips, while my wife left for Vrindavan to attend a religious function, I embarked on an interesting 4 days solo trip to the historical Bundelkhand region with the idea of joining her later at Vrindavan a day prior to our anniversary. My official solo trips had given me the confidence so I was not daunted or overwhelmed by the thought of solo travel. My travel took me to Shivpuri, Surwaya, Jhansi, Datia, Songiri & Orchha. A majority of my travels are focussed on history, architectural monuments, ancient temples & culture.
My quest for exploring the hidden treasures of ancient India took me to a small village called Surwaya (115 kms from Gwalior and 20 kms from Shivpuri). With some efforts I was able to reach it as hardly any one knew about it & it’s exact location and WiFi signal was not working!!! I bet none of you would have heard this name before!!
Surwaya Gadi & Temples
I was outside the gate of the fortress known as Surywaya Gadi at 9.30 am. The caretaker came and opened the gate and requested me to make an entry in a register. A cursory glance at the register showed that not more than one or two outside visitors came every day. The caretaker Kokh Singh was so glad to find a visitor. He willingly doubled up as my guide and took me around the place and narrated interesting tales about the place.
There are 3 temples, a monastery and a bawdi (well) dating back to the 10th century inside the fortress. The larger of the three temples was probably a Shiva temple and the other two facing the Shiva temple were Vishnu temples. These temples are small in size but have some wonderful sculptures and intricate carvings. While some figures have been defaced, a majority of the figures here are intact. I have to make mention of three special sculptures that I saw. One was that of a lady with the lower portion of her body in inverted position !! The second was that of standing Ganesh with his consort, it probably depicts the marriage ceremony !! The third was that of an animal that looked like an elephant or some mythical creature. I had never seen something like these in any other temple. I could not find a source or reference that could identify these sculptures.
The presence of a monastery with large two tiered chambers prove that this was probably a great learning centre. The well was to provide water for the residents. The fortress is a much later addition probably constructed with the intention of safe guarding the temples from further damage by invaders.
The temples & the fortress are being maintained by Archaeological Survey of India.
Enjoy a pictorial tour of the place and do not miss out on seeing those three sculptures that I have mentioned above !!
Shivpuri
Shivpuri located in the midst of dense forests was the summer capital of the Scindia State. These forests were the favourite hunting grounds of the Mughals and later the Scindia rulers & the Britishers.
Shivpuri has beautiful cenotaphs or chhattris of the Scindia kings & queens. The prominent among them being that of Madho Rao Scindia ( grandfather of Madhavrao Scindia) and that of Queen Sakhya Raje Scindia (wife of Jiyaji Rao Scindia).
The chattri of Madho Rao Scindia is built in white marble and has intricate lattice work. The chattris are well maintained and priests perform the daily rituals.
Freedom fighter Tatya Tope was hanged in Shivpuri.
One can also visit Bhadaiya kund where there is a natural spring believed to have curative powers.
One can also pay a visit to the forest reserve area known as Madhav National Park spread over an area of 156 sq km. Tigers do not reside here now though leopards, bears, sambhar, chausingha & Neelgai can be sighted. At the highest point inside the park stands George Castle, the beautiful palace that was built in 1911 by Jiyaji Rao Scindia for the British King George V who was going to visit the Park on a tiger shoot expedition and would have stayed overnight. As the luck would be, the King managed to shoot the tiger on the first visit to the Park itself and left the same day and did not use the palace !!! The record for the biggest kill stands in the name of Lord Hardinge who shot a tiger measuring 11 feet and 6.75 inches on 11th April 1914. A decade later the Prince of Wales also shot and killed a tiger but it was shorter by just a whisker measuring 11 feet and 5.5 inches!
I dropped the idea of visiting the park as their Jeeps were fully booked and the entry charges for private car was Rs 3K !!
Jhansi – a historical city
A visit to Bundelkhand can not be complete without visiting the fort at Jhansi from where Rani Laxmi Bai (popularly known as Jhansi ki Rani) began her campaign against the British empire. Even today every stone in this imposing fort sings in praise of her valour !! Jhansi is at the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh – at the time of formation of the States after Independence, it was included in Uttar Pradesh.
During ancient times, Jhansi was a stronghold of the Chandela Rajput kings and was known as Balwant Nagar. However, it lost importance in the 11th century after the decline of the Chandela dynasty. It again came into prominence in the early 17th century when Bundela king, Raja Bir Singh Deo of Orchha State built the Jhansi fort in 1613 as frontline of defense for the kingdom of Orchha. Bir Singh Deo was a great builder and Jhansi fort was one of the 52 palaces and forts built during his reign. Jhansi came under the Maratha Empire in 1729 when Bundela king, Maharaja Chattrasal offered Jhansi and some other parts of his state to the Maratha PeshwaBaji Rao I as a mark of gratitude for having helped him in defeating the Nawab of Farrukhabad who had attacked Maharaja Chattrasal’s kingdom. In the 18th century, the town of Jhansi served as the capital of a Maratha province and later the Princely State of Jhansi from 1804 till 1858, when the territory became a part of British India.
The Fort stands on a hillock and commands a magnificent view of the Jhansi town from its ramparts.
The fort later came under the control of the Marathas. Laxmi Bai after her marriage came to stay at this Fort at a very young age. It is from this fort she waged the first war of Independence against the British.
At every historical place, I do hire a guide and tell him to do a whirlwind round of the place in not more than 30 mins – listening to his part of the history (at times made up) and some interesting legends and anecdotes. While listening to him, I keep making a mental note of the monuments or sculptures whose photograph I have to click. I bid him good bye and then explore the place at my own pace and click pics. I did the same thing at Jhansi fort too.
Near the main entrance of the fort is the famous 4.8 m long ‘Karak Bijli’, the canon used by Rani’s forces against the British. The high point of the visit to the fort was the ‘Jumping Point’ from where Rani Laxmibai riding her horse ‘Badal’ with her infant son strapped to her back jumped down from the high wall. The fall was so steep that Badal broke his legs but Rani Laxmibai managed to escape from the pursuing British army on another horse !! The palace of Rani in the city known as Rani Mahal is now a Museum.
‘बुंदेले हरबोलों के मुँह हमने सुनी कहानी थी
ख़ूब लड़ी मर्दानी वह तो झाँसी वाली रानी थी’
These two lines in Hindi from the patriotic poem penned by the well known Hindi poetess Subhadra Kumari Chauhan has immortalized the bravery & valour of Rani Laxmi Bai in the annals of Indian History.
The British General Sir Hugh Rose said of her ‘The Rani was remarkable for her bravery, and perseverance and her generosity to her subordinates was unbounded…. Of the mutineers, the bravest and the greatest commander was the Rani’
Would you believe that Rani Laxmibai earned all this fame at a very young age because she died before she could turn 30 ??
Jhansi, a major cantonment and railway
junction is situated at the southern most point of Uttar Pradesh. It has
a population of about 0.6 million. It is at a distance of 420 kms from
New Delhi and 100 kms from Gwalior. Jhansi has produced many
International level hockey players including the legendary Major Dhyan
Chand. Some other famous personalities who belong to Jhansi are
Maithilisharan Gupt (famous Hindi poet), Indeevar (Hindi film lyrics),
Subodh Mukherjee & family (noted film producer & director), Raja
Bundela (Actor, Film & TV serial director & Civil Activist).
Chandrashekhar Azad, the freedom fighter had made Jhansi as the hub of
his organisation and spent many years in Jhansi.
It is the gateway to the tourist destinations of Khajuraho (175 kms), Gwalior (100 kms) and Orchha (15 kms).
This was one more travelogue that took you to some lesser known interesting places. Hope you liked it. Please read & comment.
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I am Life Member of INTACH, Nasik Chapter.
You may reach me at rameshkabra1956@gmail.com for any feedback or queries related to this post.
Next week we take a heritage walk around the beautiful town of Orchha (a place I had fallen in love with !)
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