Bhangarh - The Ghost Town Of Rajasthan

Everyone loves a mystery or a haunted story. Especially if it has a plethora of legends ranging from ghosts to black magic up its sleeve. Bhangarh fort provides all these in abundance too.  A Place that has so many spooky stones around it that it arouse one’s interest immediately. Bhangarh, once glorious now feared. A place whose only inhabitants now are only an army of monkey and langoors. Located at the border of the Sariska Tiger reserve in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, Bhangarh fort is a 17^th century fort, infamous all over the world for being the ‘Most haunted place in India’. Even the Archeological survey of India (ASI) has forbidden the locals and tourists from entering the fort between sunset and sunrise, and locals have moved their town outside the limits of forts.

The town of Bhangarh was established in 1573 by King Bhagwant Das who had two sons. Elder one was Man Singh, the famous General of Mughal Emperor Akbar and the second one was Madho Singh. Bhagwant Das laid the foundation of Bhangarh as the residence of his second son, Madho Singh who lived and ruled here his entire life. Madho Singh named the city after his grandfather Bhan Singh and that’s where ‘Bhangarh’ comes from.

The fort, which is actually a small city composed of temples, palaces and multiple gates, covers a large area of land at the foot of mountain. But despite its beauty and the picturesque scenery, the fort is steeped in dark tales and became completely abandoned by 1783.

The historic ruins is said to have sent many a pulse racing because of the stories that are told, but the architecture merits equal attention. Bhangarh is a grand monument, indeed. One cannot help but feel sad that its praiseworthy architecture now lies buried in its legends.

Now what really happened here, no one knows for certain? There is very little information about this place in history books and almost next to no information about the kings who ruled here.

It is said that the decline Bhangarh fort started in 1630 after Chhatr Singh, son of Madho Singh got killed in a violent attack. The decline continued until 1783 when the fortress and the city were completely abandoned following the year’s famine.

According to a myth, Bhangarh was cursed by the Guru Balu Nath, causing the towns evacuations. Balu Nath sanctioned the establishment of the town but said: “The moment the shadows of your palaces touch me, the city shall be no more!” Ignorant of such foreboding, one ambitious descendant raised the palace to such a height that it shadowed Balu Nath’s forbidden retreat and thus the town was devastated as prophesied. The small smadhi where Balu Nath is said to lie buried is still there.

The other myth is as follows: The charm of princess of Bhangarh Ratnavati was said to be matchless in all of Rajasthan. Being eighteen years old, the princess started getting matrimonial offers from other states. In the same region there lived a tantric, a magician well versed in the occult, named Singhia who desperately in love with the princess knew that he would never be allowed to even see her, let alone meet her. One day, he saw the princess’ maid in the market buying scented oil for her. Seeing this, he got an idea by which he could meet the princess. He used his black magic and put a spell on the oil which would hypnotize the princess by her merely touching the oil, and she would surrender herself. The princess foiled this plan though. She had seen the tantric enchanting the oil and she therefore threw it away, whereupon the flagon rolled over a stone. As soon as the oil touched the stone, it started rolling towards the wicked tantric and crushed him. While dying, Singhia cursed the palace with the death of all who dwelt in it without any rebirth in their destinies. The very next year there was as battle between Bhangarh and Ajabgarh and Ratnavati died.

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Pushkar Camel Fair

People came for the Camels but stayed for the “Holy Dip” such is the dual nature of the Pushkar Camel fair.

Pushkar

Often described as a feast for the eyes, Pushkar fair is among India’s famous religious festivals and livestock fairs. Featured in numerous travel shows, films and magazines the Pushkar fair offers a once in a lifetime magical experience for travelers – looking for out of the world experience.

It’s an annual event that is a business fair and cultural extravaganza in equal measures. It is taking place in the small town of Rajasthan (India) Pushkar, 15 kms from Ajmer from 8^th Nov, 2016 – 14^th Nov, 2016. It is a weeklong celebration, concluding on the full moon day. This sleepy little town curved along the holy Pushkar lake lies at the edge of the vast Thar Desert. During the Mela, one can expect to see over thousands of dressed up and decorated camels racing, dancing and being traded. Hundreds of thousands of nomads and cattle arrive in the town for furious trading and partying before giving way to a splashy religious celebration at Pushkar’s holy lake. According to legends, Lord Brahma, believed to be the creator of the universe dropped a lotus to the ground leading to the immediate creation of a lake. He then decided to name the place after the flower, and thus the name, Pushkar. The city of Pushkar is home to the only temple dedicated to Lord Brahma in the whole world. Hindus consider a journey to pushkar to be the ultimate pilgrimage that must be undertaken to attain salvation.

Fair originally started to attract local cattle traders to do business has now also turned into one of India's most famous tourist attraction. If you want to see riveting color, resounding folk music, reverberating dance and laughter and the various sights, sounds and smells of Rajasthan, this is the perfect time for your resplendent Rajasthan trip. Did we mention it is the world’s largest camel and cattle fair?

For the nomadic tribes of Rajasthan Desert, camels are crucial. A healthy one can transport goods, supplies and people across great distances under harsh condition, able to go long hours without water. They give milk, meat and clothes to their owners. Even their excrement is of great use as fuel for cooking in a region where wood is hard to find.

In addition to camel and cattle trading, there are races, camel polo matches, folk performances, puppet shows, best breed contest, bridal competition, mustache competition, acrobatics, body tattooing, turban tying contest, hot air balloon ride, horse dance competition, exquisite handicrafts for the shopaholics or seeing how many people can balance on a camel etc. A trip to the fair is not complete without sampling the classic Rajasthani cuisine on a Dhaba.

The most mesmerizing feature of this carnival is probably the eclectic mix of people that come from different walks of life like Pilgrims, god men, foreign tourists, local traders and tribes, folk musicians, dancers, astrologers, snake charmers, photographers, hippies, artists etc.

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Dhanteras

Dusshera is over and the festival of lights - Diwali is just upon us. Interestingly, not all people know that the festival of Diwali is actually a five day long celebration which begins with Dhanteras. The festival of Dhanteras falls in the month of October-November on the thirteenth day of the dark fortnight, as the word ‘Dhan’ literally means wealth and ‘Teras’ comes from the date thirteenth. It is celebrated two days before the festival of lights and also known as ‘Yamadeepdaan’.

On Dhanteras, Lakshmi – Goddess of wealth is worshipped to provide prosperity and well being. Hindus also worship Lord Kuber as the treasurer of wealth and bestower of riches, along with Goddess Lakshmi.

Case in point bring up the word ‘Dhanteras’ and chances are everyone around you will immediately talk of buying Gold, Silver, Diamonds, Clothes, Utensils, electronics and other items of value. Of course it is an occasion to seek wealth and prosperity, but how this tradition comes about?

As the legend goes, the horoscope of king Hima’s sixteen year old son read that he would die on the fourth day of his marriage by a snake bite. On that particular day, the prince’s young wife laid all her ornaments, gold and silver coins in a big heap at the entrance of her husband’s chamber, lighted lamps all over and starting singing songs and narrating stories. When Yama arrived in the form of snake, his eyes got dazzle and blinded by the brilliance of the lamps and jewellery and he couldn’t enter the prince’s chamber. In a trance like state, he sat on top of the heap and spent the whole night listening to the melodious songs, thus missing his deadline and sparing the prince’s life.

For this reason, this is considered an auspicious time to buy gold and silver and light earthen lamps or deep and these are kept burning throughout the night glorifying Yama (God of death). 

The First lamp of Diwali are lit on this day. People hang up paper lanterns with festoons and send out the message of the arrival of Diwali. Dhanteras is not all about material wealth, it is also a time to develop spiritual wealth and family bonding. All family members arrive at ancestral home on the day. Grandparents and Parents wait for the day as sons, daughters and grandchildren arrive from distant places.

Happy Dhanteras to all of you!

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A Beautiful Tradition - Karwa Chauth

October 19th is Karwa Chauth. Karwa Chauth - an annual festival which is filled with colors, zeal and enthusiasm. The name Karwa Chauth comes from the words Karwa meaning pot and Chauth meaning fourth in Hindi. Thus, the festival comes on the fourth day of Krishna Paksha, or darker night on the Indian month of Kartik. It has both cultural and social significance since ancient times and is celebrated with huge fervor. Hindu women all across North and North western India practice fast from sunrise until moonrise on this special day and get dressed in their best attires with solah (sixteen) shringar and pray for their husbands long life and to enjoy the company of friends and relatives. Even unmarried women or girls keep this fast in prayer of a good husband. There are many stories that relate to the history of Karwa Chauth. The festival also coincides with the wheat sowing time. Big earthen pots in which wheat is stored are called Katwas, so the fast may have begun as a prayer for a good harvest in this pre-dominantly wheat eating region.

The morning begins with activities like applying intricate henna designs in hands and dressing up for the festival. After having the traditional pre - dawn Karwa chauth meal called sargi, women fast for the entire day. By evening, vibrantly dressed women gather in a house or nearby temple for Karwa chauth pija celebration. There is a tradition of reading karwa chauth story and puja thali for this special occasion is decorated with flowers and a small pitcher or karwa filled with wheat is placed in the center. All the women sit in a circle and as the story continues, ladies circulate their thalis. After the puja, this thai is handed over to the eldest female member of the family who blesses every women to get all the happiness in life. The moment moon rises, they would a glimpse of the moon and their husband. Next, the women would drink water to break their fast. This marks the culmination of the rituals of Karwa chauth which is followed by feasting.

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Shila Mata

The Shila mata (Stone Goddess) temple at Amber fort (Jaipur, Rajasthan) is dedicated to the Goddess Durga. Thousands of people from Jaipur and surrounding areas come here to pay offerings to Shila mata.

 Although Jaipur is known for its Murtikars (idol carvers), this particular idol was not made in Jaipur, but came to Jaipur from far away Bengal. It is believed that Maharaja Mansingh brought the statue of the Goddess Shila mata from Jessore (now in Bangladesh) in 1604. Legends say that Maharaja Mansingh received a defeat at the hands of king Kedar. Humiliated and depressed, the Maharaja worshipped goddess Durga to bless him. Goddess appeared in his dreams and asked him to recover her statue lying under sea near Jessore (now in Bangladesh) and install it in a temple. The idol was recovered from the sea in the form of a shila (slab) and brought to Amber, when cleaned and washed, the present idol appeared. This is why the goddess is named as Shila mata.

It took 10 long years to build the temple. The temple is made out of white marble and the idol is black in colour. An idol of Lord Ganesha is carved here out of a single piece of coral. Extremely beautiful is the whole conception of the temple. Adherence to the principles of vastu has made it as ideal work of architecture. The fort and the temple are on a hill and are cozily nestled in the lap of Mother Nature. The surrounding hills of Amber reverberate when special pooja is offered and drums are beaten. The visitors and tourist find that moment a most memorable life time experience.

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Karni Mata Temple

Karni Mata Temple

Karni mata temple is located in Deshnok, 30 kms from Bikaner,Rajasthan and is dedicated to Karni mata, a famous mystic of her times, believed to be an incarnation of Goddess Durga  (known to remove evil, misery, pain from our lives). Karni mata was the sixth daughter of Mehoji charan and Deval devi born in the fourteenth century in a village of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. A night before when karni mata was born, Deval devi, dreamt that a Goddess appears and blesses her with the words that the Goddess will be born to you, as an incarnation of Goddess Durga.  The royal families of Bikaner and Jodhpur officialy worship Karni mata.

It is one of the strangest temples in the world. The temple is home to over 20,000 rats which are treated as sacred. It is considered very lucky to spot a white rat in the temple. Apparently, even during the worst of plagues, the town of Deshnok was not affected. Strange but true, eating food that has been nibbled by the rats is considered to be a ‘high honor’. It is regarded auspicious, if a rat runs across one’s feet.  It is considered as that after Karni mata’s death, she became a rat. The Charan clans believe that once they die, they too will be re-incarnated as a rat and subsequently when a rat in the temple dies, it will be re-incarnated as a human again.

Karni mata lived for 150 years and remained young and beautiful. During her lifetime she performed many miracles and led her whole life to help all the needy people.

The temple was built by Maharaja Ganga Singh ji of Bikaner, which dated back to 15^th century. There is beautiful marble facade in the temple which has solid silver doors, which are made in Mughal Rajput architecture style. The silver doors were donated by Maharaja on his visit to temple. The temple contains foot prints of Mata ji so symbolize her visit to the place. There is idol of karni mata holding Trishul and Mukut surrounds by the rats.

To see the temple in full glory, visitors should come late at night or before sunrise, when the rats are out in full force, gathering food.

The karni mata fair is also very popular among the devotees and tourists. It is held twice a year. The first in March-April during Navratras and the second is held in September-October, also during the Navratras. During Navratras thousands of people travel to the temple by foot.

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Navratri

Navratri (Nav-Durga) is a nine day festival of Indians honoring the Mother Goddess and tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashmi or Dussehra, famous for the day when lord Ram killed Ravana. This celebration occurs twice a year. The first one is in the spring during March/April and the second one is in the fall during September/October, based on the lunar cycle. It is celebrated widely in every part of India with great enthusiasm with a different name of Goddess, like in Gujarat devotees worship as Goddess Jagdamba while in West Bengal it is named as Durga Puja. In Kolkata people erected huge pandals at various places for Durga Puja and set up great idols of Mata Durga for worship. In Gujarat, Dandiya and Garba are the two popular dance forms which are performed by the people during Navratri festival and in Rajasthan people worship at Sheela Mata mandir especially at Amer fort, Jaipur, Harsha mata mandir,Abhaneri, Mehrangarh fort, Jodhpur etc.. In every state of India worshipping and celebration style is different but the devotion is same.

Navratri is not just a time to celebrate and of joy but is to attain overlasting happiness, peace and bliss through self-disipline, self-control and sacrifice. Every day the festivities begin with aarti focusing on the nine different manifestations of the Goddess each day. Mother goddess is the energy of the trinity as the creative aspect of Lord Brahma, sustaining aspect of Lord Vishnu and destructive aspect of Lord Shiva are all encompassed within her. The trinity of Goddesses Durga (known to remove evil, misery, pain from our lives), Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) and Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge) together represent feminine energy that provides protection, love, prosperity and knowledge.

Nav-Durga is spiritually significant because it represents the three stages of an individual’s spiritual journey:-

·         Self-purification- eradication of the negative tendencies of our minds and hearts. People pray to Mother Goddess, asking her to use her destructive power to destroy all imperfections and faults.

·         Self-transformation – after self purification, the next three days of Navratri are devoted to worshipping the Goddess in her prosperity- bestowing form as Lakshmi. Goddess Lakshmi doesnot merely bestow material prosperity but also grants qualities such as calmness, peace, compassion, happiness, positive attitude and love.

·         Self-realization – during last three days, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped as the bestower of the true light of knowledge, wisdom and understanding.

Navratri is not just a time to celebrate Mother Goddess victory over the demons; it is also the time to pray to Mother Goddess to remove our enemies within us like anger, selfish desires, greed, ego and undue attachments.

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Kalbeliya- Dance of Rajasthan

Rajasthan has been a heaven of various folk art forms. A medieval history includes the existence of princely states, which provided patronage to these art forms and their artists. Vibrant, vigorous and graceful the dances of Rajasthan evoke the desert in all its moods. The desert comes alive when the local Rajasthan performer performs the folk dances that leave the people amazed.

The kalbeliyas, is a snake charmer community from Rajasthan, which performs Kalbeliya dance. They are renowned dancers, musicians and snake charmers and are identified as ‘gypsies’ in modern Indian culture. Kalbeliya is a nomadic community who sometimes introduces themselves as Saperas or Sadhu. Their traditional business is to catch snakes and to trade snake venom. Traditionally Kalbeliya men carried cobras in cane baskets from door to door in villages while their women sang and danced for alms. They revere cobras and advocate non-killing of the reptiles. Since the enactment of the wildlife act,1972 the Kalbeliyas have been pushed out of their traditional profession of snake handling. Today, performing arts are a major source of income for them and they have received widespread recognition within and outside India.

The kalbeliya dancers are exceptionally flexible, they perform beautiful stunts as they twist and turn their bodies in myriad ways, as is humanly possible. Sometimes they balance utensils, one or several upon their heads, or use swords and blades to carry out difficult maneuvers. The dancers are women in flowing black skirts who dance and swirl, replicating the movement of a serpent. The male participants take care of the musical part of the dance. They use the different instruments such as the pungi (a wooden wind instrument traditionally played to capture snakes), dufli, been, khanjari, morchang, dholak to create the rhythm on which the dancers perform. The dancers are tattooed in traditional designs and wear traditional jewellery, bangles, armlets, vibrant bindis, garments richly embroidered with small mirrors, silver thread and colorful ribbons. As the performance progress the rhythm becomes faster and faster and so does the dance. The harmony of their performance is amazing! These songs and dances are part of an oral tradition that is handed down  in generations and for which there are neither texts nor training manuals.

In 2010, the kalbeliya folk songs and dances of Rajasthan were declared part of its intangible heritage list by the UNESCO.

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