India Travel

According to one legend, the name of Orchhas founding dynasty, the Bundelas, derives from an eleventh-century ancestor who sacrificed five severed heads (or five drops of his own blood) to the mountain goddess Vindhyabatha - a deed that earned him the epithet of “Vindhyela", or “he who offered blood". Expelled by his brothers from their homeland near Varanasi, Vindhyela and his descendants roamed central India until finally settling at Garkhundar, the first capital of Bundelkhand. Pushed on by the Delhi Sukan Tuqluq late in the fifteenth century, the Bundelas decamped 45km to a more remote and defensible jungle site. The old Malvvan outpost at Orchha, astride an island formed by a sharp bend in the River Betwa, proved an ideal platform £rorn which to dominate the region when the Tuqluqs’ power eventually declined.

Work on Orchha’s magnificent fortifications, palaces and temples was started by Raja Rudra Pratap soon after the move, and continued after he was killed I in 3531 trying to wrestle a cow from the clutches of a tiger. Thereafter, the dynasty’s fortunes depended on the goodwill of their mighty neighbours, the Moghuls. After being defeated in battle by Akbar, the proud and pious Madhukar Shah nearly signed his clan’s death warrant by showing up at the imperial court with a red tilak smeared on his forehead - a mark banned by the staunchly Muslim emperor. Luckily for the Bundelas, however, Madhukar s bold gesture earned Akbar’s respect, and the two became friends - an alliance fo^tc-rcd in the following years by Orchha’s most illustrious raja, Bir Singh Deo. Long before he acceded to the throne, the ambitious young Bundela saw the value of keeping on the right side of his counterpart in Delhi, Prince Salirn. In 1601, he assassinated the latter’s much-loathed adversarv, Abdul Fazal and sent Salim the decapitated head on a platter. The murder infuriated Akbar but was never forgotten by his son, who, when he became Emperor Jahangir in 1605, rewarded Bir Singh Deo’s brutal act by helping him to seize the Bundela throne from his elder brother Ram Shah.

During his 22-year rule. Bir Singh Deo erected a total of 52 forts and palaces across the region, including the citadel at Jhansi. the rambling Nrsing Dev at Datia. and many of Orchha’s finest buildings. In 1627, he was killed by bandirs while returning from the Deccan with a camel train full of booty.

Afterwards, Bundelkhand’s relations with the Moghuls rapidly deteriorated. Attacks by the armies of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, and the Marathas ensued, and a spate of eighteenth-century Jat peasant uprisings finally forced the Bundelas to flee Orchha for the comparative safety of Tikamgarh. Apart from the Siwcsh Mahal, now converted into a small hotel, the magnificent monuments have lain virtually deserted ever since.

ORCHHA. literally “hidden place", certainly lives up to its name. Languishing amid a tangle of scrubby dhak forest, 18km southeast of jhansi, the former capital of the Bundela dynasty has become an essential halt for the tourist traffic bound for Khajuraho on the nearby highway. The deserted medieval town is an architectural gem where guano-splashed temple shikhams, derelict palaces, haydis and weed-choked sandstone cenotaphs lie neglected by the banks of the tranquil River Betwa - home to troupes of black-faced langurs, vultures and wheeling flocks of bright green parakeets.

Clustered around the foot of the exotic ruins, the sleepy village of neatly painted houses, market stalls, and a couple of attractive hotels makes an excellent spot to unwind after the hassle of northern cities.

SONAGIRI. 61km southeast of Gwalior, is among the more ethereal landmarks punctuating the Delhi-Mumbai rail journey. Flowing down the east-facing slope of” a solitary hillock, deep in the central Indian countryside, 84 gleaming white shrines mark the spot where the legendary King Nanganang Kumar, together with five-and-a-half crow of his followers, achieved liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Today the site, sacred to Digarnbar (’"sky-clad") Jains, makes an atmospheric pause for a couple of hours en route to one of the nearby cities.

Minibuses to Sonagiri from the mainline station pull in at the “manager’s office” in a small village square, where you can check that it’s OK to visit. From here, most pilgrims make for the “mirror temple", down the lane to the left, m which artists can be seen fashioning mosaics of tirthankams from coloured glass and mirrors. More sombre spiritual pursuits take place in the seminary at the back of the square, next to the mam entrance. Old Digamhar monks conduct religious discussions with pilgrims in the courtyard, their distinctive, yellow wooden water pots (dariyes) and peacock-feather whisks beside them. For most of the year, these ascetics wander naked around the country, returning to monasteries for a few months to give and receive teachings. More secular Jams notch up credits on the cosmic balance sheet by making gifts to religious establishments instead - as evidenced by the dozens of donatory plaques set in the marble walkway leading up the hill. Crowning the summit of Sonagiri, the main temple houses a colossal tirthankara icon, while below it, a ceramic scale model of Mount Meru. the axial mountain said by Jams, Buddhists and Hindus to support the cosmos, looks out over the cascade of whitewashed spires and fluttering yellow pennants to the distant plains.

Without your own vehicle, the only way to get to Sonagiri is by train. Check the timings of onward services carefully before leaving the station, as only three trains in each direction actually stop here and there’s very little accommodation. If you get stuck, the office in the main square will fix you a dorm bed for a night in the Jain dhammshala, or you can try the railway retiring rooms. Pure-veg food, snacks, chai and cold drinks are available at the insanitary-looking stall opposite the bus stand.

Datia, on the main Delhi-Murnbai train line, is most often visited as a day-trip from Jhansi, or as a break in the journey to Gwahor, 71km to the north west. Buses run from both cities every half hour and there are ten trains daily. If you’re coming from Shivpuri, 97km west, you’ll have to change buses at Karera. Tongas and cycle rickshaws ferry passengers into town from the small railway station, 2km southwest, while buses pull in at a lot on the south side of the centre. Bicycles can be hired at minimal cost from a shop on the corner of the main road and the road to the bus stand, near Raj Garh Palace. You can get simple food and cold drinks in the dhabas.

Datia

Constructed by Bir Singh Deo at the height of the Bundela’s “golden age", the majestic multistoreyed palace at DATIA, 30km northwest of Jhansi, is regarded as one of the finest Rajput buildings in India. Although few of the visitors who spy the exotic hulk of yellow-brown ramparts, cupolas and domed pavilions from the nearby train line actually stop here, those that do are rarely disappointed. The palace presides from the top of a rocky outcrop at the edge of [& busy market town, overlooking a mass ot white- and blue-washed brick houses, packed tightly onto a saucer-shaped depression in the plains.

The Nrsing Dev Palace (dawn to dusk) stands in the north of town, separated from the railway and bus stations by narrow streets and lanes. Decorated with paintings and stone carving, the main entrance leads into the gloomy Bowels of the building under a massive five-storey facade. Half the fun of visiting the labyrinthine palace is trying to find a path from its pitch-black subterranean chambers, hewn out of the solid base of the hill tor use during the hot season, to the rani’s airy apartment on the top floor. In between, a maze of cross-cutting corridors, flying walkways, walls encrusted with fragments of Ceramic tiles, latticed screens and archways, hidden passages, pavilions and suites of apartments lead you in ever-decreasing circles until you eventually run out of staircases. The views from the upper storeys are breathtaking.

Scattered around the town below are several other Rajput monuments including a sprawling fort, die Bharat Garh. and the stately home of Datia’s present ruling family. Although not officially open, you can stroll into the compound where the obliging ckou/kidar may show you round the dusty and dis-organized durbar hall, which stands next to a multi-domed whitewashed Govind Mandir (Krishna temple). Immediately to the north, a large tank, the Kama Sagar. stands amid dhobi ghats and die rums of temples and W;/urns.The white pinnacles of Sonagin are also visible on the horizon.

Nearer the bus stand, the less impressive of Datia’s two hilltop palaces, the Raj Garh. houses a small museum (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm: free), whose dull collection of sculpture and painting is far less inspiring than the views from its balcony

Shivpuri can be reached by hourly buses from both Gwalior and Jhansi, 84km east, as well as from Datia (with a change at Karera). Tongas and more expensive unmetered auto-rickshaws are on hand at the bus stand in the middle of town to ferry visitors out to Shivpuri’s hotels. The lakeside MPTDC Tourist Village (07492/23760), 3km from the bus stand, is peaceful with spacious and modern chalets decorated with aiwasi art, with attached bathrooms and a/c on request. Ideally, you should reserve at least five days in advance (through any MPTDC office). Vanasthali (17492/33(157) is the best of the basic hotels along AB Road, close to the bus stand; the new all-a/c Hotel Delhi (07492/33093), just off the roundabout by the bus stand, is overpriced but comfortable.

The MPTDC hotel with delicious tandoori dishes or the pure-veg Hotel Delhi are the best places to eat. If you’re on a tight budget, there is a handful of dhabas on the main street near the bus stand.

SHIVPURI. the former summer capital of the Scindias, lies 114km southwest of Gwalior, at a crossroads on the main Jhansi-Jaipur highway. Local rulers from the Moghuls onwards were drawn here by the abundance of game in the area’s lush deciduous forests. These days, however, only a few fragments of woodland remain, and the small market town is now marooned in a landscape of shaly scrub, dried-up riverbeds and escarpments peppered with dusty brown trees. Apart from a couple of nineteenth-century cenotaphs and a minor-league national park, little remains of Shivpuri’s princely past.

The town’s main monuments, the chhatris of the Scindia family (8am-8pm; Rsl, Rs5 extra with camera, Rs30 extra with video), stand a two-kilometre tonga ride from the bus stand, by the side of the road leading to the MPTDC Tourist Village. Facing each other across an ornamental garden, the cenotaphs fuse Hindu and Islamic styles, juxtaposing slender temple shikharas with Moghul domes and pavilions. The larger of the pair, dedicated to the dowager queen Maharani Raje Scindia. boasts a grand double-storey facade that opens onto a water tank intersected by walkways. Her son Madho Rao Scindia s chha-tri is even more ornate, standing on a raised platform on the opposite side of the tank. The porch is flanked by ersatz Victorian street lamps; its intricately carved walls are inlaid with lapis lazuli and onyx and the doors are solid silver. Both enshrine lite-size effigies of the Scindias, each served and dressed daily by two manservants, and regaled with devotional music in the evenings (6.30—8pm).This atmospheric occasion is well worth attending.

Shivpuri’s other attraction, the Madhav national park (also known as Shivpuri National Park), is nor worth bothering with unless you have your own vehicle. Even then you have to pay Rs200 for entry and mandatory guide (Rs25). and the most exciting animals you’re likely to spot are run-of-the-mill Indian deer: cheetal, chinkara, nilgai, sanibar and chausingha. One advantage, however, is that Madhav is open all year round. Jeeps can be rented through MPTDC, at the reception desk of the Tourist Village; a two-hour tour costs Rs350 and includes the unexciting tiger safari (the animals are captive). Birdwatchers may find Madhav marginally more inspiring, however, as its large artificial (and crocodile-infested) lakes attract several species of migratory wildfowl during the winter. The rare Indian bustard also nests 40km away to the east, in the Karera bird sanctuary, which is only accessible by car.

With a couple of exceptions, all the best places to eat in Gwalior are in the mid- and top-of-the-range hotels, where main dishes set you back anywhere between thirty and a hundred rupees. More basic, and much cheaper dhal, subzi and roli meals are doled out on stainless-steel plates at the row of dodgy dhabas outside the railway station. Look out too for the juice bars dotted around the station and jayaji Chowk, over in the west end of town, which serve glasses of refreshing, freshly squeezed fruit juice (ask for no ice).

Banjara, High Court Lane. Very dim lighting, but a good range of mainly Indian dishes, imaginative daily specials, and efficient service. Western and south Indian breakfasts.

Indian Coffee House, Station Road. Delicious dosas and other south Indian snacks, plain or with “special” nut and veg fillings, Opens 7.30am for breakfast - iddlis and large omelettes with good coffee and the newspapers.

Kwality, MLB Road, near Fort View Hotel. Part of the north Indian restaurant chain serving up tasty veg and non-veg Indian dishes from a particularly long menu.

Landmark. Manik Vilas. The usual modestly priced multi-cuisine menu with an emphasis on Mughlaj specialities; the main attraction however, is the live Indian classical music every evening,

MPTDC Tansen, 6-A Gandhi Rd. Good Western breakfasts, and the standard, safe MPTDC Indian/Chinese menu; the biriyani dishes are particularly good.

Ushan Kiran Palace, Jayendraganj, Lakshar. Modest selection of (expensive) gourmet Indian and Western food, with lots of mouthwatering Mughlai-style dishes. The buffet lunches are good for a splurge.

If you’ve developed an interest in the ostentatious Scindia family, the two monumental sandstone chhatris (mausoleums) a short tempo ride north of Jayaji Chowk are yet another lavish display of their wealth and egotism. Aldtaugh the mhatris are a shadow of their outstanding counterparts in Shivpuri, the intricate stone-carvings and ornate paintings of life inside the Maratha royal court in the nineteenth century deserve a look, [f the chhatris are shut there is a chowkidar who will open them up.

You enter a courtyard, where the largest chhatri is on your immediite right. Built in 1817 to commemorate Maharaja Jiyaji Rao Scindia, it is most remarkable for the ornate outside panelling of interwoven flowers. The inferior is a large hall traditionally used for musical recitals, although dust and pigeons have got the better of it and the dressed marble effigy of the maharaja stareout into the gloom.

The second chhatri is reached through a yellow and white arch to lie left of «ie courtyard, and is a more compact and finely detailed version of the former. Constructed in 1H43 for the newly departed Maharaja Janakaji Siitdia, the sculptures and carvings depict the hectic lifestyle of a king. There are little stone elephants, each bejewelled and covered with a unique silk canopy. plodding in a line around the platform to symbolize the power of the makraja, and trie door is guarded by two solemn soldiers in full Maratha regia. As an antidote to the warring reputation of the Maratha rulers, numerous panels outside depict the life of Krishna surrounded by his many pleasure-seeking beauties, and inside the chhairi there are painted frescoes of princesses and court dances, as well as lite-size marble effigies of the maharaja and his three wiles,

Tucked away in the west of the city, the new Sarod Ghar museum Tues-Sun lOam-lpm & 2-5pm; free; ®www.sarod.com) is on Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan Marg.Jiwaji Ganj. Either take a rickshaw directly to the house, or a tmpo (Rs3) to Jiwyaji, a five-minute walk north of Jayaji Chowk (circle). The museum is in the beautiful ancestral home of the Bagnash family, which is worth a visit in its own right, with rose sandstone walls aligned in pure symmetry and delicate sculptural detail around a marble courtyard, still used for musical recitals (check Bewspaper listings or at the MPTDC tourist office). The Bagnash ancestors were originally Afghan horse traders who settled in India and pwduced a dynasty of musical virtuosos, including Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan and his son Ustad Amjad Ali Khan.

The museum traces the rich musical legacy that modern Gwalior is justifiably proud of, from the fame of Tansen, who played in the court of Moghul Emperor Akbar, to the first formal school of Indian music, established in the palace of Man Singh. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Scindia rajas faithfully continued the local tradition of royal patronage of tk arts; the musical talents of the Bagnash family flourished and GulamAli Khan Bagnash created a new instrument - the sarod. Combining the harsh sound of the rabab with the more flowing and melodious nature of the sitar, which is used to play the classical ragas of India, the sarod is a wooden plucked instrument with a large, conical bell-shaped base and long neck. At the top end of the neck, behind the tuning screws, there is a tamba - a second, smaller bell that produces the highly refined pitch of the notes.

As sarod music drifts around the museum, the informative galleries take you through the development of the instrument. The last gallery contains a hoard of classical Indian instruments donated by famous artists. These include sets of tabla (drums), the violin - which is very similar to the European wsion but played from the chest rather than the chin - and the sur-mandal (harp).There is also a small shop where you can stock up on books and recording of some of the finest performances of Indian classical music.