महाराणा कुम्भा (हरविलास सारदा - मेवाड़ साम्राज्य के अद्वितीय विजेता, निर्माता व विद्वान्)

Maharana Kumbha. massive low columns, resting on a sculptured panneled parapet, and sustaining the roof of each story, which being very low, admitted but a broken light to break the pervading gloom."¹ In the central open space of the fort, on a conical hillock, stands the inner fort of Katárgarh. It is crowned with a palace called the Jháli-ká-Máliá or the palace of the Jháli queen. There are seven gates leading up to the fort. The principal (exterior) one, called the Hanumán Pol, from the image of the god Hanuman which with the gates was brought by Kumbhá from Mandor² and set up there, faces the south at the head of a road which winds gradually up through the gorge from the town of Kailwara at its base—a place of great historical interest. Between Kailwara and the Hanumán Pol there are two gates, the first being Aret Pol, or barrier thrown across the first narrow ascent about a mile from Kail- ¹ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I, pp. 670-71. ² Kumbhalgarh Inscription, v. 3. 131

Maharana Kumbha. wara. The second is called the Hulla Pol; the third is the Hanumán Pol, between which and the summit there are four more gates, viz., tha Gate of Victory, the Sanguinary Gate, the Gate of Ráma and the Chaugán Pol. Colonel James Tod says: "It would be vain to attempt describing the intricacies of approach to this far-famed abode, whose exterior is delineated by the pencil. A massive wall, with numerous towers and pierced battlements, having a strong resemblance to the Etruscan, encloses a space of some miles extent below, while the pinnacle or Sikra rises like the crown of the Hindu Cybele, tier above tier of battlements, to the summit,¹ which is crowned with the Badal Mahal or 'Cloud Palace' of the Rana. Thence the eye ranges over the sandy deserts and the chaotic mass of mountains which are on all sides, covered with the cactus, which luxu- riates amidst the rocks of the Aravalli." As one ascends the fort hill, there is on ¹ Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (original edition), Vol. I., page 670. 132

Maharana Kumbha. the left, Tārā burj called after Tara, the heroic consort of prince Prithviraj, son of Rana Rai Mal and grandson of Maharana Kumbha. Before we reach the Chaugan Pol we come to Nārchhālī, a small empty reservoir, from where, it is said, the tiger (nār) and the goat (chhālī) used to drink water together before the fort was built. After crossing the Chaugan Pol, the visitor has to his right the Topkhānā, where a cannon is pointed out as a trophy brought from Nagor. Further onwards is Nava-choki, which is really a temple dedicated to Navadurga. Here is a small fragmentary inscription stone in the pavement of the hall floor. Therein only two names can be traced, viz., those of Mokal, father of Kumbha, and Prayāga, i.e., Allahabad. The last gate, as stated above, is the Pāgdā Pol, so called because the Mahārānā here dismounts from his horse before entering the palace. Just inside the Hanumān Pol on the ridge below the palace is situated the Vedi, or the place where the Yajna in consecration of the fort was performed by Kumbhā when it 133

Maharana Kumbha. was completed. It is a beautiful three-storied building of great architectural merit; each tier is decorated with numerous massive low columns, resting on a sculptured paneled parapet and sustaining the roof of each storey, which being very low, admits but a broken light to break the pervading gloom. A memorable structure built by Maharana Kumbha, in A.D. 1458, in the gorge below the fort on the brow of the mountain overlooking the pass, is the Mámádeva Temple. The court of the temple is formed by a strong wall enclosing a large area. The interior of this wall was covered with immense slabs of black marble, on which was inscribed the history of Mewar from the time of Guhil, the founder of the royal family, to Maharana Kumbha. Col. Tod thus describes the state of these tablets when he visited this place on 19 October, 1819 A.D. “What a sight for the antiquary! not one of the many tablets was entire; the fragments were strewn about, or placed in position to receive the flesh-pots of 134

Maharana Kumbha. the sons of Ishmael, the mercenary Rohilla Afghan.”¹ “The tablets and most of the images of the divinities referred to by Tod, which were for long lying utterly uncared for, were removed by Pandit Gaurishankar Ojhá to the Museum at Udaipur. The fragments of the tablets, so far as a through search could bring to light, were picked up and pieced together by him, and can now be easily deciphered there. The importance of these inscriptions can never be overrated. They set forth the history of Mewar from the time of Guhila, the founder of the Udaipur family, to Rana Kumbha.”² Behind the temple of Mamadeva is an odi, or raised dais where Tārā, wife of Prince Prithviraj, elder brother of Maharana Sāngā, used to shoot tigers On quitting the temple of Mamadeva, attention is attracted by a simple monumental ¹ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. I., p. 672. ² Progress Report of the Archæological Survey of India, Western Circle, for 1908-9, by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar. 135

Maharana Kumbha. shrine on the opposite side of the valley, and almost in the gorge of the pass. “It was most happily situated, being quite isolated, over- looking the road leading to Marwar, and consisted of a simple dome of very moderate dimensions supported by columns, without any intervening object to obstruct the view of the little monumental alter arising out of the centre of the platform. It was the Sybilline temple of Tivoli in miniature. To it, over rock and ruin, I descended. Here repose the ashes of the Troubadour of Mewar, the gallant Prithviraj, and his heroine wife, Tara Bai,¹ whose lives and exploits fill many a page of the legendary romances of Mewar.”² In the shrine is a memorial stone on which various small figures are sculptured on each one of its four sides, with small inscriptions above, descriptive of them. Thus e. g, on the east side it bears five figures, the central one of which rides a horse. He is called ¹ This fair 'star' (Tara) was the daughter of Rao Soortan, the chieftain of Badnor. For some account of Tarabai and Prince Prithviraj see my monograph on "Maharana Sanga", Chapter IV. Prithviraj was one of the most heroic Rajputs that adorn the history of Rajputana. ² Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 673. 136

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Chitorgarh.

Maharana Kumbha. Prithirājaji, i. e., Prithviraj, and the horse, Sāhanadivā. Immediately on his right is Tárádê (Tara Devi) and further Bai Pāmāde. On his left also there are two figures, the names of which are, however, gone. Memorial stones mark the places where ladies became Sati on the funeral pyres of their husbands, and this particular stone commemorates the fact that Taradé (Tara Devi) and Pamade be- came Sati on the death of prince Prithviraj. Near the Māmādeva Temple, Maharana Kumbha built a large Kunda (reservoir of water), at the edge of which Kumbha was saying his prayers when he was treacherously stabbed by his son, Udá the Hatiáro (parricide). Kumbhá built the Kumbhaswami Temple in the fort and constructed a lake by it, and laid out a garden.¹ CHITORGARH. Kumbha strengthened the defences² of ¹ Kumbhalgarh Inscription, verses 130, 131 and 143, ² The Chitorgarh Kīrtisthambha Inscription, verse 26. Verse 183 says that in Kartik S. 1507 (A.D. 1450) Kumbha built a new bastion with battlements. The architect employed by Maharana Kumbha in Chitor was Nātha, brother of Mandana, who had built Kumbhalgarh, vide, p. 38.—S. R. Bhandarkar's Report of a Tour in Rajputana etc. 1907. 137

Maharana Kumbha. Chitor and built seven¹ of its gates—the Rampol with circular bastions, after Ráma the great hero of the Solar dynasty, the Surya Vamsa, of which the Maharana of Mewar is the head. This Pol was partly dismantled by Emperor Shah Jahan. The remains of its plinth are handsomely carved with figure friezes; the Hanumánpol, called after the temple of this god; the Bhairavapol, since associated with the name of Bhairavadas Solanki, who fought bravely and was killed at that spot in the battle against Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujrat in A D. 1534-35 ; Lakshmipol, Chámundápol, Tarapol and Rajpol.² Maharana Kumbha built the present road³ up the hill by which carriages can go up to the fort. Before his time there was only a foot-path. Maharana Kumbha also built a Rama Kund at Chitor⁴ and several stepped wells and reservoirs for storing water. ¹ Kirtisthambha Inscription, verses 36-42 and 125. ² The last four pols are now called Lakshmanpol, Jorla- pol, Ganeshpol and Pádalpol. ³ The Chitorgarh Kirtisthambha Inscription, verses 34-35. ⁴ Chitor Kirtisthambha Inscription, verse 33. 138

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Tower of Victory, Chitor. (Kirtisthambha.)

Maharana Kumbha. TOWER OF VICTORY. Kumbha's Jaya Sthambha (Tower of Vic- tory), also called the Kīrtisthambha (Tower of Fame) in Chitorgarh is another monument of his genius and a great ornament to that far- famed fortress. This celebrated Tower of Victory was erected to commemorate the victory which Maharana Kumbha had obtained over Sultan Mahmud Khilji I of Mandu in 1438 A.D., when Mandu was conquered, and its Sultan brought captive, and kept a prisoner in Chitor for 6 months. An inscription¹ in the perforated window in the second storey of the Tower of Victory offering the obeisance of the architect Jaitra and his two sons, Nāpā and Puñjā, to god Samaddhishwar dated Phālgun Sud 5th, V. S. 1499 (A.D. 1442) shows that the second storey was completed in that year. The Tower was completed in A.D. 1449 ; for the consecration ceremony of the Tower of Victory, as recorded ¹ Report for 1921 A. D. of the Rajputana Museum, Ajmer, p. 4. 139

Maharana Kumbha. in the 186th verse of the Prasasti of the Jaya Sthambha took place on Magh Sud, 10th, Pushya Nakshatra V. S. 1505 (A.D. 1449).¹ As it took 6 years to complete the building from the third to the topmost storey it may fairly be inferred that the foundations of the Jaya Sthambha must have been laid 2 years before the completion of the second storey i.e. in 1440 A.D. Describing it, Mr. Fergusson says : “A pillar of victory like that of Trajan at Rome, but in infinitely better taste as an architec- tural object than the Roman example.”² Colonel James Tod³ thus describes it : “The only thing in India to compare with this is the Kootab Minar at Delhi, but though much higher, it is of a very inferior character. This column is one hundred and twenty feet in height; the breadth of each face at the base is thirty-five feet, and at the summit, immedi- ately under the cupola, seventeen feet and a half. It stands on an ample terrace, forty- ¹ Kirtisthambha (Tower of Victory) Inscription, V. 185, ² History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, page 253. ³ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. II., page 761. 140

Maharana Kumbha. two feet square. It has nine distinct storeys, with openings at every face of each storey, and all these doors have colonnaded porticos." Each storey is lighted by trellis windows, and the angles and recesses not intersected by steps are utilised for statues and ornaments. The exterior surface is broken up into nine principal divisions each furnished with its windows, balustrades, eaves or Chhajjas and emphasized by columns, pilasters and numberless horizontal bands and cornices. A stair passes up the tower though its nine storeys but the peculiarity consists in its winding alternately through a central well and a gallery formed round it. The two upper storeys are open and more ornamental than those below. The whole of the lower is covered with architectural ornaments and sculptures to such an extent as to leave no plain parts, while at the same time, this mass of decoration is kept so subdued that it in no way interferes either with the outline or the general effect of the pillar. It is built chiefly of compact lime- stone and the quartz rock on which it stands, which takes the highest polish : indeed there are portions possessing the hardness, and ex- 141

Maharana Kumbha.

hibiting the fracture, of Jasper. It is one mass of sculpture; of which a better idea can- not be conveyed than in the remark of those who dwell about it, that it contains every object known to their mythology. The ninth khand or 'storey' which, as I have stated, is seventeen feet and a half square, has numerous columns supporting a vault in which is sculptured Kanaya (Krishna) in the Rasman- dala (celestial sphere), surrounded by the gopis, or muses, each, holding a musical instrument, and in a dancing attitude. Be- neath this is a richly-carved scroll fringed with the sarus, the phenicopteros of ornitho- logy. Around this chamber had been arrang- ed, on black marble tablets,¹ the whole

¹ A copy of this and the Kumbhalgarh Inscription of Rana Kumbha was taken by a pandit on Phagun Vadi 7th, S 1735 (A.D. 1679), when five tablets of this, and one of the Kumbhalgarh Inscriptions were in existence. Unfortunately only two tablets of this former inscription are now to be found, but two more tablets and a fragment of the third of the Kumbhalgarh Inscription have been recovered. The Kumbhalgarh Inscription originally consisted of five tablets and the Chitorgarh of seven or more. The Chitorgarh In- scription states that it was completed on Monday the Margshir Vadi 5th, S 1517 and Saka year 1382 (A.D. 1460). The author of the inscription was a Brahman named Atri, who was well versed in Logic, Vedanta, Veda, Mimansa and Sahitya. He was the son of Keshava, called Jhoting, and grandson of Narahari and great grandson of Somanath of the Bhrigu family. Atri having died, the inscription was completed by his son Mahesh, a poet. The Maharana gave him as reward, two elephants, two chanwars with gold handles, and a white umbrella (छत्र).

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Maharana Kumbha. genealogy of the Ranas of Chitor; but the Goths have broken or defaced all save one slab. "I gazed," says Colonel Tod,¹ until the sun's last beam fell upon this ringlet of Chitor illuminating its glory and griefworn aspect, like a lambent gleam lighting up the face of sorrow. Who could look, on this love- ly, this majestic column, which tells in language more easy of interpretation than the tablets within, of '...........deeds which should not pass away, And names which must not wither,' and withold a sigh for its departed glories ? " Colonel Tod further says : "The view from this elevated spot was superb, extend- ing far into the plains of Malwa. The light- ning struck and injured the dome² some years ago, but generally there is no semblance of decay, though some shoots of peepul have rooted themselves.where the bolt of Indra fell. It is said to have cost ninety lakhs of ¹ Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 756. ² The old injured dome was removed and the present bulbous dome constructed by Maharana Swarup Singh after A.D. 1839. * 143

Maharana Kumbha. rupees, or near a million sterling, and this is only one of the many magnificent works of Maharana Kumbha within Chitor, the temples to Krishna, the lake called Cooram Sagar, the temple¹ and fountain to Kookgreoo (Kukresh- war), Mahadeva having been erected by him." TEMPLES. Maharana Kumbha built many grand temples in Mewar. In each of the two celebrated forts of Mewar,—Chitor and Kumbhalgarh—as also in Abu, Maharana Kumbha built a Kumbhaswami temple. KUMBHASWAMI TEMPLE. Of the three, the magnificent Kumbha- swami temple at Chitor "which was like the crown of the world,²" appears to have been built in V. S. 1505 (A.D. 1448); for we find inscriptions dated the V. S. 1505 (A.D. 1448) ¹ This temple was originally built by Raja Kukreshwar, who excavated the fountain in A.D. 755 (Magh Sud 5th, S. 811 (Thursday).—Archæological Survey Report, Vol. XXIII, p. 113. ² Kumbha's Commentary on Gita Govind, Sloka 63. 144

Maharana Kumbha. of Maharana Kumbha on the pedestals of some of the images in the niches of the Sabhāmandap (domed hall) in front of the temple proper. This temple of Kumbhaswami dedicated to Lord Krishna, is said to have been constructed with the materials brought from the ruins of the ancient shrines at Nagari,¹ situated 7 miles from Chitor. It consists of a large square porch supporting a low pyrami- dal roof on massive pillars in front of a sanctuary with a stately Sikra, majestic both in outline and size. Over the front entrance is a sculptured stone figure of a man wearing ornaments which may be intended for Maharana Kumbha himself. To the west of the temple are two reservoirs, 125 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 50 feet deep, of large blocks of stone built it is said early in the fifteenth century A. D. to commemorate the marriage of the daughter of Rana Mokul called the ¹ For a full account of this city of remote antiquity, see Archæological Survey of India, Vol. VI, for 1872-73 A.D. pp. 196-226 and Col. Erskine's Gazetteer of Udaipur. Some very ancient coins were found at Nagara or Nagari which are unique in type and many date several centuries B.C., 145

Maharana Kumbha. "Lal Bai (or Ruby of Mewar) with Achil Singh Kheechi of Gagroon. These reservoirs, which were filled with ghi and oil for distribution to the guests at the wedding, are still known by the names of "Ghi Baori" and "Tel Baori." This temple has carvings in parts of its exterior walls and roofs which are generally found in "Buddhist buildings." This temple stands to the south of Badal Mahal and is described as the temple of Govind Shyama by Abul Fazal in his Akbarnama. It was built by Maharana Kumbha in Sambat 1505 (A.D. 1448). By its side, Maharana Kumbha built the temple of Adi Varāh¹ which is now wrongly called Miran- bai's temple. RANPUR TEMPLE. Though the temple of Kumbha Shyām at Chitorgarh is a noteworthy one, yet of all the temples erected or resuscitated in Kumbha's ¹ Chitor Kirtisthambha Inscription, V. 31. 146