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

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

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Ranpur Temple.

Maharana Kumbha. time, the Chaumukha Temple of Ranpur is the most important. It was erected in the Sadri Pass leading from the western descent of the highlands of Mewar, and is dedicated to Rishabnath or Rishabdeva, the first of the Jaina Tirthankaras. It is situated in a spot evidently selected for its natural beauties. Ranpur lies in the Desuri district of the Marwar State. Originally it was a part of Mewar, when Godwar was incorporated with it. When, however, Godwar was ceded in the 18th century to Marwar; Desuri, and with it Ranpur, ceased to be a part of the Maharana's dominions. Ranpur is a village lying 6 miles to the south of Sādari, the chief town of Desuri. It is situated in a valley piercing the western flank of Adābāla hills which name has been corrupted into Aravalli¹. A more lovely spot is not to be found in the whole of Marwar. Ranpur contains several temples, the most celebrated of which is the Chaumukha Temple dedicated to the first Jaina Tirthankara Adinath or Rishabdeva, and because of it, ¹ Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar's article in the Annual Report of the Archæological Survey of India, 1907-8, p. 205. 147

Maharāṇa Kumbha. Ranpur is one of the five sacred places in Marwar. Streams of Jain pilgrims visit it all the year round. It was built by Maharana Kumbha's favourite, Dhāranaka, in V. S. 1496 (A.D. 1439), and was designed by the architect Dipaka. It is four storeys high including the underground vault and is supported by nu- merous columns of granite upwards of forty feet high. The interior is inlaid with mosaics of cornelian and agate. The temple is called Chaumukha because the principal figure is a group of four images placed on a pedestal back to back so as to face the four cardinal directions. The images are of white marble, and all of Rishabdeva. "The upper storey also contains a similar shrine accessible by four doors opening from the terraced roofs of the building. The lower and principal shrine has no door, as is very often the case with Jain temples, but only a small porch called Mukhamanadapa. Further, on a lower level, is a Sabhā-Mandapa or open assembly hall, on each side approached by a nāl or flight of stairs. Outside this flight of stairs is an open porch, and above, a closed 148

Maharana Kumbha. one popularly known as Nāl-Mandapa. Each one of the open porches is accessible by another flight of stairs ; but of the latter, that facing the west, contains far more stairs than the others and consequently the entrance on the west is considered to be the principal one. Facing the sides of each of the Mukhamanda- pas of the principal or Chaumukha shrine is a mādar or larger subsidiary shrine; and facing each Sabhamandapa is a smaller subsi- diary shrine or Khūnt-ra Mandar, so called because they stand exactly on the nāsaks or angles formed by lines drawn through the centres of the Sabhamandapas. The sides of the temple, between the mādars and the entrances are occupied by bhāmtis or ranges of cells for images, each with a pyramidal roof of its own but without any partitioning walls. They contain inscriptions belonging to the first half of the 16th Century and recording the erection of devakulikās or cells by Jain devotees, most of whom were Oswals, hailing from Pātan, Cambay and other places "¹ ¹ Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar's article in the Annual Report of the Archæological Survey of India for 1907-8, p. 211. 149

Maharana Kumbha. Mr. Fergusson says that Maharana Kum- bha, "during his long and prosperous reign filled his country with beautiful buildings, both civil and ecclesiastical. Amongst others he built this temple of Ranpur,¹ situated in a lonely and deserted glen, running into the western slope of the hills below his favourite fort of Kumbhalgarh. Notwithstanding long neglect, it is still nearly perfect, and is the most complicated and extensive Jaina temple, I have myself ever had an opportunity of inspecting."² "From the plan it would be perceived that it is nearly a square, 200 ft. by 225 ft., exclusive of the projections on each face. In the centre stands the great shrine, not, however, occupied, as usual, by one cell, but by four; or rather four great niches, in each of which is placed a statue of Adinatha, or Rishabdeva, the first and greatest of the Jaina Tirthankars. Above this are four other ¹ "It is one of the largest edifices existing, and cost upwards of a million sterling, towards which Kumbha contri- buted eighty thousand pounds"—Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I., p. 289. ² History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. 150

Maharana Kumbha. niches, similarly occupied, opening on the terra- ced roofs of the building. Near the four angles of the court are four smaller shrines, and around them, or on each side of them, are 20 domes supported by about 420 columns; 4 of these domes—the central ones of each group—are 3 storeys in height, and tower over the others; and one—that facing the principal entrance—is supported by the very unusual number of 16 columns, and is 36 ft. in diameter, the others being only 24 ft. Light is admitted to the building by four uncovered courts, and the whole is surrounded by a range of cells, many of them now unoccupied, each of which has a pyramidal roof of its own. "The internal effect of this forest of columns may be gathered from the view taken across one of its courts; but it is impossible that any view can reproduce the endless variety of perspective and the play of light and shade which results from the disposition of the pillars and of the domes, and from the mode in which the light is introduced. A wonderful effect also results from the number of cells, most of them containing images of Tirthankars, which 151

Maharana Kumbha. everywhere meet the view. Besides the twelve in the central Sikhars, there are eighty-six cells of very varied form and size surrounding the interior, and all their facades more or less adorned with sculpture............ The beauty of detail—no two pillars in the whole building being exactly alike—the grace with which they are arranged, the tasteful mixture of domes of different heights with flat ceilings and the mode in which the light is introduced combine to produce an excellent effect. Indeed, I know of no other building in India of the same class that leaves so pleasing an impression or affords so many hints for the graceful arrangement of columns in an interior. “Besides its merits of design, its dimensions are by no means to be despised; it covers altogether about 48,000 square ft., or nearly as much as one of our ordinary mediæval cathedrals; and, taking the basement into account, is nearly of equal bulk; while in amount of labour and of sculptural decorations it far surpasses any.” ¹ ¹ History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, pp. 241-2. 152

Maharāna Kumbha. An inscription in the temple incised on a slab of white marble measuring 1'1" broad by 3 feet 3 inches high, and containing 47 lines of Sanskrit prose built up in a pillar close to the entrance of the main shrine on its right, gives a record of the Guhilot dynasty, and says that the temple is dedicated to Yugadisvara, another name of Rishabdeva or Adinath, also called here Chaturmukha and says that it was built in the time and by order of Maharana Sri Kumbhakarana by Dhārnaka who is described as paramarhata, a devout Jain and ornament of the Prāgvata Vamsa, which is now known as Porvāda Mahajan community. His mother's name is given as Kamala De, and father's as Kurāpal. The inscription says that a Jaina banker Gunaraj helped in the erection of the temple, and that the town of Ranpur was founded and called after his name by Maharana Kumbhakaran. The temple was known at the time as Chaturmukha-Yugadisvara Vihāra i.e., a temple of four faced Rishabnatha. Line 46 of the inscription gives the name of the architect as Dipāka, and mentions that Dharanaka built 153

Maharana Kumbha. temples at Ajāhari, Sālera and Pindarvataka, modern Pindavārā. Local tradition has it that the temple was built by two brothers Dhanna (corruption of Dharnaka)¹ and Ratna of the Porvad caste and residents of Nāndiya in the Sirohi State. They left Nandiya and settled at Mālgad which was situated to the south of Ranpur, high upon a hill. They erected a temple at Mādadá, which came to be known as Ranpur, because the land occupied by the temple was purchased by them from Maharana Kumbha, who stipulated that the place should bear his name, Ran being an abbreviation of Rana. The temple was designed by one Dipaka or Dipa, a Sompura Brahmin of Mundātā in the following circumstances. One night at Maglad, Dhanna saw a celestial car in his dream. He called several Sompuras (architects) and gave them a description of it, and asked them to produce plans thereof. All were reject- ed except that of Dipa as it was exactly of the type of the celestial car, Dhanna had seen ¹ A descendant of Ratna, 14 generations removed from him, named Nath Mal Sah was living in 1907 A D. in Ghanerav, to which town, Dhanna and Ratna had moved. 154

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Eklingji Temples.

Maharana Kumbha in his dream. It was originally intended to have seven storeys of which only four were completed including the subterranean vault. This noncompletion of the building is given as the reason why no descendant of Ratna now shaves his head with a razor. EKLINGJI. Eklingji is the Cathedral town of Mewar. And the Maharana, like the ancient Buddhist king of Gāndhāra is the Defender of the Faith and the Head of the Church. Eklingji and Nāthdwara are the two most important reli- gious places in Mewar. The temple of Eklingji is unique in character. Eklingji is the Ishtdeva or the god which the Maharanas worship. He is held to be the master or ruler of Mewar and the Maharana his divan or chief minister. It is due to this fact, that the Maharana of Udaipur is styled divan or Divanji in Rajputana. In the warlike songs sung in Rajputana and the poems recited by the bards, divan is used in preference to Maharana. The famous poem of Dursaji on 155

Maharana Kumbha. the immortal Maharana Pratap, says:¹—दीठो कोई दीवाण करतो लुटका कटहड़ै। "Has any one seen the Maharana bow his head before the ballustrade in the Mughal Court?" Early in the 8th century, the sage Hárita conferred on Bappá Ráwal the title of Regent of Eklingji, and to this day the Maharanas of Mewar, as divans or regents of Siva, supersede the high priest in his duties and themselves perform the ceremonies when they visit the temple. Eklingji is situated in a defile about 13 miles north of Udaipur. The road, which has recently been improved, passes over undulating hills, particularly along a valley and over a gorge about two-thirds of the way, beyond which it is more level and surrounded by a number of small lakes which beautify the country. "The hills towering around it on all sides are of the primitive formation, and their scarped summits are clustered with honey- combs. There are abundant small springs of water, which keep verdant numerous shrubs,' the flowers of which are acceptable to the ¹ Maharana Yash Prakash, p. 99. 156