Nathdwara yathra - 6

Chithorgarh

               Radhekrishna! We had asked the same driver who took us to Mount Abu to take us to Chithorgarh too. He first took us to Sanwalia ji temple on the way to Chithorgadh. Sanwalia ji means the 'dark Lord'. The temple is situated at the town of Mandaphia about 40 kms from Chitorgarh. The deity of the Lord Krishna here is considered second only to Srinathji of Nathdwara.

The temple is very big in the middle of a very vast compound. The temple is being renovated now. Construction work is going on around. When we reached the temple the curtain was drawn. But I wanted to wait and have the darsan so we waited for about half an hour. It was arathi time and we could attend the arathi. The 'dark Lord' is really fantastic. His lotus eyes attract us. He has a bewitching smile too. His curly hair adds to His beauty. Wow! Blessed indeed is His darsan. From one of the security people I came to know that some devotee had a dream that 3 of the Lord's deities are under the ground somewhere. So the deities were undug and one consecrated here and the other two at two other places. Anyway we felt very happy having seen the cute Krishna.

        It was already 11 am when the arathi was over. So we hurried to our next destination - Chithorgarh.  Chithorgarh is a district by itself and was the main headquarters of the rajput kings. The entire city is surrounded by huge fort.

This place is full of forts and temples. The first place we visited was Meera bai's temple.

 The one place which I was eagerly waiting to see! I was feeling so excited nearing it. The guide showed us two adjacent temples in a a compound. One is a temple for Lord Vishnu which was built by the Rajasthan kings. Near to it stood a small but beautiful temple of Krishna built by the Rana as requested by Meerabai. 

        MiraBai was born in 1504 AD at Chaukari village in Merta District of Rajasthan. Her father, Ratan Singh, was the second son of Rao Duda ji. According to the prevailing story, Meeramatha was married to Bhojraj also called as Rana Kumbha of Chithorgarh at the age of 8. The Rana ordered this temple of Krishna to be built for her. But he didnt live to see it. According to the guide Meera became a widow within a few months of her marriage. Then she lead a secluded life with her Krishna. Since as a child she thought she was married to Krishna she never considered herself to be a widow. Generally Rajput ladies are prohibited from moving out of their palaces. She being a widow was expected to be confined to the room only. But Meera full of devotion for her Lord spent most of her time in the temple itself singing and dancing. This was not liked by her brother in law who kept tormenting her. Meera Bai’s sister-in-law Udabai formed a conspiracy and began to defame the innocent Meera. Once they tried to kill her with a poisonous snake. But her Lord kept saving her from every disaster. Finally she got fed up and left to her home. It was from there that she went to Brindavan and to Dwaraka to get merged in the Lord.

               I was hearing the story attentively. Oh what a great devotee she was! I found his story more credible. She was only a little girl when her husband died. She never had the opportunity to colour her mind with the worldly thoughts. Her whole attention was pointed to her 'lover' Krishna! As there was nobody to support this little girl she must have suffered a lot under her in laws. But brave as she was she had overcome all hurdles and reached her detination finally! Great! Great! I humbly bow at her feet to bless us also her bhakthi bhavam!   

        There is also another version in which Meera didnt become a widow. But the Rana tortured her ill adivsed by his brother and sister. When the torture and scandals continued, Meera sent a letter to Goswami Tulsidas and asked for his advice. Tulsidasji sent a reply: "Abandon those who cannot understand you. The turning point in Meerabai’s life occurred when once Akbar and his court musician Tansen came in disguise to Chittor to hear Meera’s devotional and inspiring songs. Both entered the temple and listened to Meera’s soul - stirring songs to their heart’s content. Before he departed, he touched the holy feet of Meera and placed a necklace of priceless gems in front of the idol as a present. Somehow the news reached the Kumbha Rana that Akbar had entered the sacred temple in disguise, touched the feet of Meerabai and even presented her a necklace. The Rana became furious. He told Meerabai, "Drown yourself in the river and never show your face to the world in future. You have brought great disgrace on my family".

      When Meera tried to drown herself in the river her lover Giridhari held her from behind and stopped her. He whispered in her ears - My dear Meera, your life with your mortal relatives is over now. You are absolutely free. Be cheerful. You are and have always been mine."

 Meera went to Brindavan to her Guru saint Raidas and spent her life doing oonchavrithi. So many princesses and queens have come and gone. So many princesses, and queens have appeared on the stage of this world and vanished. How is it that the queen of Chittor alone is still remembered? Is this on account of her beauty? Is this on account of her poetic skill? No. It is on account of her renunciation, single-minded devotion to Lord Krishna and the self-realization.

             The guide first took us to the Vishnu temple. This temple is slightly bigger than Meera's Krishna temple. There is no dearth of beautiful carvings all around. Lord Vishnu along with His consort Lakshmi is the main deity here. The pujari gave us theertha and tulsi leaves. We then moved towards Meera matha's temple. My heart was pounding. After praying to Meera matha I entered the temple. 

                   

A soft music of Meera matha's bhajan could be heard from inside. They keep playing the bhajans continuously. Inside is a deity of Lord Sri Krishna playing the flute. There is a deity of Meera matha too sitting facing Him holding a tambur in her hand. The scene accompanied by the sweet bhajan gave shivers in me. I could very much feel Meera matha's presence there! I prostrated there and was very happy. I felt the purpose of my life fulfilled at that moment. What more do I need! I was actually standing in the very same temple where the great devotee had sung so many songs. Opposite to the mandir is a mandap where we can see the 'charana kamal ' of Meera matha's guru Raidas ji!

 

  We now moved on towards a tall stupa called Vijayasthambham. We can enter inside and move up through the winding stair case. It was very dark inside. We didnt climb up high but came out quickly. Near the Vijayasthambha is a place where queen Padmini committed jauhar - self immolation with fire. The muslim ruler Alaudin Khilji captured Chithorgarh in 1303 AD. The then queen Padmini preferred jauhar to abduction and dishonour by the Muslims. She along with other ladies jumped in to a big fire and ended their lives. What a moral strength they had in those days! See you in the next issue. Till then Radhekrishna! Radhekrishna!