The Evil Ansh

The King of Devas and Devguru Brihaspati were travelling to Kailash to meet the holy Lord. On the way, to the Jungle, they met a naked man deep in meditation. The vain King asked the man the way. The man was so deep in his meditation that he did not reply. Fierce at this kind of humiliation the God of Thunderstruck the man with it. The man opened his hand and neutralized the bolt. His third eye opened in rage paralyzing the King of Devas. However, he controlled his anger and instead of turning the King to ashes the energy from his third eye met the Oceans.

" Prabhu? Forgive Indra for he did not know who you were." Brihaspati pleaded.
" DevGuru. This is my Kailash where no man is greater than the other. He is not the king here. He should treat a man like he wants to be treated."
" Please forgive him, My Lord.."
The ever-forgiving Bholenath smiled.

Miles away from the God of the Oceans, Samudradev found a baby. His wails were disturbingly loud. It did not have the sweetness of a baby. The Devas pressed their hands against their ears. The helpless Samudra Dev took the abandoned child to the Creator, Brahma. Brahma took the child in his lap and the child caught his neck so hard he could hardly breathe. Letting go was not easy. Tears came in pain. Finally, Samudra Dev placed the child on his lap and Brahma read his future.
" This child would be a brave warrior. He will rule Heaven, The Earth and The Patal loke. Hand him over to Sukracharya. Tell him I named this child Jalandhar. He is born from Shiva's rage. However this child should not know this, that would make it difficult for him to live among commoners."

A happy Samudra Dev handed the child to Sukracharya, the teacher of the Asuras. The child stayed under the care of one of the Asura women. He grew up to be a handsome young man just like the lord himself. Sukracharya taught him and made him king of the Asuras.

Vrinda was the daughter of Asura Kalanemi. Due to her devotion to Lord Vishnu, she was given a boon by the Lord that her husband will be alive as long as her chastity remained intact. She was an intelligent medical woman. As the King of the Asuras Jalandhara set up a capital at present-day Jalandhar in Punjab. He married Vrinda as per Sukracharya's wishes to save his life from enemies. On coming to know of the events of Samudra Manthan he realised how the Asuras were deprived and he send a message to Indra.

I ,Jaladhar, am the son of the Samudra Deva. I have heard that there are some possessions of his at your disposal which you acquired through Samudra Manthan. I request you to return my father's property to me, or else I will win it from you.

Not paying any heed to the threat Indra and Devas were easily defeated and caught by the Lord's son. They went to Vishnu with the request to kill Jalandhar. Laxmi, his consort, who emerged out of the Oceans, said to her husband, " My Lord, You will fight Jalandhar. He emerged out of the Oceans like me hence he is my brother. I know he can not defeat you but promise me you won't kill him, for my sake."
The ever-smiling Vishnu replied, " Yes my Laxmi, as you wish it shall be."

The war continued for days and neither side won or lost. Impressed with his warrior skills Vishnu offered a boon. Jalandhar promptly replied, " I want you to make Kheeradsagar your home and honour the oceans. Let Mata Laxmi stay where she belongs."
" Tathasthu."

Soon Jalandhar became king of the three worlds. He was the emperor. One day Narad Muni came for a visit and told him tales of the greatest man Shiva and his most beautiful wife Parvati. The vain Emperor replied, much to everyone's horror " Who is this Shiva? I have never heard of him. And if he is the greatest I l defeat him and be the greatest and his beautiful wife will be mine."
Sukracharya knew that Shiva was his father but he had promised Samudra Dev not to speak of it. Jalandhar send a messenger Rahu to Kailash. The furious Shiva forgave his son for his silly attempts and ignored the invitation for a duel.

Meanwhile, Indra came to know of Vrinda's boon and rushed to Vishnu, " My Lord, do something. Jalandhar is becoming violent and not even the Lord Mahadev can kill him because Vrinda will not give up her chastity willingly."
" Do not worry Indra for I myself will dress as Jalandhar and break her chastity."
"But my Lord, I am your wife, how can you bed somebody else's wife? will that not be immoral?"
" Priye, when am Parasu you are my mother, when am Ram you, my Sita, When am Krishna you are my Radha, the Gopis, the wives they are nobody yet they love me. Does that make Krishna there? Listen, my lady, whenever I go to earth you will always accompany me as Panchali, Radha, Sita or Varahi... I am going to Vrinda as an obligation to my duties and not for love, cause Krishna is Radha's Ram Sita's, and I only yours..." Disguised as Jalandhara Vishnu took Vrinda to her chambers. Knowing his true identity and realizing it was too late Vrinda cursed her worshipped Lord " I curse you, my Aradhya, you will be born a human and you will suffer from questions regarding your wife's chastity and you will lose her." She committed suicide.

A fierce angry Jalandhar kidnapped Parvati. He held her wanting to marry her. Shiva's Ganas were at war with the Asuras. Shiva raised his Trident at his son. Before killing him Shiva enlightened him with the truth about his birth. Shiva who killed Jalandhar is worshipped as Panchanan, the five-headed angry avatar of the otherwise peaceful Lord.

Jalandhar died a hero, blinded by his vain overconfidence in his powers and lack of knowledge. Otherwise, like all the other sons of the Lord, he was a great warrior, a perfect husband and a good ruler of the Asuras. His causes were genuine and his thoughts were right. He is thus immortal through the city he built in India.

The Queen of Mewar

There have been many versions, folktales and local stories in Rajputana on their Kings and Queens. None of these versions is, however, historical as history only mentions her as wife to Maharana Pratap, his consort and Queen Mother to Amar Singh. She was busy making a garland when Ratnawati rushed inside, hardly able to breathe. Concerned, the elder sister stopped her work and looked at her panting young sibling. " What is it? What's wrong?" "Jija maa sa is not letting me go to the haat mela alone. Please come with me, I need to buy some bangles." The spoiled younger one pleaded. " Wait, let me do my aarti first, then we can go." The reluctant Ratnawati sat down impatiently. In another room, their mother was helping their father get ready for the day. He was the Samant of Bijolia, the representative of the Rana of Mewar. Throughout the day he had to deal with administrative problems in Bijolia and give people justice, but today he had something...

Jauhar: All You Need to Know

“We have no Knowledge of the beginning and end of the world, the first and last of this ancient book has fallen out” Abu Talib Karim Rightly said by the poet laureate of Emperor Shah Jahan above, we do not actually know the beginning and end of anything in the universe, be it the traditions, culture or human race, or the world. What we know are fragments of the past we extract out of evidence. It is in vain to try and determine the first and last of something. For the past few months owing to some media hype on Jauhar, many of you had asked me questions. I tried to answer most of them. However, a lot remained unsaid and unwritten. Mostly because some things are impossible to put into words. But here I try my best. Today is a very significant day in history. On the 23 rd of February 1568, the world saw the last “Jauhar” of Chittorgarh, recorded in the medieval history of India. Akbar had invaded Mewar and the siege of four months ended in the Saka. There was no better day for...

The Queen Mother of Mewar

Let me start by saying, this is a representation of history and folklore in my own words, trying to show how great a soul this lady was. And let me start with a line here. “Naari Ki Balidaano Ko Sadev Bhulta Aya hai Itihas.” Yes, most women lay forgotten in the pages of history, only alive through the folklore and local tales that fail to reach the pages of books due to a lack of historical evidence. Their names don’t remain, but their haunting hand prints on the fort walls before Jauhar, their names on inscriptions as daughter, wife and mother, often make us wonder, who were they, how were they and how were their lives! Historically, the only thing we know about Maharani Jaivanta Bai Songara, princess of Jallore and queen of Mewar is that she was the first queen of Rana Udai Singh II, the mother of most probably her only son Maharana Pratap and daughter of ally of Rana Sanga, Akshay Raj of Jallore. Apart from that her entire life has no historical existence and is spun on ...

The Warrior Bride

Kelwa/Kailwa is a small village situated around two hours away from Chittorgarh and an hour from Lake Pichola. It was mainly inhabited by the Rathores and ruled by the Chundawat clan, who were once the rulers of Mewar. One chief of Kelwa, was Rawat Sihaji Singh Chundawat. He was a very close ally of Rana Sanga. His son Jaga Singhji too died fighting for Rana Udai Singhji in one war with the Afghans in 1555 AD. Kelwa’s heir was the minor child of Jaga Singhji and his widow Sajjan Bai Songara Chauhan. Being from the clan of the Chauhan Rajputs, she was a warrior at heart. From the early age of about four, her only son was brought up under his uncle Naga Singhji, to fight for his motherland and serve it like all other Mewaris. Fatta (Patta), as fondly called by everyone was a deft warrior even before he reached his teens. His name and bravery spread across the land, to Rana Udai Singh’s ears in Chittorgarh. He was also the nephew to Ranaji’s close aide Rawat Chundawatji. Upon the order of...

Teeja Saka Chittor Ra

23rd February 1568. The sun rose on the eastern horizon, not with the hope of a new day. But, with the horror of what was to follow. The first rays of the Sun God were met by the chants of “Jai Bhavani!” that echoed in the air of Chittorgarh. The Mewaris knew it was time. Four months back, when the Mughals camped at the base of the fort, a helpless Chittorgarh had watched. Rana Udai Singh had left with his closest aides to make the new city westwards, his capital. If rumours were to be believed, he had left behind a cavalry of 8000 soldiers, under Rao Jaimal of Merta and Rawat Patta of Kelwa to look over the fort. He had also left behind some of his lesser queens and infant princes, as an assurance to the people that Chittorgarh was invincible. Their safety and hope had lived in Kunwar Pratap. Truth be said, they had already taken the crown Prince as their King. Ever since Ranisa had left with him till he became the Senapati, he had time and again proved to be a better lead...

The Princess of Marwar

Historically we know nothing about Phool Bai Rathore except that she was the daughter of Ram Singh Rathore, granddaughter of Raja Maldeo Rathore and fifth wife of Maharana Pratap. There is no historical evidence of Akbar's alliance with her in particular however Maldeo did give his granddaughters in a marriage alliance with Mughals and other major dynasties. Phool Kanwar's cousin Maanwati Bai (Better known as Jodha Bai or Jagat Gossain) married Salim, Akbar's son and later emperor Jahangir. The Princess was in her chambers. The Mehrgarh Fort was in a quiet dark state and everyone feared what lay ahead. The men of the Rathore clan had gone to ally with the Mughal emperor Akbar. Rao Maldeo had decided that it was the only way to save Marwar's future. His second son Udai and youngest one Chandrasen supported his decision to save the country. But his heir and firstborn Ram Singh Rathore was a rebel. He was not going to bow down before the Mughals and lose his dignity. A...

Maharana Pratap: The Sun of Mewar

Many of you have read my fan fiction as well as historical representations of the life and times of Maharana Pratap Singh of Mewar. I provided small details of his life in many articles. But never have I ever made a separate historical post on him. It is very difficult to put together his life without the help of folklore because historical evidence is scarce. This one was requested and hence here it goes. Needless to say, this one is very special. This is a blend of history and folklore. Leave your love. ❤️ Background and Birth: The year was 1540. Mewar was under a cloud of uncertainty. Banbir, their ruler for four years now, was a very incompetent ruler who always spent his time in luxury, drinking and dancing with girls. The crown prince Udai Singh was rumoured to be killed by him. Chittorgarh was in darkness. Around March 1540, Mewar once again saw hope as some trusted generals along Mewar with Kunwar Udai Singh attacked Chittorgarh taking Banbir by surprise. He was soon to re...

Charumati's Love

T his is written based on folklore. This is a representative work of fiction and not claiming any historical happening in the conversations. This is to show the spirit of the women of Rajputana. The year 1657. Shah Jahan had taken ill and was rumoured to be dying in Agra Fort. He was about eighty and the pressure of having an empire had taken a toll on his body. The seat of power was slowly shifting from Agra to Delhi since the prominence of the Laal Quila had increased and if the news spread was to be believed his sons were in a battle for the throne already. It was time each king chose sides once again. Dara Sikhoh was the eldest and the righteous Heir to the throne. He was believed to be a man who held high morals and was hence respected by the enemies and alliances as well. Aurangzeb was his sibling and the youngest of the brothers. Short tempered and cunning he was always dreaded by the court. As Shah Jahan took ill, Aurangzeb took this as a golden opportunity to wage ...

Kalbhoj: The Legend of Bappa Rawal

The Historical fiction is woven mainly from folklore from James Todd's semi-historical book. However, a very vague historical presence is found in Bhojraj the first king of Mewar. The year was 713AD. The Maurya decedents, Moris ruled over the Chitrakut area of west Rajasthan. The areas around Chitrakoot were ruled by many small Chieftains. One of them was Rawal Mahendra II a Guhilot descendent. (The decendent of Guha and Nagaditya) As most power struggles suggest, one of his ministers betrayed and killed him and made himself Rawal. Once, Kalbhoj was in the forests near Nagda close to the borders of the Solanki ruler, looking after his herds. The youngest Solankhini princess was out in the forest playing with her Sakhis. They were making failed attempts to make a Jhula on a banyan tree. Kalbhoj was watching them try when one of the Sakhis spotted him. Witty and charming he always grabbed everyone's attention. Mahendra II had two wives, his first being a Paramara princess from Mt...

The Navroz Incident

This popular folklore has been recreated from Col, James Todd's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. Names I have added, from my own historical research. This one is especially for Garima to thank her for the books and love! Yet another Veer Gatha from the dessert! Ps. This is folklore with no evidence of history, please remember that Bikaner, lying in the western part of the Thar, was a small yet independent state ruled by a clan of Marwari Rathores until Raja Kalyanmal surrendered to Akbar's Rajput Policies in 1571. His fourth son Prithviraj Rathore, being a great warrior and poet was respected as one of the "Nine Gems" in Emperor Akbar's court. Prithviraj, was the son of Kalyanmal's first wife and queen Rani Songaribai Rainawati, a cousin of Maharani Jaiwanta Bai of Mewar. Hence he was cousin to the valiant Pratap Singh of Mewar. He was also married to one of Rana Udai Singh of Mewar's daughters from his other wives, sister to Kunwar Pratap, Baisa Ja...

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