The Righteous Wife

Rao Nahar Panwar made Mandore the capital of Marwar, Rajasthan, until Rao Jodha shifted to the Mehrangarh Fort. Mandore, a few km from the blue city of Jodhpur, now stands as a tourist spot with an archaeological park of ancient temples. Dated back to around the 6th Century and older, these temples are an example of wonderfully curved stone architectural wonders. Amongst them stands a temple to an unusual deity. The King of Lanka, the demon devotee of Shiva, Ravana. Surprised? The Brahmins of this place religiously worship him twice every day. Why?

Temples at Mandore

During the Puranic times, Maya Danav, the architect among Demons, son of Rishi Kashyap and his wife Aditi, used to rule Madnore, with his consort, the Apsara queen Hema. They had two sons, Mayavi and Dhundhuvi, but yearned for a daughter. Devotees of Shiva prayed to him for a daughter.

Once an Apsara, Madhura visited Kailash in the absence of Devi Parvati and tried to seduce the Lord. Angered at her action, the Devi had cursed her to be born as a human and suffer ill fate because of a husband. Because of her Karma, Madhura was born to Hema and Maya Danav as their daughter Mandodari. Another version says that, after the curse, Lord Shiva had given her the boon of having a valiant warrior as her husband.

A young maiden, learned, full of Dharma and beauty, grew up in Mandore, pampered and considered blessed by the Lord himself. Meanwhile, Ravana's newly transformed terror form, after the Lord tricked him and refused to live in Lanka, was spreading Far and wide. Ravana, on his visit to Mandore, fell in love with the dignified and independent-minded Mandodari. One version says he had forcefully married her against her wishes, and she is told to do so to save her country. Another version says his bravery attracted Mandodari.

On her setting foot in his household, his luck changed; he had victories across the three Loks and became the Trilokadhipati, the Lord of Heaven, Hell and Universe. She gave him three sons: Indrajit or Meghnad, the crown prince, Akshay Kumar, and Atikara. Some tales say she also had a daughter, ordered to be killed by Ravana as he was cursed by his Doom because of a woman. Mandodari, being the mother, could not kill her own blood and set her afloat in the name of the Lord in the seas of Lanka. Some stories suggest that the very daughter reached Janaka, as Bhudevi's daughter Sita, hence causing Ravana's doom. Whatever the reason was, Mandodari was always affectionate towards the captured Sita.
She was righteous; she always tried to stop her husband from his wrongdoings in vain. She suffered the loss of her children for his deeds. As some suggest, as the Karma of the last life, Ravana's passion towards other women in the Harem and his nature to look down upon women, always hurt, insulted and made life difficult for Mandodari. Still, as a wife's Dharma said, she stood by him till his last day, knowing his doom was near, as his Ardhangini. On Ravana's death, she apologised to Lord Rama for his misdeeds.

Lord Rama, being a follower of Dharma, ordered Vivishana, the youngest brother of Ravana, to be the Ruler of the new Lanka. But the rule of the Aryans suggested he needed to marry the reigning Queen to be the king. Mandodari married her brother-in-law as an act of statesmanship for the future of Lanka. She, for her chastity and extreme sacrifice in her life, is often remembered among the most powerful five women in Hinduism. She is often termed as "Water", turbulent from the surface, deep in her spiritual journey through life.

Mandodari, who had always asked Ravana to return Sita to Rama in vain, was a lady of substance. A lady who followed the virtues of Dharma, but was never happy. A lady whose life was a struggle and full of pain because of Ravana's deeds. Because she was the one who suffered an ill fate, much like most women in Lanka, yet never left the ways of Truth and Dharma, and got the strength to live life as a fighter till the end. Even when it meant losing her children, husband and everything for the win of Dharma. She supported Sita and prayed that Dharma would win.

She lived as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother and a queen, but somehow the woman Mandodari lost herself, trying hard to hold on to her chastity and righteous nature among the wrongdoings of her kins. The Mandodari, which bore no fewer tortures than Sita, is only remembered as Ravana's wife. Because she could not stop the Demon's vain self and wrongdoings.

The Mandodari should be remembered for her love, her dedication to her husband, her chastity, her righteousness, her Dharma, her independent protests, and her sacrifices for Mandore and Lanka. The Mandodari was the Righteous better half of the Villain of Hinduism's greatest epic.

The Reva Cries

Roopmati had watched the troops leave. She had stood behind the chief queen as she traditionally bid goodbye to her sons. She had waited for the Sultan to come to her. He did. He was confident that the sudden advancement of Akbar’s foster brother Adham Khan could be curbed. It was not war, just precaution. He reassured her. Malwa would never bow to the Timurids. And he would not let anything happen to her. To Her. Roopmati felt suffocated by her husband’s affectionate hug. She felt trapped in the scrutinising eyes of all the people in the palace. Angry, blaming eyes. She tried to pace herself and sing, but her voice cracked in fear. Her melody was drowned in tears. Every evening, a messenger would come to the chief queen with the news of war. Roopmati was kept in the darkness. She was not told about anything. She knew the rumours. She was a witch. A temptress who caused doom to the Sultan of Malwa. She was a spy of the enemy planted in his life to destroy him. She wondered if he came b...

A Chivalrous Emnity

“Ranisa. Hukum” There was a hint of urgency in the maid in waiting’s voice as she rushed to the clearing where the tents were set up. Rani Pur Bai Solanki, the second queen, frowned at her sudden, alarming voice. “Hush, Rama, the children are...” She checked the children’s tent, alarmed. They slept during the day and stayed awake at night, because the forestland was not safe, neither from animals nor the enemies. “Ranisa, forgive me, it's Kunwarsa... He is back... but...” Pur Bai’s face lit up with a smile of hope that didn’t last long. “But?” “What is it? What’s wrong?” The Maharani of Mewar had walked out of her camp, with the other queens in tow. The maid bowed before her. “It’s Kunwarsa.” “He is back?” She frowned. He was not supposed to be back so early until his father reached Dholan. “So is Ranaji.” The maid looked scared. “There is a court called in an emergency. I came to inform you that Ranaji wanted everyone to be present.” “Jija...” Pur Bai could see the tension mountin...

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Ruqaiya Sultana Begum was born to Babur's second surviving son, Hindal Mirza, and his wife, Sultanam Begum, in 1542 C.E., merely a few months after Hamida Banu gave birth to the heir Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar. She was well-versed in Persian, Urdu and Arabic and was attracted to poetry and music. Being a proud descendant of the Timurid clan, most of Rukaiya's childhood was spent in Kabul, near the Bagh E Babur, built by Babur himself. From early childhood, she had seen the struggle of her family to regain their lost power in Hind. In 1551 C.E., just after her father died young at a battle for Humayun, leaving her and her mother in the harem of the emperor, it was Hamida Banu who wanted the marriage of Rukaiya to her first cousin, Akbar. Theirs was the first in-house marriage of the Mughals, soon to be followed by many more in the generations to come. At the mere age of nine, she had married the crown prince, and when Humayun won back Lahore, she was fifteen. At the mere age ...

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