A Decade of Travel - 1

As we bid au revoir to a decade, I want to go down the memory lane and recollect the many journeys I have undertaken during these last ten years. For the next 10 days, each day I will pick one year and highlight just one day’s experience.

2011 – Orchha

24^th April

I was in Orchha on this day, in a homestay with a potter’s family, courtesy the NGO – Friends of Orchha. The revenue they collected from homestays primarily went to build toilets in the village. It was a barebones place, with a mosquito net the only item of luxury.

I asked the potter about his customers. Film industry, he answered with a mixture of laughter and sadness. The objects that he produced with so much love were smashed into smithereens in one second in those mindless fight sequences.  

Not far from where I stayed is this incredibly beautiful Lakshminarayan Temple. The temple has a quirky architectural style, looking more like a palace. Originally built by Bir Singh Deo in 1622, it was reconstructed in 1793. Today, there are no deities inside. Inside on the walls and ceilings are exquisite murals that are an amalgam of Mughal and Bundelkandi art. I shot the outside pictures in the morning golden hour and returned later for the murals.

Orchha, which means “hidden”, was established in the 16^th C as the seat of the princely state of the Bundelkhand chieftain Rudra Pratap Singh. Orchha is a small place, but there is so much to see. The fort and the palace inside need more than couple of hours to do justice to their art and architecture. Not easy for a photographer to come out of the sprawling, multi-tiered, many-splendoured complex.

I returned to the potter’s hamlet for a simple lunch and siesta.

Chaturbhuj temple is the most imposing structure (107 m tall Vimana) in Orchha and has a fascinating history. Raja Madhukar Shah built it between 1558 to 1573 to house an idol of Ram which his queen was bringing from Ayodhya following a dream. When she returned with the idol, the temple was still under construction. So she installed it in her palace. When the temple was finally finished, the idol however refused to move! So the Chaturbhuj temple now houses Radha and Krishna, and the Rani’s palace was converted to a temple for Ram. This is the only temple where Ram is worshipped as a king – Ram Raja Temple.

As dusk was approaching, I strolled along the Betwa river to watch the Chhatris (Cenotaphs) lit up by the enchanting light from the setting sun. There are 14 cenotaphs and the mellow light added to the melancholy of the setting.

After sunset, I went back to the fort to watch a spectacular son et lumiere on the history of Bundela dynasty. It was a fitting finale to an eventful day. 

Other ports of call in 2011 – UK (Newcastle and London), Gwalior, Shivpuri, Jhansi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Valley of Flowers (Uttarakhand)