Hindola Toran - Lesser Known India Series

Ever heard of 'Hindola Toran' हिंडोला तोरण ?

Even we hadn't! 

What does it mean?

Is it a monument?

Where is it located?

What is the significance?

This story answers all the above questions. To begin with, here is a present day picture of Hindola Toran.

Compare it with a picture dating back to 1871 taken by Joseph D Beglar and preserved in the British Library, UK. 

We visited Hindola Toran recently and were awed by its beauty. Even though in ruins, the sandstone sculpted structure is a marvel of 9th century AD in Gyaraspur tehsil of Vidisha district Madhya Pradesh India. The above picture taken in 1871 shows a higher ground level compared to the present day. It may be because of later excavation and soil run off over the years.

The historical write up held in the British library reads, "The building called Hindola is an ornamental entrance, or toran, leading to a Brahmanical temple. Hindola means simply a ''swing'', and the toran with its two upright pillars and cross-beams has sufficient resemblance to the common Indian swing to justify the people in calling it by this name. The pillars of the toran are carved on all four faces. In the lower panels are represented the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the tortoise and fish being placed together on one pillar, and Buddha, standing with the right shoulder bare, with a small Kalki Avatar on his horse beside him, on the other pillar. The ends of the bracket capitals are fashioned as lions' and elephants' heads, the former facing outwards and the latter inwards. All the figures which once stood on the brackets are now gone; but there are two projecting stones on each face of the architrave with round holes on the under side, showing how far the figures must have leaned inwards. On the south face of the central pinnacle, which represents a small temple, there is a figure of the boar incarnation of Vishnu in the lower panel."

Let the pictures speak. You may corelate the above historical write up with the pictures below.

Talking about pillars, we have the famous thousand pillar temple in Hanamkonda village near Warangal in Telangana state. We had featured another story of eight pillars also in Gyaraspur called 'Aath Khmba' earlier. 

Over the centuries, the village settlements have moved closer to the monument. See the picture below.

We met a daily wage earner employed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for keeping the area clean. He readily shared his knowledge about the 9th century structure. See the video below or click the YouTube link here.

After the hectic hike, it was time for all three generations of the hikers to have a bite. What better place than the dried up lawn in the compound of Hindola Toran!

Hindola Toran and its beauty have attracted many feature film makers. A recent Punjabi film has a song sequence shot around Hindola Toran and Mala Devi Temple (story to follow), both in Gyaraspur. Readers may enjoy the film song by either clicking the thumbnail below or the YouTube link here.

Gyaraspur has numerous monuments dating back to the 9th century AD. We had earlier featured the Aath Khamba Temple in a picture story. More of these lesser-known treasures of India will follow in our future posts.

Location

Hindola Toran is located about 37 kms north-east of Vidisha town. See the maps below courtesy Google Maps.

 

Some of our other stories featuring the lesser-known architectural marvels or tourist spots of India are listed below. Just click to browse the picture story of your choice.

Ruins of Jahazpur Fort in Rajasthan

Devarakonda Fort in Telangana Needs your Support

Gooty Fort in Andhra Pradesh

Kuntala Water Falls in Telangana

There are many more such hidden spots in India. We will share one by one in subsequent stories.
Stay connected and thanks for browsing.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Bharat Ladha/ 22nd March 2023

#vidisha #MPTourism #incredibleindia #lesserknownindia #hindolatoran #athkhamba #gyaraspur #9thcenturyAD #redsandstone #sculptures #carvings #lordvishnu #tenavatars #archway #swing #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #fourpillars

Ath Khamba - Lesser Known India Series

Ath-khamba – meaning eight pillars - are the remains of once a magnificent temple in Gyaraspur, near Vidisha in MP India. It is locally known as Ath-khambha because of the eight surviving pillars standing since 9th Century AD. Rest of the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva has not survived the ravages of the invaders and natural erosion. In Warangal Telangana State, we have the famous 1000-pillar temple. But eight-pillar temple has its own beauty as you will shortly see.

A stone plaque erected by the MP Tourism department describes Ath Khamba thus "The Ath-Khamba or a group of eight pillars of the mandapa and the antarala leading to the sanctum doorway constitute the remains of an ornate Saiva temple. The doorway and the pillars bear a pilgrim record of AD 982."

The red sandstone structure has withered 1200 years of weather and destruction by the invaders. The sculptures and carvings are stunning to say the least. The pictures below will convince you. The next time you are planning a trip to Madhya Pradesh, do include Ath Khamba.

Location: Ath Khmba is located near the bus stand in Gyaraspur in Vidisha district, Madhya Pradesh. See the two maps below courtesy Google Maps.

Gyaraspur is 36 kms north-east of Vidisha.

Ghumakkad was not aware of the lesser known treasures like Ath Khmaba but for Bharat Ladha who lives in Vidisha. He is a living encyclopedia of the region including wheat farming. My engineering batch mate from BITS Pilani and a buddy, Bharat Bhai is a farmer. More on his farming pursuits in another story. Thanks Bharat Bhai and family for three wonderful days of discovery in MP.

More in the series 'Lesser Known India' will follow.

We end with a quotation by Carl Sagan who said 'You have to know the past to understand the present'.

Stay connected and thanks for browsing.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Bharat Ladha/ 16th March 2023

Postscript: Our reader Kishor Thakre commented:

"अब तुम भी ज़रा हुस्न-ए-जहाँ-सोज़ को रोको 

हम तो दिल-ए-बेताब को समझाए हुए हैं 

 - कैफ़ी चिरययाकोटी 

हुस्न-ए-जहाँ-सोज़ - beauty which singes the world."

#vidisha #MPTourism #incredibleindia #lesserknownindia #athkhamba #gyaraspur #9thcenturyAD #redsandstone #sculptures #carvings #khajuraho #shivatemple #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #eightpillars

Each One Reach One - Another Perspective on Alumni Reunions

Batchmates, course mates, alumni of any institution the world over, when they meet, get younger!

How?

By recounting the younger days, the teenaged pranks, the crushes, the heartbreaks and the days of carefree masti! Whether you are meeting after 10, 20, 25, 40 or 50 years- the thrill and the joy is the same! Sometimes, even the jokes and the stories are the same. But the fact is the batchmates never get tired, rather they get re-energised.

We all, the batch of 1968-73 from BITS Pilani also got re-energised and recharged our life's batteries recently at Pilani. But we also did something more. Something for the students on campus. Covid dampened our plans a bit. But we could speed up subsequently. Summarised below are five areas and initiatives which we have taken as part of our Golden Jubilee Reunion. Out of these, "Each One Reach One" has a larger impact and can be replicated in any institution.

One Hundred Merit Scholarships

Our batch has mobilised funds for 100 merit scholarships of Rs 1.5 Lakhs each. Since we could not muster enough funds for endowment based scholarship, we have instituted 20 scholarships per year for next five years. It will thus benefit 100 students. Rs 1.5 crores is not a large sum to be raised by a batch. But after 50 years of graduation, majority of the batch mates are on fixed income or pension. Therefore, we are happy to have set a target which could be achieved. Here is the poster of our appeal during fund raising.

The Institute also acknowledged our contribution and made a social media announcement. See the picture below.

The whole idea of sharing this story is to encourage other batches to contribute similar scholarships. If next ten batches pledge 100 scholarships each, we can support 1000 students on campus. And the process can continue batch after batch. In fact, during a recent Reunion of the next batch i.e. 1969-74, we shared the story of our scholarship drive. In a manner of 15 minutes, ten hands went up pledging their support. 1970-75 batch is already on the job. 1972-77 has also agreed to start a drive. So, let's do our bit for the students of our alma-mater! For those who can not donate in one go, they can make recurring donations online by using the 'Bit by Bit for BITS' scheme. Remember, no donation is too small.

During the Reunion, we met the first cohort of recipients of the scholarships. They shared their story with us on stage. Pictures below.

Here is a short video byte by one of the scholarship awardees:

Mentoring Tracks

We also organised parallel tracks for mentoring in following areas for which the students had registered in advance:

1. Startups and Entrepreneurship
2. Manufacturing
3. Aerospace
4. International Business
5. Social Entrepreneurship (covered separately)

See the pictures below.

Social Impact

We also interacted with two organisations which are working for the community around the campus. We offered our services to both.

1. PARC- Pilani Atmanirbhar Resource Centre. Run by an alumni trust just outside the Pilani campus, PARC works in the areas of education, livelihoods, healthcare, women empowerment etc.
2. Nirmaan Student Chapter. Nirmaan was born as a voluntary organisation in Pilani campus in 2006. Thereafter it has grown. It is a registered NGO not only in India but also USA. It works in the areas of education, healthcare, livelihoods, women empowerment, rural transformation by channelising the CSR funds from leading corporates.

For detailed stories of both organisations, you may browse our book 'BITS of Social Impact' which was released recently.

Road Map for BITS

Our batch also had discussions with the Vice Chancellor and team regarding a road map for BITS Pilani for next 16 years when it celebrates its Platinum Jubilee in 2039. The Institute will celebrate its Diamond Jubilee next year in 2024. Our suggestions ranged from more scholarships and project support to the students to establishing an overseas campus in USA. Perhaps BITS can become the first Indian university to award degrees in Boston or California!

Each One Reach One (EORO)

We also proposed that each BITS alumni should connect with at least one student. Even if 10% of the 1,75,000 strong alumni come forward, we can mentor every single student on all the campuses. Apart from mentoring, the EORO connection will enthuse the students to do better and feel empowered and more confident. The EORO initiative has to be driven by the Institute. The benefits of EORO initiative are far reaching. EORO outreach has to happen both ways. Student-to-alumni connect as well as alumni-to-student connect. By a show of hands, most of our batch mates showed willingness for the EORO program. We hope the Institute will take it forward.

We felt humbled by celebrating our GJ beyond the usual merry making. Hope other batches are listening and take a cue for their Reunions. We don't have to wait till the GJ Reunion to give back to our alma-mater. And giving is not restricted to monetary contribution. In fact signing a cheque is the easiest thing to do. But as an alumni if you offer your time, talent and energy as a volunteer, it is more valuable than a cheque.

You may say 'why make a Reunion such a serious affair?' Well, apart from the serious part, we also did the usual merry making on the campus. After all, 50 years is a long time. You can't even recognise the buddies! Pictures below with short captions:

A short video byte will give you a feel of mild Pilani winter in VFAST lawns.

We also paid homage to 25 of our buddies who are no more. May God bless their souls.

We also celebrated our buddy Satvinder S Gujaral's 73rd birthday during the Reunion! Video below:

R Arjun singing 'Papa kahtey hain bada naam karega' :

Feel the fog in the short video below:

Personally for me visiting Vidya Vihar campus is always nostalgia as I did my schooling also in Pilani. Pictured below is our house adjoining the VC's residence where my parents lived from late 1970s to 1993.

We all bid goodbye to the campus and were on the road on 18th Feb.

Before we close, here are some of the stories of our previous Reunions:

40th Year Reunion (Set of three stories of 1968-73 Batch at Pilani campus in 2013)

BITS-68 Conquers Kodaikanal - BITS Reunions happen all over India!

What Is So Great About BITS? - We all love our school or college after graduation. But what is so different about BITS?

What Has Changed in Pilani? And what hasn't? - this story would interest the batches of 60s/70s and 80s from BITS Pilani.

We close with a quote about the importance of fog in our life. It was prompted by the walk in Pilani campus on a foggy morning during our GJ Reunion.

As we said in the beginning, we sign off feeling younger after the GJ Reunion. Definitely. 

The GJ Reunion would not have been possible without the support of BITS. Special thanks are due to Prof Rajeev Sakhuja and the energetic team of Pratham and Shreya of SARC (Student Alumni Relations Cell). God bless you folks.

Thanks for browsing.

   -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with 1968-73 Batch/ Pilani/ 8th March 2023

#bitspilani #1968-73batch #goldenjubileereunion #alumnireunion #bitsaa #bitsalumni #bitsians #EORO #eachonereachone #givingback #almamater #mentoring #socialimapct #bitsofsocialimpact #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #50yearsofgraduation #connectionforlife