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

Ranthambor 2 The Journey

__________________ Ranthambor Part-1: The Journey ______________________

After the Prelude, which you must have read, we now travel from Secunderabad in South Central India to Ranthambor Tiger Reserve in Eastern Rajasthan.

1.       Secunderabad Sawaimadhopur Journey

Our holiday special train left Secunderabad 15 minutes late at 2215 hrs. In fact we didn’t mind it getting delayed so that we do not have to alight at Sawaimadhopur at an unearthly hour of 3.30 am! We had had dinner before leaving home. Stocked up drinking water and settled down. To our pleasant surprise, the other two passengers in our AC1 coupe were to board enroute. This meant we could fold up the other two beds and thus have more head space. Of course Harsh utilised it for yoga next morning.

Since we were heading north, the morning sun welcomed us with its glow right above our head. See the picture. Sunrise through train window.

Harsh as usual got on to his mediation before capturing some morning shots.

The countryside in Maharashtra with its black and red soil had mix of crops. Cotton, wheat, jowar appeared prime crops. Wheat crop was in different stages of cultivation/harvesting. 

Neat and symmetric rows of fields are a photographer’s delight. All shots from moving train.

School girls at play. Probably they needed space in the neighbourhood! 

Natural rain water harvesting 

The train passed through some stations we had never been before like Shiva Shivanipur and Murtizapur, Narkheda and Dharakhoh 

Akola: we crossed the main line on Mumbai- Nagpur route next morning. Four Pooris and aloo bhaji are still sold at ten bucks (2013)! Incredible India!! At Akola, the electric locomotive was replaced by a diesel engine and the direction reversed!

Even in a small town like Akola, more multi-storied buildings could be spotted. A trend which is not eco-friendly because west facing walls of these buildings dissipate more heat after sunset. Adds to excessive heat and humidity—a problem which is faced in cities like Delhi now!

Narkheda: Where fresh oranges are still sold at Rs10/- for a pack of six ! Unbelievable. It may look green, but they are sweet. Enroute we saw plenty of orange plantations.

Amla: At 3 pm it was pretty hot outside. Hardly any passengers seen on the platform! 

Changing face of rural India—TV dish antenna atop small huts as well! (008)

Rural wisdom—see the haystacks on tin roofs to keep the huts cool in summer!

After Betul we climbed the hilly tracks. Flame of the forest (Tesu) in full bloom. This tree sheds all its leaves before it flowers. Like the cadets’ haircut before the passing out parade! It is used as a natural dye for playing Holi - the festival of colours. Tomorrow is Holi. 

Hill tracks offer enchanting views for photography. 

Tunnels in Vindhyachal ranges

Vindhyachal hill range is characterized by rounded hill tops and gentle slopes. Whereas the Aravali range has jagged cliffs. The Ranthambor National Park lies at the confluence of these two hill ranges.

Finally we reached Sawai Madhopur after 29 hours of comfortable train ride. Incredible India was impressive as always! 

Ankur Resort was our home for next two days.

In the next part, we take you to the Tiger land! And we were lucky after 25 years!! Yes, we came here 25 years ago and went back without a Tiger sighting!

This time, browse the next part of Ranthambor travelogue for tiger encounter!

Do share your experiences.

Ghumakkad Harsh

Postscript: Links to all our stories on Ranthambor are given below:

Prelude and Fac File
The Journey- Secunderabad to Sawai Madhopur
Tiger at last
Tiger's Cohabitants
Birds of Ranthambor
Ranthambor Fort and around Sawai Madhopur

Happy browsing.

#Tiger #Ranthambor #T24 #Sambhar #Cheetal #Aravalis #Zone6 #BirdsOfRanthambor #Fort #PugMarks #SawaiMadhopur #GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB

__________________________ End of Part-1 Ranthambor ____________________________