A feel of history: Rajwada and Krishnapura Chattris in Indore
Oct 10 2007 | Views 583 | Comments (3)
Tags: Indore Malwa Madhya Pradesh tourism
A feel of history: Walking around the Rajwada and Krishnapura Chattris in Indore
On a Sunday afternoon some weeks ago I had gone to Indore on some work. I captured some images of the seven storey Rajwada and the Krishnapura Chattris near it. If you walk around this area you get a feel of the old Indore. Today this is a business area. Full of shops. One can find bazaars dedicated to clothes, utensils, text books all within a small radius. And a fair amount of small eating houses which offer the typically tasty snacks of Indore. And a profusion of juice stalls. This is far from the Malls and the new Indore. If one were to not visit this area one's visit to Indore would be incomplete.
The Rajwada is a seven storey structure. The first three floors are made of stone in the Rajput style and the upper floors are largely wooden in the Marathi style. The halls inside the Rajwada are in the French style.
Camera Used: SONY DSC H9Photographs taken by author.
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar whose name is synonymous with Indore. Interestingly she spent most of her life at Maheshwar, the small town on the banks of the Narmada.
"Hamari photu bhi lo," said these kids. "Saamney khadey ho jao," I told them. One of them decided to pose like Krishna. They took a look at their picture on the LCD screen, grinned happily and continued playing. Bless them.
A dwarpal.
The Rajwada from inside. One can see Ahilya Bai's statue through the door.
Another view of the Rajwada from inside.
Tukoji Rao Holkar's bust. One can see the Italian influence here.
The Ganesh festival was on and a pandal with Ganesha's statue had been made inside the Rajwada too.
From the Rajwada to the Krishnapura Chattris near the Khan river is a short walk. Unfortunately the river is like a huge drain as it accepts a lot of the sewage and trash of Indore. These Chattris were built after the cremation of Holkar royal family members. Each Chattri is a memorial to one member of the family and is built at the cremation spot. There are three Chattris here and according to the information board put up they were built at the cremation sites of Krishnabai Holkar who died in 1849), Tukoji Rao Holkar II whose death was in 1886 and ShivajiRao Holkar who died in 1906.
A bunch of kids came running when they saw me with a camera. I clicked a picture. They wanted me to take another picture asthey thought Chottu who is at the extreme left was not photographed. The LCD screen convinced them that Chottu was indeed in the picture. Theythanked me and went away happily. I was a nice man in their books.
A nice afternoon walk. The weather is getting better and I intend doing it again in winter. The results should be even better. Keep watching this space.
(C) Copyright Dev Kumar Vasudevan, 2007.
