Vidisha: The land of Emperor's Love

Hello friends, hope you have enjoyed my last story. Today, I have come to you with another new story. With a new place and new journey. Today I will take you to a old place, very related to the history of Ancient India. Hope this story will give you enjoyment. So, lets start...

        Vidisha, a small town just about 60km from Bhopal is the district head quarter of Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh. But once this small town had immense importance in the politics of India.. Yes, but this India is not our India of 21st century... Its India during the time of Emperor Ashoka.. Vidisha was the main centre of trade and commerce during Sunga, Satvahana and early period of Gupta Rules. 

        There is a love story behind the nomenclature of this place. The original name of this place was Besnagar. According to locals, the River Betwa, one of the principal river in the state was locally called Bes. As the city was situated beside the river, it was known as Besnagar. The city of Besnagar was mentioned in Kalidas's Meghdoot. Ashoka was the Governor of this city during the reign of his father, King Bindusar. During this time Ashoka fell in love of a daughter of a merchant from this place, whom he married. Her name was Vidisha Devi. Later he renamed the beautiful city be the side of River Betwa in the name of his wife... According to many historians, it was Vidisha Devi who had a great role in the transformation in the life of Emperor Ashoka, who was greatly shocked after the Kalinga war. Vidisha Devi was a follower of Buddhism and by her advice Ashoka made the Sanchi Stupa and embraced Buddhism... 

View from the Udaygiri Hills

        The tenth Jain Teerthankar, Sheethalanath was also from this city. A 10km from Vidisha town there is the Udaygiri caves. It was in this Udaygiri Hills, Sheethalanath attained Nirvan. There are 20 caves in the Udaygiri dedicated to Jainism and Hinduism. According to the Inscriptions found in the cave number 6, this cave is built under the patronage of Gupta King Chandragupta II during 401CE, but another inscription in the Cave 20, which is also known as Kumaragupta Inscription it is written that the

Varaha Caves, Where it is narated that Varaha Avatar of 

 Lord Vishnu saving Devi Prithivi 

from the ocean.

Jain Caves of this hill is built under the patronage of king Kumaragupta during 425 CE. So, it is a piece of architectural marvel from the Gupta period in early 5th century. These caves were numbered by British Engineer Alexander Cunningham in 1870s. The cave 1 is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord 

Mahismardini form of

Devi Parvathi

Shiva, Caves 2-5 is dedicated to lord Vishnu. The cave 5 is the most famous cave here, also known as the Varaha cave, dedicated to Varaha avatar of Lord Vishnu. Cave 6 dedicated to Shaktism is also known as Mahismardini Cave, as it has a statue of Mahismardini form of Devi Parvathi. Cave 7 is dedicated to Lord Karthik and Ganesh. Cave 8 is called Tawa Cave as it has a dome shaped surface looks like a frying pan. Cave 9-14 all are dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Cave 13 has a large Anantasayana panel of Lord Vishnu(Narayan). Cave 12 is dedicated to Narsimha Avtar of Vishnu. Cave 15 to 19 all are dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Cave 20 is a Jain cave Dedicated to Jain Teerthankar Parshvanath.

The British Period Guest House

at the top of Udaygiri Hills

        The famous Iron pillar of the Qutub complex of Delhi was originally situated here at the Udaygiri Hills, which was taken away by Sultan Iltutmish and set up at Delhi.

      If you think Udaygiri is just for historical and archaeological enthusiasts, its not at all like that. Udaygiri caves situated inside a forest is a place where one can enjoy both nature and history at the same time. This is a bird lovers paradise as the sorrounding forests are home to a large number of different types of birds. These forests are home to mammals like Chinkara deers and jackals. There is a 

Peacock at the road to Udaygiri

abandoned guest house of British period on the top the Udaygiri Hill from where one can see a bird's eye view of the Vidisha town below. So, its a place where everyone can enjoy. To enjoy this place, it is recommendable to have time with you to visit this place. And descriptions of every caves are given elaborately, so, take your time in reading those descriptions, you will surely enjoy a lot.

        The other most important place of interest in Vidisha Town is the Helidorous Pillar or the Khamba Baba Pillar. The Heliodorous Pillar is the oldest monument in the town of Vidisha, built in 135BC. The Pillar was named after Greek Ambassador Heliodorous who visited Vidisha during Sunga Period. There was an inscription in Brahmi Script, in which Heliodorous described himself as a devotee of Lord Vishnu. It was discovered by Alexander Cunningham in 1877. According to Cunningham, the pillar had a Garuda statue on the top which had been broken in some flashflood like situation. Some studies in this complex also points that the pillar was a part of a temple, which was dedicated to Lord Vishnu, but there is no much strong evidence behind  this deduction. 

Heliodorous Pillar

        The Lohangi Hills near the Vidisha Railway Station is a large rock which get its name from local sufi saint Sheikh Jalal Chisti, locally called Lohangi Pir. One can visit the damaged Annapurna temple and the tomb of Lohangi Pir here.

The Bija Mandal

        The Bija Mandal or the Vijay Mandal is a place where one can come through the history of Vidisha in Medeival period. It is a structure of unfinished temple dedicated to Devi Chamunda. It is built in 11th century by Parmar King Naravarman. It is unknown why the construction of this temple stopped. But later on in 14th century a mosque had been set up on the unfinished structure of the temple. Presently, the structure is closed by the Archaeological Survey of India. Tourists can visit the place and see upto the roof of the main structure. Entry into the mosque is strictly restricted as it is considered unsafe. 

The Mosque on the roof of unfinished temple

at Bija Mandal

        One can also visit some places of historical interests from here, which I will discuss in my next episode. Where I will give a thorough description of those places including Sanchi stupa. So till that good night, stay safe and wait for my new story. And before biding good bye, today there is a treat for you. As I had started the story with Emperor Ashoka, let today it finishes with Ashoka too... Ashoka was in love with River Betwa, so here is a picture of River Betwa for you...

        If you are too in true love with any river let me know through your comments. I had seen this river in few places of MP and had really loved this river. And always comment me about these stories. Your suggestions are truly welcome. You can comment me here, and also in my facebook page Traveller Raja....  So, sood bye for today.. Will be right back very soon...  

Here is the link of my next story of places which you can visit from Vidisha--

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4055541840455911018/4827720640719921592

Link of Sanchi Stupa story---

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4055541840455911018/9128183590560492375