Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Pune #3 - History lurks around every cornerr

The State of Maharashtra, in size is about 85% of the territory of Germany and 9.85% of India’s territory.

One of Maharashtra’s most beloved sons was Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a king who lived around 1630-1680 and established a Maratha (Hindu) empire from scratch wresting control of large swathes of territory from the Mughals (Muslim).

His son, Chatrapati Sambhaji who was equally valorous met a gory end at the hands of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. His remains are interred at Tulapur, some kilometers away from Pune.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambhaji

The history of the glorious Maratha empire remains a fascinating subject for study.

Down below a few snaps from a visit to the samadhi of Chatrapati Sambhaji at Tulapur, near Pune





Kavi Kalash, his companion and court-poet was tortured and killed along with Sambhaji. Kavi Kalash's remains too lie interred here.




And Puneites have this thing about signboards and signs. They come up with the most innovative wording (quite often rude too). The below one reads: What beautiful surroundings! How Clean! When we hear these statements, how happy we will feel that we havent thrown rubbish over here.



The samadhi is at the triveni sangam, where the rivers Bhima, Bhama and Indrayani meet. A sugarcane juice vendor below



At the ghats to the sangam




A mandir (temple) next to the river




'A clean and beautiful place, and an eternally disease-free life' is what the signboard reads




A typical stone structure seens in Maharashtrian temples. On special occasions, lamps are lit on the protrudings of this structure





And on the way back home from Tulapur, just the kind of name to instill confidence




Kasturba Gandhi - the wife of Mahatma Gandhi. She died in Pune and her samadhi structure is down this road




No comments: