Banka Bihar VI: Vaishali

My first impressions of Vaishali were created by Acharya Chatursen’s book “Vaishali ki Nagarvadhu”. The opulence described in the book and characters that you have heard about but probably do not know much about make the place very inviting for any history buff. On top of it, it is also the birthplace of Lord Mahavira and hence the birthplace of Jainism. So it was a must visit place in Bihar for me. The place today nowhere resembles its past glory, I was happy to discover many interesting things that I had never heard about. Though people would associate Vaishali with Buddha and Mahavira, to me it would always remain the city of Amrapali.

Vaishali is just an hour’s drive from Patna and you get a glimpse of the rural life on the way. We saw many teenaged girls riding their colorful bicycles. We spoke to a few of them and found them extremely confident and happy. We saw very neat and clean houses with round fodder cases standing outside each house. The time of year was such that it was like driving through yellow mustard fields and the vast expanse of open fields. Because of missing industry, you still see sky and land till your eye can see the horizon. We also got to see the MLA of the region doing rounds and listening to people, making an instant speech including making promises and sparkling in his crisp white clothes. 

We started our Vaishali exploration by visiting the old Buddha relic stupa, which was the place where originally the 1/8th of the ashes of Buddha were kept. After the Mahaparinirvana of Buddha his remains were distributed amongst the eight claimants including the Lichhavis of Vaishali, and this is the stupa that they had built over his relics. The relics were excavated from this stupa and are now kept at the Patna Museum. The original stupa was a small mud stupa which was later expanded during the Mauryan, Shunga & Kushan periods. The relics were found in a stone casket containing ashes, a small conch, two glass beads, a gold leaf and a punch marked copper coin. A new Vishwa Shanti stupa similar to the one in Rajgir has been built at Vaishali too, but because of the paucity of time we had to skip it.

Kolhua is a part of the ancient city of Vaishali, which is associated with Buddha. This is where the monkeys offered honey to Buddha and became an important part of Budhha’s story. Stupa here actually commemorates the memory of that event only. Like the relic stupa, this was also a much smaller stupa that was later enhanced by the various dynasties that ruled the region. Budhha is said to have spent many rainy seasons here. Two important things that he did here was inducting the women into the sangha and making the first monastery for the nuns here and converting the famous Amrapali to a Buddhist monk and taking her into the sangha. Behind this stupa stands the Ashoka pillar with a lion capital on it. Of all the Ashoka pillars that I have seen, this is probably the best preserved, though the famous polish of the pillars can no longer be seen. There are no inscriptions on this pillar, but the lion sits very elegantly on the capital and rest all features of a typical Ashoka pillar like inverted lotus are there. There is a swastika shaped monastery that has been recently unearthed, along with few tanks. The complex is a typical Buddhist complex, with thousands of votive stupas and small shrines spread across the complex. Excavations are being carried out in one part of the complex and new discoveries being made everyday. Precious stones, beads, seals, terracotta figurines etc have been excavated from this complex, including a crowned monkey. Monkey adds to the story of the place where they not only gave honey to the Budhha but also dug a huge seven-layered tank for him. Like Nalanda, we could see some carved bricks here and there peeping out of the ruins. 

Vaishali is the birthplace of Lord Mahavira, the founder of Jainism. Unfortunately, his birthplace is only a small space with signboard telling you that this is the place where he was born. In the background is an unfinished structure of an intended temple, which we were told is under dispute and has been that state for quite some time. Jain temples are rich and beautiful everywhere and ironically this place seems to be completely ignored. There is an institute for research on Jainology that has an old but beautiful library. 

Raja Vishal ka Garh is the oldest part of Vaishali, said to be from the epic period and belonging to a king by the name Vishal. I guess the place may have been named after him. The site is said to be his palace and I have not yet learnt to make out the plan of the building by looking at its foundations, so could not make out much of the site. The board there explains the excavated site and says that antiquities from various historical periods have been found from here, most of which are kept in the museum now.

A Chaturmukhlinga i.e. a linga with faces on four sides has been recently excavated. The faces are those of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Surya. There are inscriptions on the base of the linga that attribute the image to the Gupta period. It has been installed in the town and a temple is being built around it. When we visited this place, there were a group of women doing Kirtana. There are other antique idols that can be seen at Bavan Pokhar temple, though they are not displayed in the practicing part of the temple.

The tank, which is supposed to have belonged to the palace of Amrapali, still exists. Locals told us that the peculiarity of this tank is that no weeds ever happen in it. There are weeds all around the tank but never in the tank. Unfortunately, we could not see the Vaishali museum that has the antiquities from its various sites. All museums in the country are closed on Mondays and this particular one is closed on Fridays.

I loved this small town with a glorious past. You must know the history of this town to be able to enjoy it.

Discover Delhi XXXI: Old Delhi Walk XXI: Ferozabad aka Feroze Shah Kotla

Early 14th century seems to be have been an era of fort construction in Delhi, as it saw the building of three major forts in the city. First being Tughlaqabad, which was quickly followed by Adilabad and then came the Feroze Shah Kotla, which was the only fort from where the king ruled. It was the century of Tughlaq rule in Delhi. After Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and his son Mohammed Bin Tughlaq came his nephew Feroze Shah Tughlaq.

It is said that Feroze shifted the fort and palace to the banks of Yamuna to tackle the persistent water problem. His city extended from the current day northern ridge to the Hauz Khas on one side and Purana Qila on the other side. Besides the ruined fort there are other imprints of Feroze scattered around the city like his hunting lodge Khuske-shikar on the ridge, Ashoka pillar outside Hindu Rao hospital and his tomb at Hauz Khas. Ferozabad was the first capital on the banks of Yamuna that would later become a norm as Purana Qila, Salimgarh, Shergarh and Lal Qila are built along the Yamuna. About 1.5 Lakh people inhabited the city of Ferozabad, which it seems was a big number in those days though today a small colony may have a similar number. This city was built from the material from the forts of Lal Kot and Siri, which was again pulled out from here for the construction of later forts. So what you see now in the fort is just the ruins with open bare stones.

The most important part of the ruins of Feroze Shah Kotla is the Ashoka Pillar, which was brought here from Topara near present day Ambala. There is an interesting story of how the pillar was wrapped in cotton and then transported through the river route. A grand three storeyed pyrimadical structure was built to mount the prized pillar. Ironically, today an industrial chimney many times in height of the Ashoka pillar and very similar in shape makes the original pillar look dwarfed. When you climb up the dilapidated structure, almost taking a risk, you wonder what is it about these pillars that they have been a subject of intrigue for so many centuries. They were erected by a king who wanted to spread his chosen dharma, but what was it that Feroze Shah Tughlaq saw in them that he wanted to have them in his fort. Was it just the fancy of a ruling king or was there a superstition associated with the pillar? It must not have been for the height of pillar as Delhi already had it Qutab Minar, and must not have been for the inscriptions as they are not even in a language known to the king. The pillar’s top is broken as of now, but it is said that when it was installed here, it was crowed with a capital of precious stones and a globe with a crescent on top of it, probably indicating the goals of the Sultan. Though the whole structure is enclosed in an iron grill, a small opening in the grill allows you to enter the structure. Now we do not know is officially you are allowed to go inside or not, but the ASI in charge led us to the opening, so we assume you can enter it. Though the structure’s glory is hard to imagine, but it seems a fait amount of effort was put to construct a beautiful structure on which would be mounted this pillar, indicating again the importance that the pillar had. There are many inscriptions on the pillars, most of them are in Pali language and Brahmi script but the last 4 lines are in Devnagari script and dates to 1220 Samvat which would mean about mid 12th century. From wherever you stand in the fort, you can see this pillar.

Another interesting feature in the fort is the round Baoli or step well. Unfortunately, the structure is closed from all sides and you can just get glimpses of it from some the openings in the walls. When you climb on top of the pyramid structure to close to Ashoka pillar, that is when you get a top view of this baoli which does look elegant with lust green lawns around it and an old tree standing by its side like a security guard. 

Jami masjid or mosque on side of the Ashoka pillar is still a practicing mosque. You have to climb a flight of stairs, which seem to be recent construction, and then pass through a gate with a dome to enter the mosque. The arches around the corridors have been marked green and most of the structure is nothing but an open space. In the centre of courtyard is what looks like an erstwhile tank, which is now filled to make a smooth ground. Most of the other parts are not visible now, but it was supposed to be a beautiful mosque as the literature tells us that invader Timur was so impressed by this mosque that he got a similar one built in Samarkand. 

The part that is marked palace ruins is hard to decipher. You can see some rooms on the side and some corridors with open arches. One interesting feature in this palace part is protruding rooms with pyramid roofs, which are quite spacious for rooms of security guards. There are gateways with recessed arches, and you may wonder what they divide the space into. Very few walls are left with a thick plaster that would have covered the stones below. You can see the modern inscriptions of visitors who wanted to leave their names on the structures. Only in one place I could see the red color in an arch with white outline amidst the monotone grey color of the rest of the complex. You cannot see any parapets on top of the wall, which going by the period of construction would have been there, but you do see arrow holes in the walls. 

We noticed the multiple signs of a strange kind of worship being done on various walls and gates of the fort. These walls were dead black from smoke and soot of the incense and oil lamp burning and then there were marks in various bright colors. There were nails in the walls, which seem to be a part of the worship. We were told that some Baba Syed is worshipped here, but no one could tell us more about it. Interestingly, even the Ashoka pillar seems to be worshipped regularly. There were lots of cats, a few dogs and vultures flying over the structure, as there were feeding bowls all over the place to feed the animals and birds. 

This fort today is known more for the cricket stadium that bears its name, at least its name is not lost like that of Lal kot whom no one seems to remember, not even Archeological Survey of India. Located in the heart of the city, the fort is easily accessible, but not many seem to visit it. To me the strong bastions at the entrance were quite inviting. About 150 years of city’s history are buried in the ruins of Ferozabad, so go there sometime to meet that part of your history.

Discover Delhi XXX: Old Delhi Walk XX: Tughlaq Forts

The two Tughlaq forts stand opposite each other, divided by a road and almost no time, built by father son duo, none of whom lived in these forts as far as we know. Each fort can be best viewed from the parapets of the other fort as if they were keeping an eye on each other. In between them lie the graves of both father and son along with the women who bound them together. Not much is known or said about these forts, but what makes these forts interesting is the stories that have lived in the memory of the people. These forts are contemporary to the most popular saint of Delhi, Hazrat Nizammudin.

Tughlaqabad fort can be called the fasted constructed fort, constructed in about 2 years and that too in a mode where different commanders of the Sultan built various parts of the fort and the joints to these parts were the city gates. The founder of Tughlaq dynasty Ghiyassudin Tughlaq built this third city of Delhi, after Lal Kot and Siri, in early 14^th century. Spread over more than 6 kms, it has two walls – an outer and an inner wall, many step wells and a palace area. As you climb the fort now, all you can see is total ruins, showing the broken bare walls, walkways, bastions, courtyards, rooms and multiple layers of the various structures. There are certain parts that carry a distinct Mughal era stamp on them but the walls are definitely prior to that. Some ends of the fort are still inhabited by people, but most of the fort lies barren. You may find a few young couples here and there otherwise it can be scary to be alone there.

I could see a very deep square step well inside. There were probably rooms below the thick outer wall and you could walk on the top of these rooms and have a look outside the fort. There are parapets here and there on the walls while most of them are gone. There are bastions that probably belong to an inner wall which are not solid but have some structures built in them. The stairs take you to various levels of the fort. From the back wall of the fort, you can see the landmarks of south Delhi like Lotus temple and tall buildings of Okhla and Nehru place. On one side a narrow passage below the surface level with spacious rooms on both sides would intrigue you. You can walk past the passage to reach a part of the front wall and would wonder what these rooms could be. It could have been a jail, but the rooms look too big for that. It could have been living quarters for the summer season when you need to keep yourself cool. From different points in the fort, the picture of the fort looks entirely different. From the front wall parapet you can get a bird’s eye view of the tomb and the Adilabad fort across the road.

Legend is that when Ghiyassudin Tughlaq wanted to build this fort, he asked all the labor in the city to come and work on the building of the fort. At the same time Sufi saint Nizammudin was building a Baoli (step well) in a village a few miles away, which was ironically called Ghiyaspur then and would be later known as Nizammudin. The Sulan being a Sultan, forced the labor to work at the fort, but the labor was more inclined to work for the saint, so they would work during the day at fort and at night for the Baoli. This was also eventually stopped by the Sultan and this is when the saint got angry and said that the fort will either not be inhabited or only Gujjars (the local tribals) will live here. Incidentally, it looks like the saint’s words did come true and the fort was not inhabited by the sultan and his men and till sometime back Gujjars were living inside the fort. Another legend says that when Tughlaq was serving the earlier Sultan of the Khilji clan, once he had proposed to build a fort here and the Sultan sarcastically told him that when you become the Sultan of Delhi, you build a fort, little realizing that his words would come true.

A narrow causeway connects the Tughlaqabad fort to its builder’s tomb across the road. The tomb is simple and elegant with fort like walls. Well maintained with manicured gardens around the building, the building in red with white dome and slanting walls stands tall. There is not much ornamentation on the walls, or inside the white marble dome or on the graves or the mihrab. The two male graves belong to the Ghiyassidun Tughlaq and his son Mohammed Bin Tughlaq and the female grave belongs to the former’s wife and latter’s mother. On one corner of the compound lie the graves of another couple Zafar and his wife, who was a commander of Tughlaq’s and his grave probably, preceded the now more famous ones. There are corridors along with arched openings along the boundary wall that has long narrow openings giving view of both the forts. It seems there are cubicles for the convicts below the ground as at places there are steep staircases going down and there are holes from where the guide told us the food was thrown down for the prisoners. There is a small grave in the corridor that is supposed to be of the pet dog of the sultan.

Walk or drive across the vast ground to reach the base of Adilabad fort, a little known fort of Delhi. Climb the flight of stairs and then climb a steep slope to reach the gate of the fort built with beam and lintel. The fort is being restored at the moment and we could see the ongoing work at the front bastion. The fort as it stands now is much smaller than the Tughlaqabad fort. It is said that the plan of this fort was very similar to that of Tughlaqabad fort and the two forts were connected through a causeway, though I could not locate this causeway. A map there shows the layout plan of the fort. From the main gate you get a panoramic view of the other fort. The lawns have been recently laid and so have been the small plants. Looks like ASI or Delhi Govt have some plans for the fort.

This walk requires good 2-3 hours and involves climbing two forts. Like one of my historian friend told, this is a site that belongs to a single culture and is not multi-cultural like say Mehrauli or Purana Qila. This is a lesser-known and not so frequently visited part of Delhi. Explore it when you get time.

Banka Bihar V – Rajgir aka Rajgriha

Rajgir or Rajgriha as it was known in its hay days was the first capital of Magadh Mahajanapada before they moved to Patliputra on the banks of Ganga. Today, it is a small town 60 kms SE of Patna. Surrounded by seven hills, it is located in the valley encompassed by these hills. The name literally means the abode of the royals.

Historically Rajgir is important for Jains, Budhhists, Hindus & students of history. Buddha is said to have visited Rajgir several times and stayed here to propagate Buddhism. He gave some of his important sermons here including the one that converted the then king Bimbisara to a Buddhist along with many others. Lord Mahavir is also supposed to have spent 14 rainy seasons or chaumasas in Rajgir and he delivered hid first sermon here, though his sermon is not as celebrated as that of Budhha. Jains have an Shwetambar and a Digambar temple each in Rajgir. This city is also associated with Mahabharata as the city of Jarasandh. Though we could not see it, it is said a Jarasandh Akhara still exists in the city where the wrestlers are trained. Rajgir was also a place that Ashoka chose to put one of his famous pillars with an elephant capital, indicating that this city was important even in his reign i.e. more than 2400 years back. According to some texts Ashoka died in Rajgir on top of one of the hills. Bimbisara, the last Magadh king to have ruled from here was imprisoned here in a jail by his son Ajatshatru, who shifted the capital to Patliputra. His jail can still be seen along with the walls of his fort. 

Today the most visited place in Rajgir is Vishwa Shanti Stupa, which is on top of a hill and can only be approached by a ropeway. It is a very basic ropeway, which single chair seating and a basic rod to bind you to the chair. On top of it, you have to hop on and hop off the chair while it is moving. The ride is about 12 minutes and in the middle it can get scary. In case the electricity decides to take a break, you will be struck in the tiny chair, on top of a valley, but the ride is lot of fun nonetheless. Vishwa Shanti stupa is a huge stupa in pristine white with golden Buddha images in various mudras on its side. The Japanese built the stupa and a Japanese monk popularly called Fuji Baba lives here and is in charge of this stupa and the temple. We had the good fortune of being invited by the Baba for Japanese tea at his place and the room was as enchanting as the stupa. The room had been built around the natural rocks on the hills and they formed the part of the room like everything else. You can get a top of the hill view of the city and its surroundings from here. The place is very well maintained and gives the calm and serenity that we all need. Colorful flags floating with the light wind do not let the place become dull and add the color and vitality to the place.

Son Bhandar caves at Rajgir give you the legends of the place. It is said that the hill behind this cave is studded with Gold. There is a door marked inside one of the caves and alongside the door is written a mantra in Shakhlipi or shell script, which is yet to be deciphered. It is said that when that mantra is deciphered and chanted, the door will open giving access to all the gold. We were also told that the British who discovered all these caves tried their best to open the door but could not. There are other carvings on the cave walls, which show the initial stages of stone carving in India. On the outer walls of one of the caves, images of Jain Teerthankaras can be seen. As per the inscriptions these caves were excavated during 3-4th CE for the Jain monks. The caves were double storeyed, but as of now the upper storeys are not reachable as the structure suffered a lot during a massive earthquake in early 20th CE.

Maniyar math is another excavated site in Rajgir, which shows an octagonal temple within round cylindrical walls. The round wall has niches at regular intervals and there were images and idols of various Hindu Gods and Goddesses, done in stucco. Most images have been lost but from whatever information is available about them it seems to be an important place for worship of snake Gods. You can see some imprints at the corners and ends of the niches. The compound of this complex has imprints of various dynasties like the Dhanusha of Gupta dynasty. It is located in the center of the Old Rajgir and is supposed to be the shrine of Mani-naga who is mentioned in Mahabharata. 

Hot water springs that are supposed to have curative powers are also found in Rajgir. Board outside the complex says that this place has 22 ponds and 52 streams, and names each of them. Source of the spring is behind the Saptarni caves behind the hills. Hottest spring is Bramhkund. There is a Laxmi Narayan temple accompanying the kund. You would see lot of people taking bath and then visiting this temple.

While in Rajgir, it is impossible to miss the bright, colorful & high Tongas moving around. There is a Tonga stand called ‘Tam Tam Padao’, where you can hire the tongas to go around the city. Each and every Tonga was beautifully decorated and named. Ghungroos or small bells were a part of the decoration and produced a kind of music when the Tonga moved. While all Togas were same, their Shringar made each of them unique and you would be tempted to choose the one that catches your eye the most. These tongas are also meant to keep the number of vehicles to the minimum in the town.

Between Rajgir and Nalanda lies a small place called Silao, which is famous for Khaja – a patty like sweet or salted dish. People of Bihar love to eat Khaja of Silao. All you can see is the neatly arranged piles of Kahja when you cross the town. Do taste the savory when you cross the place.

There were many things in Rajgir that we could not see and the place needs about 2 days to see it properly. Hope to get another opportunity to explore it once again.

Banka Bihar – IV: Nalanda

Nalanda, along with Bodh Gaya was one of the primary attractions for me to do a Bihar trip. The place just invokes a sense of pride and intrigue at the same time. The ancient global seat of learning, extremely well planned premises that housed more than 10,000 students and a place lived for more than 700 years before it was brought down. It is also a place introduced to us by the writings of travelers like Huan Tsang and I Tsing. 

The word Nalanda is composed of Sanskrit words Nal and Da meaning the giver of knowledge, a well thought out name. As you enter the well-maintained ruins, which still have a fair percentage of 1600-year-old red bricks, an overwhelming sense overtakes you. You suddenly find yourself walking the path walked by the scholars once. You look at their places of learning something like the lecture halls today, their dormitories and their wells. You see how the students and teachers lived together and pursued joint learning. You walk and see the various generations of the same building built by successive generations of rulers. You see long Chullahs and wonder if they were used to cook food or they were a part of the chemical laboratories. You see a row of temples, all of them in ruins, but still have the elegance like a wise old man who has given up all the ornamentation but you cannot take away the glow of knowledge. 

There is a long row of what looks like hostels and departments of the university. According to texts there were 108 units in the university of which only 11 have been discovered. Each unit has a hall, about 30 rooms, couple of bathrooms and a well. Rooms had beds, bookshelves and a niche to keep idols or other belongings. There are single and double rooms. And across a wide passage is another row that has temples. It is assumed that most of these temples are Buddhist, but there are enough Hindu sculptures also. What you see most prominently is the empty niches, which obviously had some nice idols adorning them. Peeping out from bare walls here and there are the ornate designs, a lot of them in the typical shape of a Chaitya. There are stone bases of pillars that might have stood steady on them and now only tell tales of their once upon a time existence. The drainage system is still working and drains out all the rainwater even today. There are platforms that were meant for exercising and meditation. There are votive stupas and miniature shrines all around the main shrines and temples, which may have been added at different points in time by the devotees or they have been placed here post excavation. Even the small stupas have some plaster remaining at their bases and domes that tell about their original ornate state. In some stupas the shape of the bricks have been molded to give some geometric and some auspicious shapes. There are only two stone pillars that I could see in the whole premises. There is evidence that these buildings were constructed during different periods of history and a lot of times one above the other. Excavators found images in stone, stucco and bronzes from here. All the excavated images can be seen in the ASI museum across the road from the ruins. An interesting discovery is the burnt rice that are about 900 year old from a granary.

The range of subjects studied at Nalanda included theology, logic, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, grammar and metaphysics. Students came from far and wide and studied here and took back the knowledge to their respective countries. Some, like Huan Tsang were wise enough to document the life and times of Nalanda, otherwise we may not have known this beautiful part of our history and heritage. But for these writings, we may have been guessing about these ruins just the way we are still guessing about the ruins of Indus valley. Texts say that this university was spread in an area of more than 10 sq km or so and as of now only about 1 sq km has been excavated and ruins restored. I wonder how it would be to see the whole university recreated before our eyes. It is said that when students came here for admission, the gatekeepers who were also very knowledgeable people tested them at the university gate, and only if the aspirants passed the test were they admitted to the university. 

It is said that there were three big libraries in Nalanda and none of them have been located so far in the excavations. These were called Ratna sagar, Ratna Ranjika and Ratna Uday and the first one being 9 storeyed. All these were burnt in a fire following the attack by Muslim invader Khilji. The signs of fire can be seen here and there on the walls but some of the walls are exceptionally clean and would give an impression of having been constructed very recently. The buildings were also destroyed in an earthquake and were apparently covered by soil and mud and lived underneath till they were again excavated in 20th Century. Like libraries, the main gates of the university are also yet to be discovered. There is a palm tree with eight branches, which is unusual as the palm tree has a single branch, and the Buddhist tend to believe that this is representative of the Buddha. 

The oldest part of the Nalanda campus is Sariputra’s stupa that was built dring the time of Ashoka. Sariputra was born here and he died here and was one of the most prominent disciples of Buddha. Unfortunately you cannot go close to this stupa now, though this is the most well known face of these ruins. It seems the temple is as much below the ground as it is above the ground today as this was built in 7 phases. To me even in ruins Nalanda exhibits grace and glory.

Nalanda museum is small but beautiful. Like every other museum I wish there was more documentation or a guide to explain the artifacts. 

Huan Tsang aka Xuan Zang memorial is the new landmark of Nalanda. It is an impressive and huge building built in the memory of Nalanda’s best-known scholar and teacher. The memorial takes you through the life of Huan Tsang through a series of wall paintings. The plaques will tell you more about him. A map traces his journeys across then civilizations. As you enter through the simple but nicely designed gate, a life size statue of the traveler in his typical pose welcomes you. The hall has another of his huge statue in black. When you stand there, you feel grateful to the man for providing the link between you and your history. Some samples from his writings have been put as bullets at the back of the memorial. But what was missing was a book that you can bring back with you to read what he wrote about this city of Nalanda and the life thereof. 

Nalanda is not yet on the world heritage site list, but I strongly believe that it should be right there. I also recommend a visit to Nalanda, it is a place, which is very difficult to describe in words or even in pictures, you have to be there to see and feel it for yourself. After Nalanda, my desire to see Taxila has increased manifold, I wish I am able to go and see that sometime.