Where God came to seek refuge
I often wonder that why Mewar is called so great, that its patrons, the Maharanas called themselves Hindupati, Chattis Kul Sringar (gem among 36 clans of Rajputs). After becoming familiar with its history i came to know the reason.
Mewar is the place in whole of the Rajputana, where almost all of the rajput clans came over the centuries, becoming nobles here, making it much respected among all others Rajput states. Whether it is Chauhan, Rathore, Solanki, Bhati, Jhala, Panwar, Tanwar, you will find their names in history of Mewar. These clans came from different areas where they themselves were rulers, but with different reasons they came to settle in Mewar. They fought and made sacrifices in every single battle fought for Mewar. You name a battle and you'll find these people in it. Some even sacrificed their whole clan, with not even a single child living to carry on their names, like Ramshah Tanwar of Gwalior. That makes it great, that makes Maharana Chattis Kul Sringar.
It is not like that only Rajputs came to settle in Mewar, even God themselves came to seek refuge here. When Mughal Aurangzeb (1658-1707) came to power in Delhi, he became notorious for zealous destruction of Hindu (infidel) shrines and icons throughout India. He also outlawed the worship of Krishna. Anticipating a raid on the northern holy city of Mathura, traditional birthplace of the god, one of the faithful removed a famous black-stone statue of the deity (Khesavdeva, a form of Krishna).
This statue came to Kota, Rampura and Jodhpur, but no one was able to give refuge to their own god. Nobody had the dare to fight with Aurangzeb. Then at last in 1671, the idol came to Mewar. As, no other Rajput state was able to give refuge to the God, the priest asked Maharana Raj Singh, that can he accept the idol of Lord Krishna? Rana replied, " Maharaj, i cannot guarantee that aurangzeb can't touch or destroy the idol, but i can guarantee that he will be able to do it after treading over the bodies of my one lakh Rajputs.". No wonder Maharanas were called Hindupati. Atleast Maharana Raj Singh truly deserved it.
The legend says the cart carrying the idol got stuck in the mud at the village of Sihar in the fief of Delwara. A sanguni (augur or prophet) interpreted this accident as the pleasure of the god in that he desired to dwell there and from there the statue was duly removed from its chariot. Overjoyed at this decided manifestation of favour, the Delwara chieftain hastened to make a perpetual gift of the village and its lands, which was speedily confirmed by Maharana Raj Singh, who gave the land to the village, in perpetuity as requested. Twenty years later the famous temple that now houses the black marble statue was built, and the village was renamed Nathdwara. After more than 300 years, Nathdwara has become one of the biggest temple in the country in terms of earnings. Lakhs of people come every year, and make offerings.
It is not like that Aurangzeb didn't came to Mewar, he did, but every time he came, he was beaten, his army getting killed and looted, but that's a different story.
Maharana Raj Singh and his nobles showed that whatever people think about Mewar is true in every respect and it is still great.
Mewar is the place in whole of the Rajputana, where almost all of the rajput clans came over the centuries, becoming nobles here, making it much respected among all others Rajput states. Whether it is Chauhan, Rathore, Solanki, Bhati, Jhala, Panwar, Tanwar, you will find their names in history of Mewar. These clans came from different areas where they themselves were rulers, but with different reasons they came to settle in Mewar. They fought and made sacrifices in every single battle fought for Mewar. You name a battle and you'll find these people in it. Some even sacrificed their whole clan, with not even a single child living to carry on their names, like Ramshah Tanwar of Gwalior. That makes it great, that makes Maharana Chattis Kul Sringar.
It is not like that only Rajputs came to settle in Mewar, even God themselves came to seek refuge here. When Mughal Aurangzeb (1658-1707) came to power in Delhi, he became notorious for zealous destruction of Hindu (infidel) shrines and icons throughout India. He also outlawed the worship of Krishna. Anticipating a raid on the northern holy city of Mathura, traditional birthplace of the god, one of the faithful removed a famous black-stone statue of the deity (Khesavdeva, a form of Krishna).
This statue came to Kota, Rampura and Jodhpur, but no one was able to give refuge to their own god. Nobody had the dare to fight with Aurangzeb. Then at last in 1671, the idol came to Mewar. As, no other Rajput state was able to give refuge to the God, the priest asked Maharana Raj Singh, that can he accept the idol of Lord Krishna? Rana replied, " Maharaj, i cannot guarantee that aurangzeb can't touch or destroy the idol, but i can guarantee that he will be able to do it after treading over the bodies of my one lakh Rajputs.". No wonder Maharanas were called Hindupati. Atleast Maharana Raj Singh truly deserved it.
The legend says the cart carrying the idol got stuck in the mud at the village of Sihar in the fief of Delwara. A sanguni (augur or prophet) interpreted this accident as the pleasure of the god in that he desired to dwell there and from there the statue was duly removed from its chariot. Overjoyed at this decided manifestation of favour, the Delwara chieftain hastened to make a perpetual gift of the village and its lands, which was speedily confirmed by Maharana Raj Singh, who gave the land to the village, in perpetuity as requested. Twenty years later the famous temple that now houses the black marble statue was built, and the village was renamed Nathdwara. After more than 300 years, Nathdwara has become one of the biggest temple in the country in terms of earnings. Lakhs of people come every year, and make offerings.
It is not like that Aurangzeb didn't came to Mewar, he did, but every time he came, he was beaten, his army getting killed and looted, but that's a different story.
Maharana Raj Singh and his nobles showed that whatever people think about Mewar is true in every respect and it is still great.
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