The travels of Bengalis in the past
---- Sumana Dam
(Continued from the last part)
After staying in Mathura for just over two weeks, the journey now began on a new route with new companions. The destination this time was the pilgrimage sites of Jaipur and Pushkar. They traveled through Shonshagram (Shonsha, Uttar Pradesh), Shonk (Shongkh), and Kumbhira (Kumher, Rajasthan). In Kumbhira, there is the fort of the king of Bharatpur. The city is inhabited by many wealthy people and is secured by guards at every gate. The fort has large cannons and is surrounded by thick walls. The towers have gun slits for firing. Leaving Kumbhira, they headed to Helenagram (Holena, Rajasthan), which has the Queen's Tank or Pushkarini, with paved ghats all around. There are also towers with rooms, dharmashalas, places of worship for Mahavira, Shiva temples, Vaishnav ashrams, and more. After that, they traveled through Maua (?), Bishra (Basra, Rajasthan), Sekendra (Sikandra), and Mohanpura (Mohanpura) to reach Jaipur in about 12 days. The route had various mountainous forests, and the path was very poor. There was a village every three krosh.
The streets of Jaipur are arranged in a grid pattern, with equally wide roads all around. On either side of the roads are beautiful white marble stone houses, adorned with various divine and other statues. These houses are residences of wealthy merchants. The ground floors of these houses have shops. Each street is dedicated to a particular type of shop—such as 250 bangle shops on the bangle potti and 500 shoe shops on the shoe potti. Similarly, there are pottis for blankets, woolen fabrics, other goods, halwa shops, Mewa shops, and so on. Shops selling pashmina, diamonds, emeralds, and pearls are on the upper floors.
The city is surrounded by a four-layered stone wall. One has enter through the fourth gate to reach the royal palace. There is also a temple of Govindji nearby the royal palace, guarded by foot soldiers. When they informed Govindji's Goswami, a bearer with a five-colored stick came forward, so the guards did not stop the writers. The statue of Govindji, made of white marble stone, is seated on a jeweled throne and adorned in royal attire. The temple conducts offerings and aarti seven times a day. The writers viewed the deity and the aarti. To the left of Govindji is the statue of Shrimatiji, and to the right is a statue of a princess (a daughter of King Sawai Jai Singh) holding a betel leaf pot.
The author recounts several stories here: The Mughal Emperor Akbar (likely Aurangzeb, not Akbar) ordered the demolition of the temples of Govind, Gopinath, and Madanmohan in Vrindavan. Upon hearing this, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur brought all the deity statues from Vrindavan to Jaipur and established temples there. The princess always visited Govindji's temple, which was located near the inner palace. When the princess's wedding time came, she refused to marry and merged into Govindji's form. That is why her statue is situated to the right of Govindji. All the deity statues from Vrindavan have remained in Jaipur, except for the statue of Madanmohan, which was taken by the King of Korauri and remains there. Only the replica statues are left in the temples in Vrindavan. The king of Jaipur manages the administration of his kingdom on behalf of Govindji (as Dewan of Govindji). He does not sit on the royal throne.
Six krosh away from the city, on a mountain, is the temple of Shila (stone) Devi. This goddess was previously a stone at Kansa's palace in Mathura. The stone was used by Kansa for killing Devaki's children by smashing them on it. Previously, this temple in Jaipur was a site for human sacrifice. Since Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh abolished human sacrifice, it is said that the goddess has turned her face away (towards left) in anger.
Everyone visited the royal palace, the Gopinath temple, and other temples. After staying in Jaipur for some days, they proceeded towards Pushkar.
(To be continued)
In this episode, the time period of the diary is from 7th Ashadha 1261 (21st June 1854) to 23rd Ashadha 1261 (7th July 1854).
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