#nakodar #punjab #mughalarchitecture #mughal #jahangir #mughalempire T – Rana Safvi https://ranasafvi.com A blog exploring India's Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb or its rich multi plural multi cultural heritage via its adab, tehzeeb & tareekh Tue, 12 Oct 2021 06:29:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://ranasafvi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/image-7-75x75.jpg #nakodar #punjab #mughalarchitecture #mughal #jahangir #mughalempire T – Rana Safvi https://ranasafvi.com 32 32 179612229 The Tomb of Ustad Muhammad Mumin Hussain in Nakodar, Punjab https://ranasafvi.com/the-tomb-of-ustad-muhammad-munir-hussain-in-nakodar-punjab/ https://ranasafvi.com/the-tomb-of-ustad-muhammad-munir-hussain-in-nakodar-punjab/#respond Mon, 11 Oct 2021 13:38:02 +0000 https://ranasafvi.com/the-tomb-of-ustad-muhammad-munir-hussain-in-nakodar-punjab/ Driving from Sarai Nur mahal to Kapurthala we lost our way in Nakodar and that was a lucky as I saw two well preserved Mughal tombs.
What attracted me to get down and investigate were the faience mosaic work on it called kashani after the city in Iran. In Delhi the neela Gumbad was an example but very little remains of it.
The Chini ka Rauza in Agra is also in a bad shape.


The Tomb of Ustad Muhammad Mumin Hussain is above that the chamfered octagon oe musamman Baghdadi plan that was very popular in Mughal Era, consisting of large and far smaller sides. It stands on a high platform. It is built of brick and lime mortar and is in a good condition; it is approached by a double flight of steps on the northern and southern sides but these were grilled and locked and I could not go inside and see the tomb or Cenotaph. That tomb is mounted by a dome with an inverted lotus and a finial.


I stood outside and enjoyed the rich surface decoration on the spandrel of the arches, the panels, the parapets and the corner structures which were covered with glazed tiles of yellow blue and green. Most of the patterns are geometrical and the joints of the glazed tiles are separated by thin ridges of unglazed terracotta tiles. According to Subhash Parihar this was a peculiar peculiarity of the early 17th century and can be seen in contemporary buildings in Lahore.


There would have been painting on the surface also executed in the green and red but we can only see the traces of it now.
The side panels on either side of the entrance are flower and vase motifs.


I could make out the markings of the painting on the soffit of the dome.
Since could not go up I rely on Subhash Parihar ‘s excellent book “Islamic Architecture of Punjab” for details.
According to that there is an inscription on The facade of the term which translates as “through the efforts of the most insignificant of [God’s] creatures Mohammed Mumin al Hussaini. Year AH 1021.”
On the southern facadeis inscribed “There is no God but Allah, the master, the truth, the certainty, year 1021 [1612-13]”
On the western facade the Islamic creed or kalima is inscribed , “There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the prophet of Allah. by his prophethood.”
There are other inscriptions from the Quran – the northern wall has the entire Surah Al Fath-48 and verses from Surah al-Saffat.

This photo is from the net

When Sir Alexander Cunningham had examined the tombs the sarcophagus were intact ( no longer present) and he identified Mohammed Mumin as Ustad Mohammed Husain the tambura player in the service of Abdul Rahim Khan e Khanan.
Subhash Parihar doubts that a musician could have built such a grand tomb for himself.
According to Parihar it seems probable that this is the tomb of tomb of Muiz ul mulk who is mentioned in Tuzuk e Jahangiri as the jagirdar of Nakodar, who was ordered by Jahangir to erect a building and lay out a garden In the town so that ‘wayfarers seeing it might be pleased’. Muiz ul Mulk must have been the title that was confirmed upon Mohammed Mumin. in the Tuzuk e Jahangiri the last reference to Muiz ul Mulk is in the year 1612-13 the year mentioned on the tomb.

Very grateful to Prof Subhash Parihar for his detailed work on Punjab architecture from which I have quoted

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One whose Throat is Blue 

I bow to Nilakantha [who has] ten arms, three eyes,

is sky-clad [and] lord of the directions, 

dark-eyed and adorned by/with poison.

— Translated by Rohini Bakshi

One of the most famous legends, which has been described in the Bhagavata Purana, the Mahabharata,and the Vishnu Purana, is that of samudra manthan,or churning of the ocean. It is about the time when the gods and demons fought and the demons often got the upper hand. On being appealed to, Lord Vishnu advised the gods to solve the problem diplomatically, which resulted in an alliance between the gods and demons to churn the sea of milk for the nectar of immortality, which they would divide equally between them. Lord Vishnu assured the gods that he would ensure that they alone got the nectar of immortality. During the churning, many objects came up. One was the halahala, a pot of potent poison which could destroy everyone. Again, on Lord Vishnu’s advice, the gods approached Lord Shiva, who was the only one capable of swallowing it without being affected. 

Lord Shiva swallowed the poison while his consort Goddess Parvati, it is said, held his neck to prevent it from going into his stomach. The poison turned his throat blue, which is why he’s called Neelkanth, or the one with a blue throat. Though the poison didn’t harm him, Lord Shiva’s throat was burning and he came to earth to rest. According to legend, that place was Kalinjar where the Chandela rulers, who were Shiva bhakts, built in the 10th century a magnificent Neelkanth temple. The Chandela rulers of Bundelkhand also built the Kalinjar fort, which lives up to its name, ‘The destroyer of time’, between the 9th and 13th centuries. It is one of the few forts that stood against the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni. It lies on a hilly plateau, 1,203 ft above the plains in the Vindhya range .

The entrance to the fort and the palaces inside are impressive, but it was Neelkanth temple that took my breath away. It was the best part of my trip to Bundelkhand. From the top, the 165 steps that lead down to it in a long and winding route look daunting, but don’t let that deter you. It’s worth every bit of the effort.

Though the scenery accompanying the journey down the steps is enough to refresh tired feet, it was the first sight of the Grecian altar-looking 16-pillared yagna mandap from the top that was enough to give us a sense of purpose. We continued with renewed vigour. The mandap, which is said to have once been covered, now stands under the open sky as a testimony to time.

There are carvings and statues on the rocks all along the route. At the museum of Kalinjar fort, the Archaeological Survey of India officer said that out of the 874 specimens of sculpture they had there, most were found during excavations of the temple. I can well believe him after seeing the riches there.

A door leads to the village. On the way, an adorable Ganesha statue keeps guard. On the rock, just a little way above the mandap, are spectacular statues of Chamundi Devi.

Behind the mandap is a small shrine cut into the rock itself, with a tall Shivling installed in it. The unique feature of the Shivling is that it is always wet near the throat portion, even if there is a drought or famine in this area.

The door of the cave is a massive stone shutter-like thing, which the pujari told me used to move, but they no longer know the secret lever.

To the right of the temple, a few steps down, is the most amazing statue of Kal Bhairav (incarnation of Lord Shiva) carved in the rocks. This is easy to miss as most people return from the mandap area. It is 24 ft high, 17 ft wide, has 18 arms, and is garlanded by skulls. The statue is majestic and stunning, and gave us the feel of the power of destiny, for which it is worshipped.

Just above the temple is a natural water source that never dries up. Water continually drips onto the Shivling, keeping the neck moist. Thirty-five steps lead up to the sarovar cut in the mountains behind the temple. It is said that this contains treasure, and there are some indications written on its walls. I don’t know how true this is, for surely someone must have found it if it was material treasure. To my mind, it’s treasure of the spiritual kind, for I felt a great sense of peace here.

https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/finding-treasure-in-the-neelkanth-temple-in-bundelkhand/article17530108.ece/amp/

Rana Safvi

19 MARCH 2017

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