#orchha #chaturbhujtemple – Rana Safvi

Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha

ranasafvi — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 15:00:38 +0000

Orchha was founded as the capital of Bundelkhand by Rudra Pratap in 1531. He built his citadel on an island in the Betwa river with 3 palaces & temples in a line. The skyline is dominated by the Chaturbhuj Mandir, started by Madhukar Shah (1554-92) & completed by his son Bir Singh Deo(1605-27)

By Raja Deen Datal. In British Library

With the tallest spire at 344 feet the temple is famed for having the tallest vimana in temples. Built of bricks layered with lime plaster it has stucco work on the exterior which is ornamentEd with lotus symbols.
It has the mandal, ardha mandal and garbha griha.

It was built to enshrine an image of Lord Rama being brought by The Queen Ganeshkuwari from Ayodhya. She was a Rama Bhakta.
However, as the temple wasn’t ready she enshrined the Idol of Ram Lalla in her Rani Mahal.
As per injunction an Idol to be deified should not be kept in a palace. I was told by priest that the Idol could not be moved from there and to date Ram Lalla is in the Rani Mahal, now called #RamRajaTemple. Only place where #LordRama is worshipped as a king.

Raja Rama Temple

As the #sanctum of the #Chaturbhujtemple remained empty an image of Lord Krishna and Radha were installed there & are worshipped.

The temple displays a blend of Religious and secular styles with the exterior following #templearchitecture & interior resembling forts of the Mughal Era.

This is reminiscent of many forts and mosques of mughal Era &provincial Sultanates.
The #temple has a wonderful view of the #JahangirMahal.

View of Jahangir Mahal from the temple

Emperor #Jahangir and Raja Bir Singh Deo were very good friends
In Jahangir’s reign (1605-27)#BirSinghDeo became very powerful. It was a period of peace & saw construction of many monuments wh incorporated #dome, #vault, #arch,decorative motifs of #Mughals in garden settings but adding exciting experimentation & innovation to form #Bundela style
Photo 1- Chaturbhuj temple exterior
2&3,7&8-interior
4&6- view of Jahangir Mahal
5- Jahangir Mahal

A wedding taking place in the compound

Maulana Baba’s dargah in Bandra

ranasafvi — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 19:02:03 +0000

I visited Maulana Baba’s dargah in Bandra in 2017. It us maintained by a Parsi trust and very popular with the community.

Reason seems that back in the days Bandra was an island and a bridge was being built by a Parsi engineer. It would keep breaking.

Then the engineer asked the Maulana to walk on it and after that it had no problems!

Bene Israel Jewish cemetery, Mumbai

ranasafvi — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:43:33 +0000

Shakil the caretaker of the Bene Israel Jewish cemetery, Mumbai says we are all children of Moses why r Jews & Muslims fighting?

#Mazgaon #Mumbai # Bene Israel #cemetry

Dargah of Hazrat Makhdoom Ali Mahimi in Mahim, Mumbai

ranasafvi — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 16:42:04 +0000

When I visited in 2017, the khadim in Dargah of Hazrat Makhdoom Ali Mahimi were letting men and women come into the dargah at intervals of 15 minutes

I went in and really felt blessed.

Makhdoom Ali Mahimi (1372-1431) was born into a family of Arab travellers who had settled down on the island of Mahim, one of the seven islands that later formed the city of Bombay (now Mumbai).

Mahimi is revered by both the Muslims and Hindus.

After his death in 1431, he was buried in Mahim itself. The site later became a dargah (shrine) for the faithful.