ORCHHA

       

 ORCHHA - "THE LAND OF GODS AND KINGS"

Orchha is a great and important historical heritage site in India. Orchha is a small town in Tikamgarh district in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Orchha was established by king Rudra Pratap Singh sometimes in the 1500s. This beautiful town on the bank of river Betwa consists of numerous historical buildings surrounded by a battlement wall. The most famous them of all is Raja Ram Temple. The Raja Ram Temple in Orchha is the only temple of Lord Ram in the world where the worshipers worship Lord Ram as a king, not as a god.

In Orchha, the mighty Ram is accepted as king of Orchha and daily five times a day policeman of the Madhya Pradesh police department give the guard of honor to king Ram. The Raja Ram temple was built around the 1570s or early 1580s by The King of Orchha Madhukar Shah Ju Dev. Besides a sacred pilgrimage for Hindus Orchha also offers some old architectural buildings such as Orchha Fort, Royal chhatris on the bank of river Betwa, Laxmi temple, and Chaturbhuj temple. 

THE STORY 

According to locals and priests, the story goes like this: The King of Orchha Madhukar Shah Ju Dev was a Lord Krishna devotee and his wife Ganesh kunwari was a devotee of Lord Ram. One day king Madhukar and his wife Ganesh went to Lord Krishna temple in Vrindavan there they joined a group of Krishna devotees who were singing and dancing outside the temple premises in praise of Lord Krishna. It is believed that while they were singing and dancing Lord Krishna and Radha personified and joined the devotees at the moment flowers were showered from the heavens. 

After some days The king Madhukar again asked his wife Ganesh to accompany him to Lord Krishna temple in Vrindavan, but the queen refuses and wanted to go to Ayodhya. The king got angry and told his wife to stop praying child form of Ram and accompany him to Vrindavan. But the queen was refusing to change her mind, after which the king said "You keep praying to Ram but Ram never appears in front of us, unlike Lord Krishna who danced with us that day. The king told the queen that if she wanted to go to Ayodhya she can go but she can only return to Orchha when she has the child form of Lord Ram with her. only then the king will accept her as a true devotee of Lord Ram. The queen Ganesha Kunwari took a pledge that she will go to Ayodhya and only return with child form of Lord Ram or else she would drown herself in Ayodhya's Sarayu river. The queen left for Ayodhya without telling the king that she ordered her servants to start building a huge temple for Lord Ram. 

After a long journey to Ayodhya on foot to bring child form of Lord Ram to Orchha, the queen reaches Ayodhya and started praying to Lord Ram on the bank of Sarayu river near Laxman Fort. Time passes and she gave up food and the queen started fasting and praying to Lord Ram for over a month but Lord Ram didn't appear, so eventually after losing all the hopes she jumped into the river then some supernatural event happens and the child form of Lord Ram appeared in the queen's lap. Lord Ram told the queen that he is happy with her prayers and she could ask for a boon, to which the queen asked Lord Ram to come along with her to Orchha in his child form. Lord Ram agreed and put forth three conditions in front of the queen that he will only travel in Pukh nakshatra secondly, he demanded that he will be the king of Orchha, not her husband and thirdly, the first place you seat me will be my final place of stay and will be famous by the name of Ramraj. The queen agreed and started her journey towards Orchha with child form of Lord Ram in her lap, it took 8 months and 27 days for the queen to reach Orchha from Ayodhya on foot. Meanwhile, king Madhukar had a dream of Lord Krishna scolding him on discriminating between Lord Rama and himself. Lord Krishna reminded him that both of them are the same and one. 

On returning to Orchha, the queen went back to her palace and seated Lord Ram child form in the palace for the night and decided only to take the Lord Ram child form to chaturbhuj temple the next day with full rituals, but according to the third condition, he took that place as his final and Lord Ram transformed into an idol. As promised by the queen, Lord Ram is the King of Orchha and the place is called Ram Raja Temple. 

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS 

• ORCHHA FORT COMPLEX 

The Orchha Fort Complex has a large number of ancient monuments. it consists of forts, temples, palaces and other monuments. The fort was built following the founding of the Orchha state by The king Rudra Pratap Singh in 1501. The Palaces, temples, and forts within the fort complex were built in over a period of time by successive kings of Orchha. 

The main attractions in the Fort complex are; Raja Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Jahangir Mahal, and Phool Bagh.

Timings -              9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Entry fees -   

                              Indians -           ₹10

                              Foreigners -      ₹250

                              Camera -           ₹25

                              Video Camera - ₹200

Time Required -    2 - 3 Hours

   

• RAM RAJA TEMPLE

Ram Raja temple is a sacred Hindu temple of Lord Ram also known as Orchha temple it is situated in a small town of Orchha in Tikamgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. Ram Raja Temple is built by the king of Orchha Madhukar Shah Ju Dev. 

Timings -              Morning - 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM

                              Evening - 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Entry fees -    Entry is free. USE OF MOBILE PHONES AND CAMERAS ARE NOT ALLOWED 

• CHATURBHUJ TEMPLE   

The chaturbhuj temple is dedicated to Lord Ram and it is situated in Orchha,Madhya Pradesh. The name Chaturbhuj is a combination of 'Chatur' meaning "four" and 'Bhuj' meaning "arms" which translates to "one who has four arms" and refers to Lord Ram. The temple is famous for having one of the tallest vimana among Hindu temples (344 feet)

Timings -              9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Entry fees -          Entry is free.

Time Required -   30 - 40 mins. 

• ROYAL CHHATRIS

There are fourteen 'Chhatris' or memorials to the rulers of Orchha, these are grouped along the Kanchana Ghat of the river Betwa, built-in 17th & 18th centuries to honor the dead ancestors of the Bundela kings. It is a fine example of Bundela architecture

Timings -              9:00 AM to  6:00 PM 

Time Required -    40 - 50 mins.

• LAXMI TEMPLE

Laxmi temple is a huge temple situated in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Laxmi and it is built by Bir Singh Deo in 1622, Lakshmi Temple is one of the three most important temples in Orchha.

Timings -              9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Entry fees -          Entry is free

Time Required -   30 - 40 mins.

• HARDAUL KI BAITHAK MEMORIAL

Hardaul ki Baithak memorial is dedicated to Dinman Hardaul Singh. He was the prince of Orchha and the son of maharaja Vir Singh Deo. He was born in 1664 and died in 1688 at the age of 24.

Timings -              9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Entry fees -          Entry is free 

Time Required -    20 - 30 mins.

HOW TO REACH 

Orchha is very well connected with some big cities like Agra, Jhansi, and Gwalior.

Nearest Railway station -   Jhansi junction (18 km)

Nearest Airport station -    Gwalior Airport (142km)

Nearest Bus Stand  -           Jhansi Bus Stand (16km)

                                          ENJOY!