Painting picture courtesy Christie's Auction House Sometimes, a painting begins to ask more questions than it answers. A late eighteenth-century painting, attributed to the Mandi school and catalogued as showing Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra with a courtier, has intrigued me for some time. At first glance, the identification appears straightforward enough. Two men sit opposite each other, smoking hookahs, while attendants stand behind them holding fly-whisks. One figure is dressed in red, the other in white. The scene is informal, almost intimate, and yet unmistakably courtly. But the more I looked at the painting, the less convinced I became that the red-clad figure was Sansar Chand. The reason came from looking at other portraits. Among the surviving paintings associated with the Mandi court are several portraits of Raja Surma Sen, who ruled Mandi from 1781 until his death in 1788. One such portrait shows him seated smoking a hookah, attended by a fly-whisk bearer. Another depicts ...
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| Hadimba Devi Temple in Manali (picture credit: The OK Travel) |
As I had mentioned in a post earlier, Kullu's ancient name was Kuluta. The founders of the state are believed by Hutchison and Vogel to be descendants of the Pals who ruled over Prayag, from where they migrated westwards, conquering Haridwar, then known as Mayapuri. The founding of the present state through its current ruling dynasty interestingly is attributed to a Behangamani-Pal around 765 AD, a period where the Palas of Bengal had just come to prominence under their first ruler Gopala I. The Palas were supreme in North India, though they were always competing with the Gurjara Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas for supremacy in the Kannauj triangle. The Palas seem to have founded other states in the Himalayan region, including Mandi, Balor, Bhadu and Bhadrawah, as well as a small feudatory called Batol.The relations are curiously highlighted only in the Vansavali of Balor and Bhadu.
Behangamani was one of the eight brothers who was walking around with his family in the wilderness, trying to become a ruler without much success. Having tasted defeat, he was in hiding when a Pandit told him that his star was on the rise, and he would rule these lands where he was hiding very soon. Hutchison and Vogel tell the legend that follows soon as follows:
"The zamindars, subjects of Ranas and Thakurs....decided to choose someone else as their ruler. A short time afterwards, a jatra or religious fair, called Janjoli Jatra, was held at Basnara near Jagat-Sukh.
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| Hidimba Devi in her palki (picture credit: The OK Travel) |
The legend further goes that Behangamani was directed to go to the Shabari temple in Shuru village near Jagat-Sukh, where the goddess would appear to him. As he entered the fair with the goddess, the people hailed him with the title of "Jaidea", and a rebellion started against the Ranas and Thakurs, ending in a free Kullu state with Behangamani as its ruler. Since then, the dynasty has not only given her the status of the clan deity - she is much more than that to them. She is reverently called Dadi or grandmother by the ruling family. For those who may not be aware, this Hidimba is the same Hidimba of the Mahabharata. It is believed that having lost her son and her grandson to the war and its machinations, the rakshasi was very upset, and went into a profound period of meditation for twelve years. Krishna, impressed by her manner of handling her grief, blessed her to become a Devi.
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| Maheshwar Singh, King of Kullu, and Royal Family, awaiting the Devatas of Kullu Valley |
Manali is a renowned hill-station in northern India. It is a wonderful place to visit during summers. Tourists like https://www.imanali.in/manali-tour-package-surat from all over the world prefer this place as a holiday destination. It is a mesmerizing site blessed with fascinating beauty. If you visit once then you will always want to come in every vacation.
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