Palace of Mirrors

"History is so amazing & interesting". The problem with this statement if viewed mathematically is as follows,

Statement/Hypothesis - "History is so amazing and interesting"
test - whether the hypothesis is true or not
Result- Hypothesis is true when age > 15 if condition (stream chosen after 10th std is not arts) and
when condition (studied in state syllabus during childhood) is true
else hypothesis is false.

Reason - You never get to read history anymore after finishing 10th std in school unless you have chosen "Arts" stream. Also, central sylabus has been proven superior to state sylabus. Hence, people from the "central scheme" of things are more inclined to appreciate History.

Otherwise, rest is history!

Anyways, whateverrrrr!!

This post is dedicated to "history of Kutch", the barren lands which protect us from our friendly neighbourly enemy from invasion.

I happened to visit the so called capital of Kutch called Bhuj city, which is 60 km from Gandhidham. This place has so many stories to tell, but very little is now available(not even 10%, mathematically speaking).
The appreciation for history started with a visit to one of the palaces in Bhuj called "Prag Mahal".



Nothing much in it, except a vast hall which was supposed to be a "Diwan-e-khas" or the "royal dining table" where Kings and queens and various other gentlemen used to enjoy royal food and drinks etc. Now, all you can get to eat there is pigeon shit!



The passage to the hall reveals the condition of the palace now and how magnificient it would have looked earlier. I wonder if the entry fee (which is Rs 12) is being used for cleaning up the pigeon shit, the place (palace) really stinks. But, one must appreciate the history and forget the pigeons and crows for a while. In the hall, there were photos of Lord Mountbatten, our own Bapu, Nehru chacha & friends (Sardar patel, etc).

So what is especially so special about these photos, the trick lies in the place. One has to imagine how barren this land of Kutch would have been during the good old times and appreciate that this place had a 'Maharaja' to rule over the land and this 'Maharaja' had a good friend called 'Mountbatten' who was the last "Viceroy" of India, and this viceroy was the reason for "Independence" and "partition of India"
Marvellous, isnt it!

Now comes the real interesting thing, the "Aina mahal" or "Palace of mirrors". Unfortunately, no photos with me to describe the beauty of this palace. If one has watched "Mughal-e-azam" movie which recently released in color, especially the song "pyar kiya to darna kya", the palace becomes easy to imagine.

Else, One must imagine a rectangular hall full of small sized mirrors pasted on the wall, with a king seated at one end and damsels dancing naked.

Kyon, khada hogaya kya, read on,

The beauty is that the King's seat is in the middle of an "island of fountains" with mirrors all around. Legend has it that many damsels from the far east and west have in the past displayed their beauty to the Kings who ruled Kutch. Now, the hall also has a life sized sculpture of a "Lion" which was supposedly shot by one of the kings. Gives an idea that Lions existed even in such barren lands, superb!!

From this palace, I happened to visit the Museum which is just next to the lake in Bhuj. Here, I really appreciated the wordings on a cannon displayed outsite.



It said "This cannon was gifted by Tipu Sultan, King of Mysore to the Maharaja of Kutch in exchange for the beautiful Kutch horses"

The sentence above says it all, such beautiful links in History. Modern commuting systems and commuters must really appreciate this and feel ashamed.I mean, where is Mysore and where is Kutch, 2000 km separates the barren land from the land of dreams. That too in 1780 A.D, horses & cannons were transported so far off.

Not to mention the beauty of History, Tipu Sultan, alias the "Tiger of Mysore" allied with the French and fought four battles with the British which paved the way for other revolts and gave birth to the "First war of Indian Independence in 1857".

So much appreciation of history ends with history again. This expedition was carried out on a beautiful sunday of October 11th 2009, but written today Oct 21st 2009. History, can be really beautiful!!