History of King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal

History of Garhwal including Haridwar (1223- 1804 AD) –part -82     

                                            

 History of Uttarakhand (Garhwal, Kumaon and Haridwar) -327 

                       By: Bhishma Kukreti (A History Research Student)

                 Around first part of nineteenth century (around Gorkhali), there was a big fort in Shrinagar Garhwal called Ajeypal ku Kot or Ajeypal Palace.  The Ajeypal Palace was built with big stone pieces and lime.

  The Palace had three big portions. Every portion was four floors high. There were stone overhanging eves (chhajja) and their bases were made artistically.  It is said that wood was not used in building palace. The window nets were made by cutting stone. The door nets were also made by stone as wooden window.

           The main door was very strong, heavy and had artistic works and defense mechanism. A Kukreti family folklore describes that many men were required to shut and open the doors (See Kukreti Vanshavali) . Dr. Dabral also vouched the same that numbers of people used to move the doors. It is said that when door were mad nobody could lift those doors to fit on palace. The King Ajeypal had a ritual and he lifted the door. A maid servant saw the King lifting heavy doors. The King killed the maid servant and nobody could know the secret.

 There was custom of human sacrifice for new building or building other infrastructure as Bhad Madho Singh sacrificed his son life for Maletha canal. It is said that king Ajeypal sacrificed maid servant for his newly built palace.

It is said that there was a secret tunnel from palace to Alaknanda River through which palace women used to go for bathing. A four mile water canal was dig from Alaknanda to the palace for water needs.

 The palace was fallen down in earth quack of 1803 and the palace ruins fled away in 1894 flood.

   

               Building Temples

 According to Raturi, Ajeypal built Satyanath Bhairav temple and Rajrajeshwari yantra , Gaurjadevi temple in Devalgarh. There are sculptures or idols in the temples. It seems that the temples built by Ajeypal in 1552 or around were renovated on later stages and changed drastically.

Copyright@ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai, India, bckukreti@gmail.com27/4//2014

History of Garhwal – Kumaon-Haridwar (Uttarakhand, India) to be continued… Part -328 

                                                              

                                      References

1-Dr. Shiv Prasad Dabral, 1971, Uttarakhand ka Itihas Bhag-4, Veer Gatha Press, Dogadda, Pauri Garhwal, India 

2-Harikrishna Raturi, Garhwal ka Itihas

3-Dr. Patiram, Garhwal Ancient and Modern

4-Rahul Sankrityayan, Garhwal

5- Oakley and Gairola, Himalayan Folklore

6- Bhakt Darshan, Garhwal ki Divangit Vibhutiyan

7-Foster, Early Travels in India William Finch

8-Upadhyaya, Shri Shankaracharya

9-Shering, Western Tibet and British

10-H.G. Walton, Gazetteer of British Garhwal

11-B.P.Kamboj, Early Wall Paintings of Garhwal

12-H.g Walton, Gazetteer of Dehradun

13- Vimal Chandra, Prachin Bharat ka Itihas

14-Meera Seth, Wall Paintings of Western Himalayas 

15-Furar, Monumental Antiquities

16-Haudiwala, Studies in Indo-Muslim History

17- Rahul Khari 2007, Jats and Gujjar Origin, History and Culture

18- Upendra Singh, 2006, Delhi: Ancient History, Barghahan Books

19- B.S. Dahiya, 1980, Jats the Ancient Rulers (A Clan Study) , Sterling Publications

20- Maithani, Bharat –Gotrapravardeepika

21 Prem Hari Har Lal, 1993, The Doon Valley Down the Ages

22-Dashrath Sharma, Early Chauhan Dynasties

23- Shailndra Nath Sen, Ancient History and Civilization

24-H.M Elliot, 1867, The History of India as told by its Own Historians

25- Jaswant Lal Mehta, 1979, Advance Study in Medieval India

26- Nau Nihal Singh, 2003, The Royal Gurjars: their contribution to India, Anmol Publications 

(The History of Garhwal, Kumaon, Haridwar write up is aimed for general readers)

History of Garhwal from 1223-1804 to be continued in next chapter          

Notes on South Asian Medieval History of Garhwal;  SouthAsian Medieval History of Pauri Garhwal;  Medieval History of Chamoli Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Rudraprayag Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Tehri Garhwal;  Medieval History of Uttarkashi Garhwal;  South Asian Medieval History of Dehradun, Garhwal;  Medieval History of Haridwar ;  South Asian Medieval History of Manglaur, Haridwar;  South Asian Medieval History of Rurkee Haridwar ;  South Asian Medieval History of Bahadarpur Haridwar ; South Asian History of Haridwar district to be continued

History of Devalgarh King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Chandpur King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Alaknanda Valley King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Mandakini Valley King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Pindar King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Vishnu Ganga Valley King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Bhagirathi valley King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal; History of Bavan Garhi winning King Ajeypal Sacrificing Human for His Marvelous Palace of Shrinagar, Garhwal;