3 hours Ago By Firstpost
Over the last decade, mainstream Indian cinema has increasingly moved into small towns, once considered the preserve of art films. Authentic locales and ‘real’ people are the order of the day, a shift accelerated by the rise of digital entertainment platforms. In this context, the recently released ‘Stree 2’ has been making waves at the box office, with experts calling it the highest grossing Hindi movie of all time.
However, this story is not about the film, but about its shooting location where incredible stories have been witnessed in real life, over centuries. Welcome to Chanderi! A tiny town in Madhya Pradesh that is known more for its culture of weaving. Driving into the place, there is little outward evidence of the weaving industry that exists here.
Instead, the place is filled with nuggets of history, in the form of monuments that speak of its past. In ‘Stree 2’, an imaginary book called Chanderi Puran plays a key role in adding to the supernatural narrative of the story. If such a book were indeed to be written, it would be less about the supernatural but more about Chanderi’s wealth of architectural heritage, which keep alive legends about the people who built them.
Let’s start with Shahzadi-ka-Rauza , the 15th century CE tomb of a local princess, and if the legends are true, of her lover also. The story holds that she fell in love with a warrior - much to the dismay of her royal father who attempted to have his daughter’s lover killed. The warrior was severely wounded but managed to survive long enough for the story to get around, but died before he could return to his beloved.
On hearing of his death, the princess too passed away. The broken-hearted father built this elegant tomb for both of them, the dome of which is gone leaving it open to the sky. Like most medieval towns, Chanderi has a hilltop fort called Kirtidurg .
It owes its name and origin to Kirtipal, a ruler of the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty that controlled the area between the 7th and 11th centuries CE. In 1528, the place saw a near-apocalyptic moment when the Rajputs under Medini Rai rode out to a final battle with the forces of Babur, the Mughal. Knowing their menfolk rode to certain death, the women committed Jauhar inside Kirtidurg.
The spot is now marked with a sombre memorial stone whose carvings depict the entire story. On one side of the town is a landmark often seen in the ‘Stree’-series of movies, the Kati Ghati gateway. Standing on the route that links Chanderi with the Malwa region, the gateway was built to facilitate the entrance of a Khilji sultan of Malwa into the town.
On hearing of the Sultan’s impending arrival, Sher Khan, then governor of Chanderi tasked his son Jiman Khan with getting the doorway built. Legend has it that the task was carried out overnight by a master mason. Yet, as fate would have it, the mason missed making provision for hinges on the door and an irate Jiman refused to pay him.
The mason committed suicide and a grave near the ever-open gateway is said to be his. Fodder enough for a movie? On the other side of the town is the Purana Madrasa , which is not a madrasa at all but a tomb of a teacher at the Islamic seminary that once existed in town. Some of the more imaginative states that they have felt a presence here.
Much more likely to shelter spirits are the numerous stepwells that dot the Chanderi landscape, such as the Chakla Baodi , Battisi Baodi, Qaazi ki Baodi and others. Apart from water, many shelter inscriptions and perhaps some hidden stories in their subterranean depths. A Badal Mahal doorway that seeks to touch the clouds but leads to no palace and a Kushak Mahal which is seven storeys in height but seems incomplete share space with a medieval Jama Masjid , numerous tombs and havelis in this atmospheric town.
A horse lover even built stone memorials to his loyal steeds, now called the Ghoda Smarak . The heritage and related stories don’t stop at the town’s boundaries. Stories abound in a radius of hundred kilometres around Chanderi.
In Mahua village lies a Chamunda idol in a stone shed, while Terahi next door has an ancient temple that could have been for Chamunda, but lacks a central idol – a visitor cannot help but think of the connection. Is there a story behind Terahi’s idol being moved? At Thubon are nearly a dozen temples, causing one to wonder what this place once was. Here’s the local legend - in the 10th century CE, a group of merchants came and camped overnight near a pond here.
Their cattle were taken for a dip in the pond and when they came out, the chains around their neck had turned to gold. This was attributed to the presence of a ‘Parasmani’ - a philosophers’ stone – which transforms other metals to gold or silver. The grateful merchants, and later generations, responded with temple building around the pond.
Just outside Chanderi, in the middle of a wilderness lies a Gupta period Baheti Math , perhaps a shrine. Carved icons stare at you from its broken pillars. You enter, but the place is empty and has been for more than a thousand years.
Why is a Gupta period structure here, in the middle of nowhere or is there more waiting to be excavated? These are just a few names from a history filled landscape. Lying on a critical trade and military route linking the north with the south, it witnessed the passage of merchants, warriors, scholars and saints. With them came ideas and aspirations.
Most passed through, some stayed on, as did their work and legends, in the form of built heritage that we see today. Bollywood needn’t look very far for more inspiration! The author is a heritage explorer by inclination with a penchant for seeking obscure sites. A brand consultant by profession, he tweets @HiddenHeritage.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views..
