SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2009
A True love Mughal PRINCE SALIM[later emperor JEHANGIR] & SLAVE girl ANARKALI
King Jahangir in Court
Akbar and Jahangir
Moghul Emperor Jahangir
This Mosque was constructed by Emperor Akbar as a token of his Devotion and Gratitude on the occasion of the birth of prince Salim(Jahangir) in the year 1455
emperor jehangir with the painting of a woman--anarkali?
emperor Jahangir with courtesan
emperor Jahangir with painting of ?Akbar?
Queen Noor Jehan:-Noor Jehan – QUEEN OF EMPEROR JEHANGIR
Tomb of Noor Jehan
Her real name was “Mehr-un-Nisaa”, In March 1611, luck knocked her door. She met the Emperor Jahangir at the palace “Meena Bazaar” during the spring festival. Jahangir was so fascinated by her beauty that he wasted no time in proposing her and they were married after two months. After her marriage she was conferred the title “Noor Jehan” ("Light of the world").
This affection led to Noor Jehan’s exerting a great deal of power in affairs of state. For many years, she effectively exercised imperial power and was recognized as the real force behind the Mughal throne. She is also known as one of the most powerful women who ruled a big part of South Asia with an iron fist. Emperor Jahangir even permitted coinage to be struck in her name, something that traditionally defined sovereignty.
Emperor Jahangir was captured by rebels in 1626 while he was on his way to Kashmir. Noor Jehan intervened to get her husband released. Jahangir was rescued but died on October 28, 1627. After his death, Noor Jahan, along with her daughter Ladli Begum, lived in Lahore until her death in 1645 and is buried at Shahdara in Lahore in a tomb she had built herself, near the tomb of Jahangir. Her brother Asaf Khan's tomb is also located nearby.
Emperor Jahangir died in 1627 AD on his way back from Kashmir to Lahore. According to his wish, he was buried in the spacious garden “Dilkusha” (1538x1538 feet) of his wife queen Noor Jehan at Shahdara on the banks of river Ravi. This tomb was built by his son Emperor Shah Jahan in 1637 AD
Anarkali's Tomb, Lahoreis situated on the premises of the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Lahore Pakistan and now houses the Punjab Records Office. Previously, it had been transformed into a Christian church by the invading British. A bazaar (market) located nearby on The Mall Road is named Anarkali bazaar after Anarkali. It is one of the oldest surviving markets in Pakistan, dating back at least 200 years.
The mausoleum is an octagonal building covered with a dome. At each corner of the building is an octagonal turret surmounted with a kiosk. In olden times, this building was surrounded by a garden that had at its entrance a double-storeyed gateway but no trace of the garden survives. The building still enshrines a beautifully inscribed monolithic sarcophagus. On the sarcophagus are inscribed 99 names of Allah and the Persian couplet:
تا قیامت شکر گویم کردگار خویش را
آہ گر من باز بینم روئ یار خویش را
tā qiyāmat shukr gūyam kardigāre khīsh rā
āh! gar man bāz bīnam rūī yār-e khīsh rā
I would give thanks unto my God unto the day of resurrection
Ah! could I behold the face of my beloved once more
On the northern side of the sarcophagus are inscribed the words "مجنون سلیم اکبر" (majnūn Salim Akbar, the one profoundly enamoured by Salim, son of Akbar).
The sarcophagus also bears two dates, given in both letters and in numerals: 1008 Hijri (AD 1599-1600) on the eastern side of the sarcophagus and 1024 Hijri (AD 1615-16) on the western side.
Scholar Ahsan Quraishi mentions one more inscription in the tomb, that is said to have been destroyed by General Ventura, the French mercenary fighting for the Sikhs, who used the monument as his residence. The contents of this extinct Persian inscription can be translated as follows: "The innocent who is murdered mercilessly and who dies after enduring much pain, is a martyr. God considers him/her a martyr".
The son of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, Salim, fell in love with an ordinary but beautiful courtesan Anarkali. He was mesmerized by her beauty and fell in love as soon as he saw her. But the emperor could not digest the fact that his son was in love with an ordinary courtesan. He started pressurizing Anarkali and devised all sorts of tactics o make her fall in the eyes of the young, love smitten prince. When Salim came to know of this, he declared a war against his own father. But the mighty emperor's gigantic army is too much for the young prince to handle. He gets defeated and is sentenced to death.
This is when Anarkali intervenes and renounces her love to save her beloved from the jaws of death. She is entombed alive in a brick wall right in front of her lover's eyes. Some people however say that she did not die. The tomb was constructed on the opening of a secret tunnel unknown to Salim. It is said she escaped through that tunnel and fled the place, never to return again. Thus, ends the tragic love story of Salim and Anarkali
POST SCRIPT:- BECAUSE ANARKALI WAS BURIED(ALIVE)IN LAHORE IN 1599 PRINCE SALIM (THEN EMPEROR JEHANGIR)MADE THE MAUSOLEUM FOR HER IN LAHORE IN 1615;LATER WHEN HE DIEDIN 1627;HE WILLED;HIS REMAINS SHOULD BE NEAR HERS ;IN LAHORE AT SAHDRA .HIS FAMOUS MAUSOLEUM CAN BE SEEN IN LAHORE.
HE WAS THE ONLY MUGHAL EMPEROR BURIED IN LAHORE --ALL BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FOR ANARKALI
The Story of Anarkali[ AS PER WIKIPEDIA]
The Great Mughal emperor Akbar and his wife, Jodha, were blessed with a son named Prince Saleem (later Emperor Jahangir). He was a spoiled and rude boy and because of this, Akbar the Great sent his son away to the army for fourteen years to learn the discipline required to rule the empire. Finally, Akbar allowed this son to return to the main palace in Lahore, (the capital of the Mughals). Since this day was one of great celebration, the harem (court) of Akbar decided to hold a great Mujra (dance performance) by a beautiful girl named Nadeera D/O Noor Khan Argun. Since she was an exceptional beauty, "like a blossoming flower", Akbar named her as Anarkali (blossoming pomegranate).
During her first and famous Mujra in Lahore,Pakistan, Prince Saleem fell in love with her and it later became apparent that she was also in love with him. Later, they both began to see each other although the matter was kept quiet. Later, however, Prince Saleem informed his father, Akbar, of his intention to marry Anarkali and make her the Empress. The problem was that Anarkali, despite her fame in Lahore, was a dancer and a maid and not of noble blood. So Akbar (who was sensitive about his own mother, Hamida Begum, being a commoner) forbade Saleem from seeing Anarkali again. Prince Saleem and Akbar had an argument that later became very serious after Akbar ordered the arrest of Anarkali and placed her in one of the jail dungeons in Lahore.
After many attempts, Saleem and one of his friends helped Anarkali escape and hid her near the outskirts of Lahore. Then, the furious Prince Saleem organized an army (from those loyal to him during his fourteen years there) and began an attack on the city; Akbar, being the emperor, had a much larger army and quickly defeated Prince Saleem's force. Akbar gave his son two choices: either to surrender Anarkali to them or to face the death penalty. Prince Saleem, out of his true love for Anarkali, chose the death penalty. Anarkali, however, unable to allow Prince Saleem to die, came out of hiding and approached the Mughal emperor, Akbar. She asked him if she could be the one to give up her life in order to save Prince Saleem, and after Akbar agreed, she asked for just one wish, which was to spend just one pleasant night with Prince Saleem.
After her night with Saleem, Anarkali drugged Saleem with a pomegranate blossom. After a very tearful goodbye to the unconscious Saleem, she left the royal palace with guards. She was taken to the area near present-day Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore where a large ditch was made for her. She was strapped to a board of wood and lowered in it by soldiers belonging to Akbar. They closed the top of the large ditch with a brick wall and buried her alive
She was placed in an upright position at the selected place and walled in with bricks. Prince Salim felt intense remorse at her death and had a monument raised over her sepulcher once he became Emperor.
The tomb, to the south of Lahore's Old City, has lost most of its original decoration. Octagonal in plan, its sides alternately measure 44 feet and 30 feet. It stands on an octagonal platform. On each corner there is a domed octagonal tower, and in the centre, a large dome on a high cylindrical neck. A notable feature of this massive structure is its upper storey gallery and bold outlines. It is one of the earliest existing examples of a double domed structure . The lower shell of the dome is constructed of small bricks in five stages or rings. The central dome is supported inside by eight arches 12 feet 3 inches thick. It is a masterpiece of solid masonry work of the early Mughal period.
In the time of Ranjit Singh, the building was occupied by his son Kharak Singh, who gave it to an Italian general, Ventura, who converted it into a private residence. The monolithic marble gravestone had already been removed. Later, it served as an office for the Punjab Board of Administration until 1851, when it was converted into a Protestant church. In 1891 it reverted to the Punjab government.
The sarcophagus, made of a block of pure marble of extraordinary beauty and exquisite workmanship, was put away in one of the side bays when the building was first converted into a church. It was then placed in the spot from which the altar had been removed rather than being replaced in its original central position. In 1940 the grave was found intact in its original position, five feet below the present floor. From accounts of its discovery, the grave is apparently of plastered brick-work, inscribed on the top and sides with the ninety-nine attributes of God and below with the inscription, "the profoundly enamored Salim, son of Akbar." The sarcophagus bears two dates, 1599 (supposed to refer to the death of Anarkali) and 1615 (supposed to be the date of the tomb's erection).
A love KING BAZBAHADUR &SINGER RUPMATI india 1400
The Defeat of Baz Bahadur of Malwa by the Mughal Troops, while Rani Roopmati, and her female companions, view the scene from the terrace of the fort. 1561
Rupmati and king bazbahadur on a moon lit night at mandu near the palace
Rupmati's Pavilion upstairs
Rupmati's Pavilion
Rupmati's Pavilion inside at Mandu Madhyapradesh state
Rupmati Pavilion - Rewa Kund
Baz Bahadur, ever so fond of music, was the last independent ruler of Mandu.
Once out hunting , Baz Bahadur chanced upon a shepherdess frolicking and singing with her friends. Smitten by both her enchanting beauty and her mellifluous voice, he begged Roopmati to accompany him to his capital. Roopmati agreed to go to Mandu on the condition that she would live in a palace within sight of her beloved and venerated river, Narmada. Thus was built the Rewa Kund at Mandu.
Nowadays, their family members' are living in Indore.
The End of The Love Tale
Unfortunately, the romance of this Muslim prince and Hindu shepherdess was doomed to failure. The great Mughal Akbar decided to invade Mandu and capture roopmati and baz bahadur. Akbar sent Adham Khan to capture Mandu and Baz bahadur went to challenge him with his small army. No match for the great Mughal army, Mandu was easily defeated fell.
Baz Bahadur fled to Chittorgarh to seek help. As Adham khan came to Mandu, was surprised by the beauty of roopmati and Rani Roopmati stoically poisoned herself to avoid capture. Thus ended this magical love story steeped in music, poetry and beauty.
Poems of Rani Rupmati
In 1599, Ahmad-ul-Umri Turkoman, who was in the service of Sharaf-ud-Din Mirza wrote the story of Rani Rupmati in Persian. He collected 26 poems of her and included them in his work. The original manuscript passed to his grandson Fulad Khan and his friend Mir Jafar Ali made a copy of the manuscript in 1653. Mir Jafar Ali’s copy ultimately passed to Mehbub Ali of Delhi and after his death in 1831 passed to a lady of Delhi. Jemadar Inayat Ali of Bhopal brought this manuscript from her to Agra. This manuscript later reached C.E. Luard and translated into English by L.M. Crump under the title, The Lady of the Lotus: Rupmati, Queen of Mandu: A Strange Tale of Faithfulness in 1926. This manuscript has a collection of twelve dohas, ten kavitas and three sawaiyas of Rupmati.
Rewa kund and Rani Roopmati pavilion
The Rewa Kund is a reservoir built by Baz Bahadur, equipped with an aqueduct to supply Roopmati's palace with water. Today, the site is revered as a holy spot. Baz Bahadur's Palace was constructed in the early 16th century, and is notable for its spacious courtyard fringed with halls, and high terraces which give a terrific view of the lovely surroundings. Rani Roopmati's Pavilion was built as an army observation post. It served a more romantic purpose as Roopmati's retreat. From this picturesque pavilion perched on a hilltop, the queen could gaze at her paramour's palace, and also at the Narmada flowing by, below
Rewa Kund Monument
¤ Grand Reservoir
You’ll have to trek about 3.2km south of the monuments around the village to reach this group of buildings. The Rewa Kund is a tank of sacred water from the Rewa, another name for the revered Narmada. This is where the love of the musician-prince Baz Bahadur and Rani Roopmati flowered.
¤ Palace of Baz Bahadur
Perched on the hill is the Palace of Baz Bahadur (1509), once supplied with water from this very kund or tank by a water lift. An interesting blend of Rajput and Mughal styles, it was actually built well before Baz Bahadur came to power.
The main part of the palace is a spacious open court with halls and rooms on all four sides. On the northern side, beyond the colonnade is a projecting octagonal pavilion with arches overlooking an old garden.
On the terrace at the south end are two beautiful baradaris offering a lovely view of the countryside.
¤ Rani Roopmati’s Pavilion
To the south of Baz Bahadur’s Palace, near the edge of the fort are Roopmati’s Pavilions. Built in three different stages, probably early 15th century with extensions later, these pavilions were occupied by Baz Bahadur’s beloved mistress, Rani Roopmati.
It is believed that the pavilion was originally built as an army observation post. It was initially a massive low hall with two rooms at each end and a thick sloping plinth. Subsequently, the building was extended westward alongside the plinth, but it is the latest addition, the pavilions, that made this building special enough to house the love of Baz Bahadur’s life. The pavilions are square in design with hemispherical domes. These pavilions were special to Rani Roopmati too because she could see the Narmada in the valley below. Indeed, the view from here at sunset or by moonlight across to the Narmada valley 305m below is truly sensational.
A love PRINCESS SASSI &PRINCE PUNNU 1400's india
Sassi Punnun
[From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
Sassui Punnun (or Sassui Panhu or Sassui Punhun) (Urdu: سسی پنوں); is one of the seven popular tragic romances of the Sindh and four of the most popular in Punjab. The other six are Umar Marvi, Momal Rano and Sohni Mahiwal, Laila Chanesar, Sorath Rai Diyach, Noori Jam Tamachi commonly known as Seven Queens (Sindhi: ست مورميون) of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai .
Sassui Punnun was written by the Sindhi and Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in (1689-1752). Regionaly this unforgetable Romance happened in the region of Balochistan district Turbat, Pakistan.
Contents
1 Makran Coastal Highway
2 Sassi
3 Sassi and Punnun meet
4 Punnun's brothers
5 The lovers meet their end
6 See also
Makran Coastal Highway
The Makran Coastal Highway is located in Balochistan, Pakistan. As we drive along the Makran Coastal Highway we can see The fort of Sassi Punno whose construction dates back to 500 to 1000BC. It is widely believed that the Princess of Hope waited here for her prince Punno hoping that he would come, but with the passage of time she transformed into a figure made out of stone. One interesting feature of the figure is that her visage is facing Kech Turbat, the region where Punno
Sassi
'Sassi was the daughter of the King of Bhambour it is in Sindh, Pakistan. Upon Sassui's birth, astrologers predicted that she was a curse for the royal family’s prestige. The King ordered that the child be put in a wooden box and thrown in the river Indus. A washerman of the Bhambour village found the wooden box and the child in the box. The washerman believed the child was a blessing from God and took her home. As he had no child of his own, he decided to adopt her.Sussi is also known as the princess of hope.
Sassi and Punnun meet
When Sassi became a young girl, she was as beautiful as the fairies of heaven. Stories of her beauty reached Punnun and he became desperate to meet Sassi. The handsome young Prince of Makran therefore travelled to Bhambour. He sent his clothes to Sassui's father (a washerman) so that he could catch a glimpse of Sassi. When he visited the washerman's house, they fell in love at first sight. Sassi's father was dispirited, hoping that Sassi would marry a washerman and no one else. Sassi's father asked Punnun to prove that he was worthy of Sassi by passing the test as a washerman. Punnun agreed to prove his love. While washing, he tore all the clothes as, being a prince, he had never washed any clothes; he thus failed the agreement. But before he returned those clothes, he hid gold coins in the pockets of all the clothes, hoping this would keep the villagers quiet. The trick worked, and Sassui's father agreed to the marriage.
Punnun's brothers
Punnun’s father and brothers were against his marriage to Sassi(Punnun being a prince and she being a washerman's daughter), and so, for their father's sake, Punnun's brothers traveled to Bhambhor. First they threatened Punnun but when he didn't relent, they tried more devious methods.
Punnun was surprised to see his brothers supporting his marriage and on the first night, they pretended to enjoy and participate in the marriage celebrations and forced Punnun to drink different types of wines. When he was intoxicated they carried him on a camel’s back and returned to their hometown of Kicham.
The lovers meet their end
The next morning, when Sassi realized that she was cheated, she became mad with the grief of separation from her lover and ran barefoot towards the town of Kicham. To reach it, she had to cross miles of desert. Alone, she continued her journey until her feet were blistered and her lips were parched from crying "Punnun, Punnun!". The journey was full of dangerous hazards, which lead to her demise. Punnun’s name was on Sassi's lips throughout the journey. She was thirsty, there she saw a shepherd coming out of a hut. He gave her some water to drink. Seeing her incredible beauty, dirty lustful thoughts came into his mind, and he tried to force himself on Sassi. Sassi ran away and prayed to God to hide her and when God listened to her prayers, land shook and split and Sassi found herself buried in the valley of mountains. When Punnun woke he was himself in Makran he could not stop himself from running back to Bhambhor. On the way he called out "Sassi, Sassi!" to which the shepherd replied. The shepherd told Punnun the whole story. Then Punnun also lamented the same prayer, the land shook and split again and he was also buried in the same mountain valley as Sassi. The legendary grave still exists in this valley. Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai sings this historic tale in his sufi poetry as an example of eternal love and union with Divine
A love PRINCESS SASSI &PRINCE PUNNU 1400's india
Sassi means "Moon" - beautiful, was the only daughter of King Adam Khan of Bhambour, Sindh At her birth the astrologers predicted that she was a curse for the royal familys prestige. The king ordered that the child be put in a wooden chest with a taweez tied on her neck and a lot of jewellery and gold coins as her living expenditures and thrown into the Indus riverThe chest was seen floating by Atta Dhobi, a washer man. Atta believed the child was a blessing from God and took her home and adopted her as his child. Many, many years passed by and the king did not have another child, so he decides to get married again. When he heard that the daughter of Atta, Sassi, was as beautiful as the angels, the king summoned her to the palace
Sassi was still wearing the taweez (amulet), which the queen mother had put around her neck when she was taken away to be drowned. The king recognized his daughter immediately on seeing the taweez. The pent-up sufferings of the parents flowed into tears. They wanted their lost child to return to the palace and bring joy and brightness to their lives, but Sassi refused and preferred to live in the house where she had grown up. She refused to leave the man who had adopted her.
Sassi did not go to the palace but the king presented her with abundant gifts, lands and gardens where she could grow and blossom like a flower. As all the rare things of the world were within her reach she wanted to acquire knowledge and sent for learned teachers and scholars. She made sincere efforts to increase her knowledge. During this time she heard about the trader from Makran, who had a garden with a monument, the inner portion of which was enriched with exquisite paintings. When Sassi visited the place to offer her tributes and admire the rich art, she instantly fell in love with a painting, which was a masterpiece of heavenly creation. She soon discovered this was the portrait of Prince Punnu, son of King Jam Arao, the ruler of Turbat, Makran, the south west cost of Baluchistan, Pakistan.
Sassi became desperate to meet Punnu, so she issued an order that any businessman coming from Turbat should be presented before her. There was a flutter within the business community as this news spread and someone informed Punnu about Sassis love for him. He assumed the garb of a businessman and carrying a bagful of different perfumes came to meet Sassi. The moment Sassi saw him she couldn't help saying:
"Praise to be God!"
Punnus Baluchi brothers developed an enmity for Sassi. They followed him and on reaching the town they saw the marriage celebrations of Sassi and Punnu in full swing, they could not bear the rejoicing. That night the brothers pretended to enjoy and participate in the marriage celebrations and forced Punnu to drink different types of liquor. When he was dead drunk the brothers carried him on a camels back and returned to their hometown Turbat.
The next morning when she realized that she was cheated she became mad with the grief of separation from her lover and ran barefoot towards the city of Turbat. To reach the city she had to cross miles of desert land, the journey that was full of dangerous hazards, leading to the end of world.
Her end was similar to the end of Kaknoos bird. It is said that when this bird sings, fire leaps out from its wings and it is reduced to ashes in its own flames. Similarly Punnus name was the death song for Sassi who repeated it like a song and flames of fire leapt up and she was also reduced to ashes.
Sassi was still wearing the taweez (amulet), which the queen mother had put around her neck when she was taken away to be drowned. The king recognized his daughter immediately on seeing the taweez. The pent-up sufferings of the parents flowed into tears. They wanted their lost child to return to the palace and bring joy and brightness to their lives, but Sassi refused and preferred to live in the house where she had grown up. She refused to leave the man who had adopted her.
Sassi did not go to the palace but the king presented her with abundant gifts, lands and gardens where she could grow and blossom like a flower. As all the rare things of the world were within her reach she wanted to acquire knowledge and sent for learned teachers and scholars. She made sincere efforts to increase her knowledge. During this time she heard about the trader from Makran, who had a garden with a monument, the inner portion of which was enriched with exquisite paintings. When Sassi visited the place to offer her tributes and admire the rich art, she instantly fell in love with a painting, which was a masterpiece of heavenly creation. She soon discovered this was the portrait of Prince Punnu, son of King Jam Arao, the ruler of Turbat, Makran, the south west cost of Baluchistan, Pakistan.
Sassi became desperate to meet Punnu, so she issued an order that any businessman coming from Turbat should be presented before her. There was a flutter within the business community as this news spread and someone informed Punnu about Sassis love for him. He assumed the garb of a businessman and carrying a bagful of different perfumes came to meet Sassi. The moment Sassi saw him she couldn't help saying:
"Praise to be God!"
Punnus Baluchi brothers developed an enmity for Sassi. They followed him and on reaching the town they saw the marriage celebrations of Sassi and Punnu in full swing, they could not bear the rejoicing. That night the brothers pretended to enjoy and participate in the marriage celebrations and forced Punnu to drink different types of liquor. When he was dead drunk the brothers carried him on a camels back and returned to their hometown Turbat.
The next morning when she realized that she was cheated she became mad with the grief of separation from her lover and ran barefoot towards the city of Turbat. To reach the city she had to cross miles of desert land, the journey that was full of dangerous hazards, leading to the end of world.
Her end was similar to the end of Kaknoos bird. It is said that when this bird sings, fire leaps out from its wings and it is reduced to ashes in its own flames. Similarly Punnus name was the death song for Sassi who repeated it like a song and flames of fire leapt up and she was also reduced to ashes.
An Ancient Persian Love story shirin and Farhad TWO TRUE LOVERS
Coin of the Sassanid king Khusrau II the Victoriousthe mountain dug up by farhad
An Ancient Persian Love story ( shirin and Farhad)
Historical setting
The story relates a love affair that takes place in a historical setting: the deposition, imprisonment, and blinding of the Persian Sasanian king Hormizd (579-590 CE), during an insurrection led by two maternal uncles of Prince Khosrow, designated to become king and probably party to the rebellion; the accession of Khosrow to his father’s throne (590 CE); the uprising of the army commander Bahram Chobin against the new king; and Khosrow’s flight to the Byzantine empire to seek help from the Caesar, Emperor Maurice (582-602 CE). These events, documented in the historical sources (Christensen, pp. 436-90), and narrated in detail in Ferdowsi’s Shahnama
The story depicts the love of Sassanian Khosrow II towards his Christian princess, Shirin. Khosrow and Shirin recounts the story of King Khosrow’s courtship of Princess Shirin, and vanquishing of his love-rival, Farhad by sending him on an exile to Behistun mountain with the impossible task of carving stairs out of the cliff rocks.
The story:-
"There is a place I know, high up in the mountains of Kurdistan. Where the crow roams freely and the snow finally meets the sun. Where you can fall wild like a mountain and run with a stone in your hand. This is where our story sleeps.
There was a brave man called Farhad, who loved a Princess named Shirin, but the Princess did not love him. Farhad tried in cain to gain access to the love-cell of Shirin's heart, but no one would dare betray the fact that a stonecutter loved a lady of royal blood. Farhad, in despair, would go to the mountains and spend his days without food, playing his flute sweet music in praise of Shirin. At last people thought to devise a plan to acquaint the Princess of the stone-cutter's love. She saw him once, and love which lived in his bosom also began to breathe in hers. But she dared not a mean laborer aspire to win the hand of a princess? It was not long, however, before the Shah himself heard the rumors of this extraordinary exchange of sentiment. He was naturally indignant at the discovery, but as he had no child other than Shirin, and Shirin was also pining away with love, he proposed to his daughter that her lover, being of common birth, must accomplish a task such as no man may be able to do, and then, and only then, might he be recommended to his favor.
The task which he skillfully suggested was that Shirin should ask her lover to dig a canal in the rocky land among the hills. The canal must be six lances in width and three lances deep and forty miles long!
The Princess had to convey her father's decision to Farhad, who forthwith shouldered his spade and started off to the hills to commence the gigantic task. He worked hard and broke the stones for years. He would start his work early in the morning when it was yet dark and never ceased from his labor till, owing to darkness, no man could see one yard on each side. Shirin secretly visited him and watched the hard working Farhad sleeping with his taysha (spade) under his head, his body stretched on the bed of stones. She noticed, with all the pride of a lover, that he cut her figure in the rocks at each six yards and she would sigh and return without him knowing.
Farhad worked for years and cut his canal; all was in readiness but his task was not yet finished, for he had to dig a well in the rocky beds of the mountains. He was half- way through, and would probably have completed it, when the Shah consulted his courtiers and sought their advice. His artifice had failed. Farhad had not perished in the attempt, and if all the conditions were in the attempt, and if all the conditions were in the attempt, and if all the conditions were fulfilled as they promised to be soon, his daughter must go to him in marriage. The Viziers suggested that an old woman should be sent to Farhad to tell him that Shirin was dead; then, perhaps, Farhad would become heart broken and leave off the work.
It was an ignoble trick, but it promised success and the Shah agreed to try it. So an old woman went to Farhad and wept and cried till words choked her; the stone-cutter asked her the cause of her bereavement.
"I weep for a deceased," she said, "and for you." "For a deceased and for me?" asked the surprised Farhad. "And how do you explain it?"
"Well, my brave man," said the pretender sobbingly, "you have worked so well, and for such a long time, too, but you have labored in vain, for the object of you devotion is dead!"
"What!" cried the bewildered man, "Shinin is dead?"
Such was his grief that he cut his head with the sharp taysha (spade) and died under the carved streamed into his canal was his own blood. When Shirin heard this she fled in great sorrow to the mountains where lay her wronged lover; it is said that she inflicted a wound in her own head at the precise spot where Farhad had struck himself, and with the same sharp edge of the spade which was stained with her lover's gore. No water ever flowed into the canal, but the two lovers were entombed in one and the same grave.
"There's a place where now the two lovers sleep. Side by side. Shirin and her Farhad. That place is very high up in the mountains of Kurdistan. And can only be reached when the snow comes washing down in spring. And stains blood red the cheeks of maidens. If you want to meet the two of them, you will have to ask the crow to take you there."
This writing is dedicated to all those whose hearts have been struck by love and to the one and only star in the sky of my heart....‘All else disappears when the thought of the beloved occupies the mind of the lover.’
origin of The centuries old Gotmar festival in memory of a youth of Pandura villagetrying to elope with his girl; from Savargaon on a new moon night
The Gotmar festival is celebrated every year on the day after the new moon in Bhadrapad month of the Hindu calendar. This year, it will be celebrated Aug 21
During the festival, men from Pandhurna and Sawargaon villages, located on opposite banks of the river Jamna in Chhindwara district, about 400 km from delhi, hurl stones at each other
Although there are many stories behind the origin of the ritual, according to the one that has been accepted by everyone, a youth of Pandura village was trying to elope with his girl ; from Savargaon on a new moon night when the villagers of both the hamlets started throwing stones at each other, resulting in the death of the lovers. The fair is held every year in their memory
During the festival, men from Pandhurna and Sawargaon villages, located on opposite banks of the river Jamna in Chhindwara district, about 400 km from delhi, hurl stones at each other
Although there are many stories behind the origin of the ritual, according to the one that has been accepted by everyone, a youth of Pandura village was trying to elope with his girl ; from Savargaon on a new moon night when the villagers of both the hamlets started throwing stones at each other, resulting in the death of the lovers. The fair is held every year in their memory
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