Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): All of us have heard the passionate love tales of Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu and Salim-Anarkali, a thousand times over. But, this Valentine's, we get you an unheard and extraordinary tale of a Raja, giving us major green flags.
Did you know Gwalior's Raja Mansingh Tomar laid a 16 miles long earthen pipeline so that his beloved could always drink the water from her village.
Not just this, the king promised to fulfill three other promises of the queen, including never having to do ‘purdah’, in order to marry her, back in the 15th century-- when it was mandatory for women to cover their faces in public.
Story of Raja Mansingh Tomar and queen Mrignayani
Gujari Mahal is situated on the serene Gwalior Fort and this beautiful Gujari Mahal was built by Raja Mansingh Tomar for the love of his life, queen Mrignayani. There was friction between Mrignanayni and king's other wives as she was of lower caste. Hence, the king built a separate palace for her. At present there is no picture to describe the beauty of the queen; however, her beauty can be estimated from the beauty of Gujari Mahal. Even today, thousands of lovers and tourists come from all over the country to see Gujari Mahal. Now let us tell you the love story of king Mansingh Tomar and queen Gujari Rani aka Mrignayani.
According to Bahadur Singh, retired archaeological officer, once king Mansingh Tomar of Gwalior had gone out for hunting. While he was hunting, his eyes fell on Gujari Queen Mriganayani. When Raja Mansingh Tomar saw the queen fighting with two buffaloes, he was impressed by her bravery and beauty. Mesmerised, the King started seeing the queen even in his dreams. Thus, he decided to go and propose to her.
Bahadur Singh, retired archaeological officer |
The four conditions
However, before accepting the king’s proposal, the queen put four conditions in front of him. The conditions were, after marriage, a separate palace should be built for her, river water from her village Rai should be brought to the palace for her to drink, the queen will always be with the king during wars and the fourth condition was that she would never wear ‘purdah’.
Raja Man Singh Tomar agreed to these four conditions of queen Mrignayani and after that the king built a separate palace for Gujari Rani. Along with this, the Sank River was drained by laying about 16 miles long earthen pipeline from Rai village to Gujari. Along with this, when King Mansingh Tomar used to go to war, the queen used to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in every battle.
Even though today the Gujari Mahal has been converted into a museum, everyone remembers the unique love story of Raja Man Singh and Gujari Rani as if it is present in every corner of the fort, making it immortal.
