Friday, December 04, 2015
A JOURNEY INTO MALVA
Malva, a beautiful place in central India is famous for its history, geography , music, poetry, peoples, pilgrim places, Agro-products including variety of fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, besides of course extravagant hospitality and ‘Dildaree’!! Malva has produced men and women of exceptional calibre, integrity, learning and prowess. People here have been generous, witty and quite humorous by and large : in fact , a place where one would feel proud of having born and brought up.
We happened to re-visit Malva recently and could re-discover it all over again. It was a wonderful experience , albeit a bit nostalgic since one could never dissociate from the bygone years, nay, decades. Moreover, the occasion was special because Ujjain, an important historical town was celebrating prestigious “Kalidas Samaroh” , an annual festival commemorating the great Sanskrit poet and playwright MahaKavi Kalidas.
Incidentally, one of his legendary play “Meghadootam” mentions the cool, pleasant ambiance of Malva evenings in particular (fondly referred as (‘Shab-e-Malva’) .Indeed, one can easily experience and enjoy the same verbatim ! Although winter in this region is quite cold the overall atmosphere is refreshing and invigorating.
Apart from Kalidas, Ujjain is famous for Vikramaditya Kingdom, which was ideal in every sense of the term, be it affluence, law and order, education, industry, fine art, sculptor etc just to mention few. The populace was happy and content. Perhaps the same legacy is being carried forward in the entire region, though in a truncated form as of now. Which is why visiting the place again (and yet again) imparts immense joy and contentment.
Ujjain harbours the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple, unique in mode of worship and paraphernalia . We visited yet another monumental place called ‘Mangalnath’, which is supposed to be the central point of India, exactly in line with Mangal or Bhouma or the planet Mars.
Many scholars and researchers are still busy discovering secrets of this place, which has some direct relation to Mars. (It is claimed that rays emanating from Planet Mars fall directly on to the Lingam at Mangalnath only on Tripuri Poornima every year. )
Malva plateau is like tabletop with not very deep valleys around. It harbours big and small cities and towns, most of them were ruled by earstwhile Princely States before Indian Independence. The folk language is Malvi having a very sweet ascent and the folklore equally melodious, which was introduced to the world by none other than Pt. Kumar Gandharva, a towering figure in Indian Classical Music. Renowned Sculptor Annasaheb Phadke is a gift from Dhar, a small town in Malva. Rajendra Mathur the great journalist grew in stature while in Indore. Interestingly, at least two Bharat Ratna awardees Lata Mangeshkar and Babasaheb Ambedkar were born in Indore and Mhow respectively. Moreover, cricket stalwarts such as Col. C. K. Nayudu , Captain Mushtak Ali and in recent years, The Wall Rahul Dravid belonged to Indore. The legendary maestro in Classical Indian music Ustad Amir Khan, who established Indore ‘Gharana’ as well as comedian actor Johney Walker were a gift from Indore.
(So also some of us too !!) .
(Enough of this verbiage, since speaking more about us will be sacrilege !!! )
Jai Sairam.
Pune December 2 , 2015 .
Malva, a beautiful place in central India is famous for its history, geography , music, poetry, peoples, pilgrim places, Agro-products including variety of fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, besides of course extravagant hospitality and ‘Dildaree’!! Malva has produced men and women of exceptional calibre, integrity, learning and prowess. People here have been generous, witty and quite humorous by and large : in fact , a place where one would feel proud of having born and brought up.
We happened to re-visit Malva recently and could re-discover it all over again. It was a wonderful experience , albeit a bit nostalgic since one could never dissociate from the bygone years, nay, decades. Moreover, the occasion was special because Ujjain, an important historical town was celebrating prestigious “Kalidas Samaroh” , an annual festival commemorating the great Sanskrit poet and playwright MahaKavi Kalidas.
Incidentally, one of his legendary play “Meghadootam” mentions the cool, pleasant ambiance of Malva evenings in particular (fondly referred as (‘Shab-e-Malva’) .Indeed, one can easily experience and enjoy the same verbatim ! Although winter in this region is quite cold the overall atmosphere is refreshing and invigorating.
Apart from Kalidas, Ujjain is famous for Vikramaditya Kingdom, which was ideal in every sense of the term, be it affluence, law and order, education, industry, fine art, sculptor etc just to mention few. The populace was happy and content. Perhaps the same legacy is being carried forward in the entire region, though in a truncated form as of now. Which is why visiting the place again (and yet again) imparts immense joy and contentment.
Ujjain harbours the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple, unique in mode of worship and paraphernalia . We visited yet another monumental place called ‘Mangalnath’, which is supposed to be the central point of India, exactly in line with Mangal or Bhouma or the planet Mars.
Many scholars and researchers are still busy discovering secrets of this place, which has some direct relation to Mars. (It is claimed that rays emanating from Planet Mars fall directly on to the Lingam at Mangalnath only on Tripuri Poornima every year. )
Malva plateau is like tabletop with not very deep valleys around. It harbours big and small cities and towns, most of them were ruled by earstwhile Princely States before Indian Independence. The folk language is Malvi having a very sweet ascent and the folklore equally melodious, which was introduced to the world by none other than Pt. Kumar Gandharva, a towering figure in Indian Classical Music. Renowned Sculptor Annasaheb Phadke is a gift from Dhar, a small town in Malva. Rajendra Mathur the great journalist grew in stature while in Indore. Interestingly, at least two Bharat Ratna awardees Lata Mangeshkar and Babasaheb Ambedkar were born in Indore and Mhow respectively. Moreover, cricket stalwarts such as Col. C. K. Nayudu , Captain Mushtak Ali and in recent years, The Wall Rahul Dravid belonged to Indore. The legendary maestro in Classical Indian music Ustad Amir Khan, who established Indore ‘Gharana’ as well as comedian actor Johney Walker were a gift from Indore.
(So also some of us too !!) .
(Enough of this verbiage, since speaking more about us will be sacrilege !!! )
Jai Sairam.
Pune December 2 , 2015 .
