Peaceful Perch
The chatter of the birds, now louder as evening set in, was clearly audible from the lower slopes of the hill. The wind had picked up and made a lovely sound as it went through the trees below.
By: Arjun Kumar
Some later research that I did on the fort revealed that it had been built by the Orchha ruler Udot Singh in 1705. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he chose that particular hill for the fort – a glance from the terrace makes it clear that the view it commands gave it immense strategic value in an area so prone to warfare!
Talking of warfare, Barwa Sagar has seen more than its share. In 1744, a brother of Gwalior’s Scindia ruler was killed here during a battle with the troops from Orchha. But the strategic value of the fort was truly realised by the tug of war for it during 1857-58....
Captured from the Orchha troops by Moropant Tambe, father of the legendary Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, it became the setting of a battle in which the British commander Hugh Rose defeated an army under the leadership of Tantia Tope who was on his way to Jhansi to relieve the garrison there. Thereafter the fort became a British outpost and at times a resting place for touring officials and surveyors.
The water reservoir behind the fort has its own history. This water body, which forms a lake, is the ‘Sagar’ in Barwa Sagar. Originally a Chandela irrigation dam, it still serves that purpose and is also used for swimming and fishing by the villagers.
Today, its utility value is underlined by the fact that this reservoir is expected to play a crucial role in the project planned to interlink the waters of the Betwa and Ken rivers. I just hope that this interlinking will not destroy the ecological balance in Barwa Sagar.
For me, sitting at the highest point of the fort and looking down at the lake was truly soothing. Some children swam in the lake, and the sound of their excited voices carried to me with the wind.
The chatter of the birds, now louder as evening set in, was clearly audible from the lower slopes of the hill. The wind had picked up and made a lovely sound as it went through the trees below. A lonely fisherman on his boat paddled across the lake.
Sitting on the fort for half an hour that day, I accumulated some timeless moments which have stayed with me in my memory bank and which I take out and use in moments of stress.
Another timeless moment came as I was leaving the fort. A group of women of all ages walked up to a small temple at the gateway of the fort. After they had paid obeisance at the temple, they began to chant. The chant was in a dialect, which I could only grasp occasional words of, but was fascinating to hear. I could only imagine the same chant happening here a couple of hundred years ago. Attire and occupations, rulers and laws, hopes and aspirations have all changed over time, but there are certain age-old traditions that still enrich Barwa Sagar.
On the way back to Jhansi, I stopped over to see the Jarai-ka-Math, a magnificently sculpted 9th century AD temple of the Pratihara period. The outer gate was closed and the caretaker missing, I had to be content with looking at the structure through the gateway before continuing to Jhansi....
It had been a wonderful trip and as with all such trips, the coming away was painful. To all future travelers to Barwa Sagar, I have one piece of advice though – if you go there looking for magnificent palaces, you’ll be disappointed, but if you go there looking for calm, you’ll find it and come back rejuvenated like I did.
Some later research that I did on the fort revealed that it had been built by the Orchha ruler Udot Singh in 1705. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he chose that particular hill for the fort – a glance from the terrace makes it clear that the view it commands gave it immense strategic value in an area so prone to warfare!
Talking of warfare, Barwa Sagar has seen more than its share. In 1744, a brother of Gwalior’s Scindia ruler was killed here during a battle with the troops from Orchha. But the strategic value of the fort was truly realised by the tug of war for it during 1857-58....
Captured from the Orchha troops by Moropant Tambe, father of the legendary Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, it became the setting of a battle in which the British commander Hugh Rose defeated an army under the leadership of Tantia Tope who was on his way to Jhansi to relieve the garrison there. Thereafter the fort became a British outpost and at times a resting place for touring officials and surveyors.
The water reservoir behind the fort has its own history. This water body, which forms a lake, is the ‘Sagar’ in Barwa Sagar. Originally a Chandela irrigation dam, it still serves that purpose and is also used for swimming and fishing by the villagers.
Today, its utility value is underlined by the fact that this reservoir is expected to play a crucial role in the project planned to interlink the waters of the Betwa and Ken rivers. I just hope that this interlinking will not destroy the ecological balance in Barwa Sagar.
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For me, sitting at the highest point of the fort and looking down at the lake was truly soothing. Some children swam in the lake, and the sound of their excited voices carried to me with the wind.
The chatter of the birds, now louder as evening set in, was clearly audible from the lower slopes of the hill. The wind had picked up and made a lovely sound as it went through the trees below. A lonely fisherman on his boat paddled across the lake.
Sitting on the fort for half an hour that day, I accumulated some timeless moments which have stayed with me in my memory bank and which I take out and use in moments of stress.
Another timeless moment came as I was leaving the fort. A group of women of all ages walked up to a small temple at the gateway of the fort. After they had paid obeisance at the temple, they began to chant. The chant was in a dialect, which I could only grasp occasional words of, but was fascinating to hear. I could only imagine the same chant happening here a couple of hundred years ago. Attire and occupations, rulers and laws, hopes and aspirations have all changed over time, but there are certain age-old traditions that still enrich Barwa Sagar.
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On the way back to Jhansi, I stopped over to see the Jarai-ka-Math, a magnificently sculpted 9th century AD temple of the Pratihara period. The outer gate was closed and the caretaker missing, I had to be content with looking at the structure through the gateway before continuing to Jhansi....
It had been a wonderful trip and as with all such trips, the coming away was painful. To all future travelers to Barwa Sagar, I have one piece of advice though – if you go there looking for magnificent palaces, you’ll be disappointed, but if you go there looking for calm, you’ll find it and come back rejuvenated like I did.
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