Raj Mahal & ruins
Orchha, Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh
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Orchha, Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh
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The most intriguing part of the Orchha palace complex is the walk behind the actual complex. Remains of the royal horse stables, ancient step-wells, broken-down mansions, temples, hammams and weapon houses stand ignored. Silent bastions, colossal gates and endless fort-walls tell the stories of a glorious past. From a distance, the timelessness of the structure is even more imminent, despite the age of the damaged, ravaged sandstone.
– Punita Malhotra
With the departure of Bundela rulers to their new capital Tikamgarh in 1783 CE, Orchha’s population dwindled, its palaces and gardens fell into disrepair, and its artistic traditions no longer received royal patronage. By 1901 Orchha was reduced to a small hamlet with a tiny population living in thatched housing near Ram Raja Temple. Its landscape conformed to the colonial notion of the picturesque, attracting Europeans to photograph and write about it. The French traveler, Louis Rousselet described Orchha in 1882 as having ‘many subjects of great interest for the traveler’, ‘its palaces and its chief temple bear comparison with the masterpieces of the great Hindoo Schools of Architecture’.
Today Orchha is a thriving town visited by pilgrims, and tourists, domestic and international.
– Sumita Tayal
The photograph of the Orchha ruins captures a feature that I love – the neat and elegant brickwork of its architectural structures. You see this kind of brickwork in many Mughal era buildings across India. The bricks are narrow and thin and laid out with great precision. Modern construction is unlikely to bestow beautiful ruins in the future. But Orchha’s old remains show the discipline and beautiful symmetry that underpin its spectacular facades.
I was once shown a similar slim brick by an art dealer in Delhi – rescued from the ruins of part of Ghalib’s house in the old city.
– Navina Najat Haidar
The built past and the built future complement each other reminding us of our origins. We should never forget to nurture what we have done and accomplished in the pursuit of what we wish to do in the future.
– Karan Grover
The center of Orchha is the Ram Raja temple, which used to be a palace. Legend has it that the idol of Rama, meant to be installed in the magnificent Chaturbhuj temple that was under construction, was first set up in the queen’s chambers in the palace. But once the temple was ready, the deity is said to have refused to move, and so a temple was built around the idol. The Ram Raja Temple is unusual in that Rama is worshipped here as a king, not a god.
– Annie Sengupta
A ruin often evokes imagery that surpasses that of a structure intact. Not in the way it is, but in what it could have been.
A powerful marker that acts as a reminder of a bygone era with the ability to push us into a state of reverie – where dreams and reality meld to recreate an image of the past.
– Puran Kumar, Studio PKA
Built for Raja Bir Singh Deo of Orchha at the start of his reign, around 1605, but named in honour of his imperial master, the Jahangiri Mahal is one of the grandest Rajput palaces of its time, and the best resolved in terms of design.
– Giles Tillotson