By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

Mar 11: As I entered the walled city of Maheshwar, sitting in the back seat of a Rickshaw I noticed how big the fort walls were.

This ancient city was called Maheshwati and has found a mention in the holy epics. It was renamed Maheshwar by the famous Ahilya Devi of the Holkar Dynasty. The Holkars were initialy farmers who fought bravely with Bajirao Peshwa and in 1728, they were rewarded with 11 regions and started their own Holkar dynasty.

This beautiful city of Maheshwar is nestled between the Vindyachal and Satpura ranges on the banks of the holy Narmada river which is considered to be the daughter of Lord Shiva! We visited the ancient royal temple where the queen after taking her bath in the holy river, would listen to mantras from 108 priests, and would pray to thousands of shiva lingas which were freshly made and immersed in river. The temple priest told us that a similar practice is continued even now at the ancient temple.

The royal palace called Rajawada has been partially converted to a hotel. The legendary queen Ahilya Devi Holkar because of her superb administrative capability was requested to rule the kingdom after her husband and father in laws death, being a true example of women empowerment in those days whe women were not even allowed to go alone out of their homes!

She spent huge amounts to repair temples or build dharamsalas across India, yet she herself lived in the very simple palace which has been kept as it is. She encouraged the local Artisans to weave the Maheshwari sarees which is still made locally centuries later and I just had to purchase one for my collection.

We then went to another temple complex with a temple dedicated to the sun god and heard some more ancient anecdotes- how the sun king gave protection to this place and asked for women empowerment. How King Yudhistra got his items from here for his big sacrifice or Yagya that he was conducting and more.

There is another legend that once, the ancient king Sahasrarjun with his 1000 hands was able stop the Narmada river to make place for his 500 wives to play. Ravana who was flying above decided to stop on the dry river bed, make a mud linga and pray. However when King Sahasrarjun released the waters, the mud linga got washed away. In anger Ravana challenged Sahasrarjun to a fight and lost. Ravan with his 10 heads was pinned to the ground and imprisoned for 6 months here with 10 lamps burning on each of his heads and one on his chest till he gave up his arrogance. Even today 11 lamps are lit in this temple of which 7 are visible directly and 4 through a mirror.

We then walked down the steps to the river bed. I gazed in amazement at all the well sculpted chatris or monuments for the local rulers. Even the decorated windows, doors and corridors were worth staring at again and again.

We did play with colours on the river bank, as it was the day to celebrate the festival of Holi! The finale was a serene boat ride on the Narmada river as we bid adieu to the majestic fort ramparts from the water in the light of the setting sun.

Celebrating Holi with my dear travel mates applying colours on their faces, thinking about the wonderful Ahilya Devi Holkars is a memory that I will always cherish in my heart.

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.