Maheshwar Fort is a famous tourist place located in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, which is also known by many names like Ahilyabai Holkar Fort, Holkar Fort, Ahilya Bai Fort etc. Maheshwar Fort was built by Queen Ahilya Bai Holkar and later by her daughter-in-law Krishna Holkar. This fort was constructed in the 18th century. Maheshwar Fort is located in Maheshwar. Maheshwar Fort was built here from geographical and strategic point of view and due to political foresight. This fort is surrounded by Satpura hills on one side and Vindhyachal hills on the other.
महेश्वर किला | अहिल्याबाई होल्कर फोर्ट | Maheshwar Fort Hindi
Maheshwar Nagar – Importance – Maheshwar Fort
Maheshwar means great God! That means the greatest God. According to Hindu religion, Lord Shiva is known as Maha Ishwar and hence Maheshwar city is also called the city of Lord Shiva. Maheshwar city has had its own historical importance in ancient times. Maheshwar city was known by the name Mahishmati in ancient times. During the Ramayana period, the encounter between Sahastrabahu and Ravana is believed to be here in Mahishmati.
According to the mythological story, once King Sahastrabahu along with his wives came to spend time on the banks of river Narmada and there for the sake of his wives he stopped the flow of river Narmada for some time with his thousand arms. At the same time, while passing by, Ravana made a Shivalinga and sat down for prayer. When Sahastrabahu released the flow of the river, Ravana, who was sitting ahead of him, broke his penance and came to fight Sahastrabahu. Sahastrabahu kept Ravana as his prisoner for some time.
Mahishmati city has also been famous for its independent social rules since ancient times. According to mythological stories, women had more rights in the social structure here compared to other states.
Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar
Ahilya Bai was born to Malu ji Shinde in Chaudi village of Maharashtra. He was born on 31 May 1725. Queen Ahilyabai was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. It is said that once King Malhar Rao Holkar of Indore saw Ahilyabai feeding the poor outside the temple and being pleased with her nature, he decided to make Ahilya his daughter-in-law.
Ahilya Bai got married and came to Indore as the wife of Khanderao Holkar, son of Malhar Rao Holkar. At that time Ahilya Bai was only 13 years old. Ahilyabai was very skilled in warfare and administration. Ahilyabai’s husband Khanderao Holkar was killed in a battle. Shortly thereafter, his father-in-law Malhar Rao Holkar also passed away.
At that time Ahilyabai had two children, a son Malerao and his daughter Muktabai. His son Malerao was suffering from some physical illness. In such a situation, Queen Ahilyabai took the reigns in her hands and ruled for about 29 years.
Queen Ahilyabai was a powerful ruler and always tried to protect her empire. Rani Ahilyabai built many Dharamshalas, temples and ghats in Maheshwar. He rebuilt Maheshwar. There she herself would wake up at Brahma Muhurta, take bath, perform puja, retire from meditation and engage in public service.
Capital from Indore to Maheshwar
Rani Ahilyabai first shifted her capital from Indore to Maheshwar. This can only be called his foresight. To protect her kingdom from the daily attacks of enemies on Indore, Queen Ahilyabai considered Maheshwar as a safe place and made it her capital.
Maheshwar Fort
Maheshwar Fort is made of sandstone and very beautiful carvings have also been done in this fort. A lot of windows, doors, vents are visible in the fort. Maheshwar, situated on the sacred banks of river Narmada, daughter of Mahadev, is also known as Guptkashi because of its uniqueness. The workmanship on the walls of the fort is a combination of Rajput, Maratha and Mughal arts. Madha style is visible in the paintings done on the walls of the fort.
The entrance gate of Maheshwar Fort is very strongly built. There are sculptures on both sides of this entrance. In these statues, on one side, a statue of a guard is seen, on one side, a statue is seen of a woman and on one of the statues, a person is seen standing with a bow. Sculptures can be seen throughout the walls of the fort. Among these sculptures, there are many sculptures in which musical instruments are shown playing. Among these sculptures, the idol of Lord Ganesha and sculptures of many human figures are also seen.
Ahilya Vada – Maheshwar Fort
Maheshwar Fort appears in a very simple form. When seen from outside, it appears to be a big fort, but when seen inside, it looks like the residence of an ordinary person. Within the fort complex itself is the residence of Queen Ahilya Bai Holkar, which is a house made of simple wood and tiles. This house is called Ahilya Wada. Ahilya Bai was a simplicity-loving woman and she lived her life with this simplicity.
She used to hold her court on the platform outside this house and all her courtiers and complainants were in this court. Ahilya Bai is famous as a justice loving ruler. Whenever she sat in the court and judged the complainants, she always had a Shivalinga in her hand. Most parts of Maheshwar Fort were built by Ahilya Bai Holkar. After her death, her daughter-in-law Krishna Holkar built a temple in the fort complex to pay tribute to Ahilyabai. There is also a palanquin here in which Queen Ahilyabai used to go out to tour the city.
During the time of Ahilyabai, the Maratha Malwa rule had made a lot of progress. It is said that Ahilyabai had Rs 14 crore at that time, which she used to build temples and ghats and reconstruct the old buildings and temples destroyed by the Mughals.
School and Mandir – Maheshwar Fort
As soon as you enter the fort complex, there is a school where children from nearby areas come to study. Due to Maheshwar Fort being situated on the banks of river Narmada, many ghats are built here. Many small and big temples are built on these ghats. Films are often shot here. Some films like Yamla Pagla Deewana and Manikarnika were shot on these ghats.
Temples dedicated to various incarnations of Lord Shiva can be seen in the fort complex. Going inside the fort, there is Rajarajeshwar temple. This Raj Rajeshwar Temple is a special temple where 11 unbroken flames always burn.
Dashahra Festival – Maheshwar Fort
Dussehra festival is organized in Maheshwar. This festival is still organized in the same cultural and traditional manner as it was during the days of Holkar rule.
Best time to visit Maheshwar Temple
The opening time of the fort is from sunrise to sunset. There is no need for any ticket of any kind to come here. In the evening, colorful lights are lit in Maheshwar Fort. At that time the beauty of the ghat increases even more. In the evening, the atmosphere around the fort becomes very pleasant due to the cool breeze coming from the Narmada River.
Maheshwar Saree
Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Malwa is also recognized as a patron of the arts. Today’s Maheshwar sarees are their gift which were made by the artisans of Surat. With the aim of making her capital Maheshwar industrially prosperous, Rani Ahilyabai promoted small scale industries here and started textile manufacturing in them. At that time he called artisans from Surat in Gujarat and requested them to settle here and start the ancestral work of weaving. It was due to the tireless efforts of Ahilya Devi that the weavers came here and started weaving the cloth and the Maheshwar saree made by their hands became famous. Ahilya Devi herself used to buy the clothes made by those weavers, due to which she kept getting employment.
How to reach Maheshwar Fort
By road, bus services are available to Maheshwar from Khandwa, Indore etc. so that one can easily reach Maheshwar or Ahilyabai Fort by bus. The nearest railway station to Maheshwar is Barwah which is about 39 kilometers from here.
The nearest airport to Maheshwar by flight is Indore Ahilyabai Holkar Airport, which is approximately 91 kilometers away from Maheshwar. Other airports are connected to Mumbai, Bhopal, Delhi and Gwalior by direct services of state transport and private transport.
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