Saturday, February 6, 2010

Ahar River

Celebrate medieval Udaipur as you tour the magnificent ruins at Ahar, located at a distance of 3 kilometers from the City Palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Ahar has had several names in the past such as Aghatpur, Ahad, Aitpoor, Anandpura or Gangodbhav Tirtha.
According to available historical records Ahar was a deserted civilization known as Tamravats and the archaeological site at Ahar, Udaipur is more than four thousand years old.
Famous for 19 royal cenotaphs and a tiny Government Museum, Ahar is one of the most entrancing Udaipur tourist attractions. See ancient earthen pottery, iron objects, antiques, objects d' art and other ancient objects that were excavated in this part of Udaipur.
In fact some of the antiques on display at the Ahar Museum date back to 1700 B.C. See ancient copper coins with impressions of an ass that date back to an ancient civilization.
Also tour the intricately carved temple shrines located in Ahar that date back to as far back as the 10th century A.D.
Visit the Gangod Bawa Kund located close to the Ahar temples. According to local belief, this manmade reservoir used to be filled with water that came from an underground stream that was a part of the sacred River Ganges.
At a certain point of time in history Ahar, became the Mewar royal family's cremation ground or the Mahasati. Most of the royal Sisodia Maharanis and several Maharanas of the Udaipur were cremated at Ahar and the splendid cenotaphs that were constructed to commemorate their memories are an integral part of Udaipur architectural wealth.
The most spectacular cenotaph at Ahar is that of Maharana Amar Singh, who reigned in Udaipur from 1597 to 1620. He was the first Maharana who was cremated at Ahar. His son and successor Karan Singhji constructed the splendid marble chattri or cenotaph at his cremation site. The exotic sculptures and friezes on the marble chattri also pay tribute to Amar Singh's queens who committed sati on his funeral pyre

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