I was roused from my sleep as soon as I felt our minibus rolling into a bumpy off-road trail. I opened my eyes to a view of the Betwa River and its murky waters. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of towering structures with arresting-looking tips.
Admiring the Fine Architecture of the Chhatris of Orchha | India
Our guide then hollered and pointed out to us, "That is the Royal Chhatris of Orchha." Still reeling from my brief slumber, I said, “what,” meaning only to address myself. Our guide heard me and so he offered aloud a brief explanation: “These are actually the cenotaphs dedicated to the Bundela Kings of Orchha and some members of their families.”
I had been to India quite a few times and I had come across cenotaphs in other olden cities to know that it is an empty tomb honoring a distinguished person—a past ruler perhaps—whose actual remains were buried somewhere.
The Magnificent Fourteen Chhatris of Orchha
A "chhatri" is a widely-used design element in Indian architecture. It is highlighted by an elevated, dome-shaped pavilion that can rise one level and up to multiple stories high.
A chhatri is usually the main architectural design of a site where a cremation or a funeral of an important person was held. It could be an actual tomb or, in the case of the Royal Chhatris of Orchha, a cenotaph.
Projecting the Bundelkhand style of architecture, each chhatri stood at three storeys built on elevated platforms with windows placed strategically to attract a continuous flow of the wind coming from the river. The size of each chhatri varied in accordance with the length of rule of each leader.
Cenotaphs of the Bundela Kings
The first of these chhatris was constructed at Kanchana Ghat, on the tiers of the Betwa River in the early seventeenth century in honor of Bharti Chandra, the first Bundela King of Orchha who died in 1554.
In the succeeding centuries of the height of the rule of the Bundelas—a Rajput clan of Central India—additional chhatris were constructed honoring their fallen rulers. Among those who had cenotaphs erected in their name were Banka Umed Singh Ji, Vir Singh Deo (who ruled from 1605–1627), King Sujan Singh (💀1675), Maharaja Bhagawant Singh, and Jashwant Singh (💀1684). Most of the chhatris were adorned with spires on their tips except for the cenotaph of Raja Bir Singh Deo whose chhatri used an Islamic dome design.
The chhatris were built in almost linear rows of three and separated by footpaths and lavishly landscaped gardens.
Disregarding the overly bright gleam of the sun, I explored each chhatri by entering and even climbing to the top of a couple of the finest-looking ones. After seeing our guide gesture to us that we still had half an hour to spare, I rested at one of the cenotaph buildings and just stared at the still waters of the Betwa River. Trying to conjure whatever imagination I could muster about the olden and glorious days of Orchha, I slowly lulled myself to sleep.
A gentle tap to my shoulder from a staff member of Madhya Pradesh Tourism slowly roused me back to consciousness. “Let’s go Marky, we’ll be having lunch now.”
I stood up looking forward to another round of mouth-watering Indian cuisine and also, at the same time, fully nourished with another new set of knowledge about Orchha's history.
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