| Gaurav Gatha |
In Sanskrit it is said that ‘Janani’ means mother and ‘Janmabhooi’ means motherland both are additional prideful than heaven, which means that in human life mother and motherland both are very important and inculcative. From the point of view of western culture though the value of ‘Dharti’ is just like a piece of land, but in India its value is infinitive and inexplicable. Whoever has eaten ripe grains of his land, every Indian are ready to give up their life for their land. The willingness to give up everything for the prosperity of their motherland is connected with their soul. As if this unique relation with motherland on which man-made monuments, planks and forts stand bring alive the past. The religious stories, in the form of words, in the influential voice of Charanas and Gadhvis, similarly reflecting in different forms of ‘Loksahitya’ in the pages of history are nurturing the youth of bravery and love.Kutch which is surrounded by desert and precious stones is the land of saints and brave people. Gadhsisa is a unique village which is situated in Kutch. Gadhsisa is located at a distance of 52km from the west of Bhuj and at a distance of 33km from the north of Mandvi. Similarly it is at a height of 800ft. from sea level. Gangotri which is located to the north of Gadhsisa flows towards the south. The population of Gadhsisa consists of approximately 6000 jains. The village which came into existence approximately 450 years ago was under the rule of a Queen named Puranba. According to loksahitya,at that time its name was ‘Charanwadi Tekdi’. Once a day a lady named ‘Devlama’ was going to Varjadi from Banas Kantha with a herd of cattle. On her way, her favorite calf named Gangs was killed by a lion. She was heartbroken and when she could not bear it she went to a cow-herd whom she considered a brother and told him her story. Not only this but she also announced that she would give up food and water. To reduce her sorrow he said that, “although he didn’t have the power to bring her alive again but if u say then I will try to reduce your sorrow by beheading that lion”. Devlama was impressed by his genuine and emotional statement and permitted him. He went to the lion’s cave alone during a dark and stormy night and fought with the lion. And he killed the lion in just one stroke. In his war with lion he was also injured. Veergodarji is known as “Godarpeer” till now after his death. Now where there is a Kotha in the northern side of fort, hairy head of lion was established by Puranba and her help Morji Ghegha and his brothers in the foundation of the fort. And thus the emplacement of village took place and it was named “Lion-Shirsha Gadh”. After that many years passed away and after the passage of time this name changed to “Sisagadh”. And from Sisagadh it changed to Gadhsisa as it is famously known today. Fort, the fame of Gadhsisa and walls of the fort, the proud of gadhsisa are still looking beautiful as in the past. It had taken whole eight years to build up. There were two huge entrance in the wall of the fort to enter in village, which are protected the village from the enemies. One of them big entrance exists in a broken situation in the northern side. And the other one in the southern, which besides an upper storey of Naghshi Sheth, was destroyed before forty years. Thus our Gadhsisa is whole protected village because of two big, huge entrance and the walls of the fort. The doors would be closed during night so that people would sleep without any fear and their lives would be secure. The temple of Ashapura Kuldevi is existing even today as symbol of faith and grand story. Gegha Rajvis were the followers of Sivji. The Shivling which was renovated is considered as a monument by the Rajvis. A deep step-well was also built. The water was so deep that an elephant was required to draw water from the well. It was believed that a snake with golden moustache lived in the well. There was a secret door between the well and it is believed that the road from the door reached till Bhuj. During an emergency this door was used and very important people were protected. All facilities according to necessity and for entertainment , casinos, stay of queen, stable of horses, elephants, facility for the soldiers to stay, etc were included in the fort as per immediate needs. It is said that Maharavshri Raidhanji of Saurashtra believed in Islam religion. He started to make people convert to Islam by giving attractive benefits to them. By undertaking such a ridiculous activity he had become infamous among large number of people. But he could not sustain his activity long due to pressure from people. At that time British ruled India. And at that time Maharaja of Kadi, Hanumantrao fought with pride without surrendering against the British as a warrior. But he lost against the big power and left with the Queen to find a shelter to some other place in disguise. The fright of British rule was experienced everywhere. And because of this no one dared to give him shelter. 1000 years long history says that India has given shelter to people of different countries without discriminating between the caste and creed. Because of this only India has become the place of different religions. Gadhsisa has made the tradition of Indian values successful many times. Although Gadhsisa was small in size, its deed of doing good for people had attracted the praises from all over.The wealth, prosperity and popularity of Gadhsisa has been an envy for many. After seeing the grandeur of Gadhsisa, landlord Fatehhamamad wanted to satisfy his ego by establishing his power in Gadhsisa. British captain Ekmado incidentally happened to come to Gadhsisa in guise of a saint. People heartily welcomed him. Ekmado was very much impressed with the people. In the meantime around 1990 Mumbai Governor John Malcom came to Bhuj. He started a campaign to improve the standard of living of people of Kutch and instructed his colleague Kernel Walker accordingly. Kernel Walker came to know about the experience Ekmado had while he was in the guise of a saint. The whole management and development of further twenty one villages are included, under the observation and guidance of Kernel Walker and captain Ekmado. The peculiar rights were given to the citizens of Gadhsisa. Thus `Gadhsigh Shirsha Mahal’ was formed. |
