CHANDREH TEMPLE
CHANDREH TEMPLE AND BHANWARSEN BRIDGE
9,JULY, 2021
Now continuing my "series of discoveries of historical temples" my next destination was the historic 9th century Chandreh Shiva temple located in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh, about 35 km from Rewa. This temple was situated on the bank of a river, in a remote place, far away from the main cities and markets. Its distance from the main highway was also around ten km. Before reaching here, I had many anxieties and curiosities in my mind.
I was not fully aware of the people here, the environment here and the traffic here, but I just had the courage to see and discover this temple. Due to being alone, my mind was hesitant to go here, unknown area and time was only half a day left. In that time I had to return to Rewa after seeing the Chandreh temple, from where my train was at ten o'clock in the night. It seemed impossible to me to do all this in half a day, because the distance from Satna to Chandreh temple was around 140 km and on the way back to Rewa was about 80 km.
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| AT SATNA BUS STAND |
Now I had to inquire about the bus going to Chandreh at this bus stand. Earlier, I had to think about my hunger as well because I had not eaten anything since morning. I still had the puris that Kalpana baked last evening. While finding out the bus of Chandreh, I finally reached such a bus which was not going to Chandreh but was definitely going directly from Satna. The conductor of this bus told me that you will not get any bus from here to Chandra. We will drop you off, from there chandrah is 7 - 8 km away and you will easily get auto to go there.
I asked the bus driver that by what time this bus would reach Hatha, he said that by about 4.30 pm. It was now 2 o'clock in the clock, which means that it will take about three hours to reach the moon from here. Taking a bus ticket, I went to a samosa shop located near the bus stand and quenched today's hunger by eating homemade puris with hot samosas before the bus started. Shortly after, I came and sat on my seat in the bus, my seat was the window seat which I had deliberately asked for from the conductor. By the time it was time for the bus to start, the bus was completely full.
Of course, the facility of government or roadways buses is not available in Madhya Pradesh, but here in the whole of Madhya Pradesh, these private buses provide better facilities than government buses. These private buses also cover small villages of Madhya Pradesh and run on regular schedule. With the help of these buses, it becomes easy to travel around Madhya Pradesh with less budget but time is definitely consumed. The bus seats were almost full, with most passengers standing still ready to travel as the next bus was on this route an hour later.
At 2.30 pm the bus left for its destination. The Satna to Rewa highway is built in a very good condition. After leaving Satna, I saw a huge fort on the way. This is the fort of Maghavgarh, which is far from Satna but the main center of the princely state of Satna. This fort built on the banks of a river is really worth seeing. After some time a place called Bela came, this place is a junction point for the buses here because from here the route of Rewa splits and Sidhi-Singrauli separate. Our bus stood here for ten minutes. Here I took a water bottle and two samosas and just left for a while.
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| VIEW OF MADHAVGARH, SATNA, MADHYA PRADESH |
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| SATNA RIVER |
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| MADHAVGARH, SATNA |
Now the main next stop of the bus was Govindgarh, but before that the area of Mukundpur Tiger Safari started. Now we were in Rewa district, the land of Rewa is the land of white lions. White tiger or lion is found in the forests of Rewa all over India, so Mukundpur Tiger Reserve has been made to see these white lions in Rewa where many tourists come here to see only these tigers. Since the bus was passing right in front of this tiger reserve, it meant that the forest visible on both sides of the road is a tiger reserve area and the route passes through dense forests. I also saw the gate of Mukundpur Tiger Reserve while sitting in the bus. There are warning boards on the road everywhere.
After crossing the land and forests of Tiger Reserve, the bus finally reached Govindgarh. It is the last town of Rewa district, after which the boundary of Rewa district ends and on the other side of a huge mountain starts the Sidhi district located further deep from this land. There is a fort in Govindgarh which is not visible from this route. After stopping for some time at Govindgarh, the bus left ahead.
Now the chain of ghats had started, the bus was now climbing a high mountain. The round and winding roads looked as good as they were dangerous. The bus was going up this narrow road making loud noises in the first gear and the number of trucks coming from the other side was also not slowing down as it was the highway. After reaching the top of the mountain, now the path to descend in the other direction was also visible, it was also in the same circular and circular form which is called Ghat.
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Just as there is abundance of deodar trees in the Himalayan mountains, in the same way there is a abundance of tendu trees in the forests and mountains of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The view is almost the same, the only difference between the Himalayas and the Vindhyachal mountains is that the Himalayan mountains are very high and icy and are far from the reach of humans, while the Vindhya mountains are not very high and neither are they icy but are accessible to humans. Now the bus was starting to descend from the mountain for Sidhi district. The land of Sidhi was visible very low from the mountain, so low that once it seemed as if we were traveling not in Madhya Pradesh but in the Himalaya mountains.
When the bus completely descended from the mountain and came to the plain and its first stop came in Sidhi district. This place was Bahera and had a main intersection, here one main road leading to Umaria and Shahdol via Bandhavgarh and also the main road to Amarkantak. Apart from this, the straight path has gone for Sidhi, on which I had to go further. The clock was about to hit half past four, it was still ten minutes late. Seeing the waning day, now my heartbeat also started beating. 7 km ahead of Bahera came the Hatha intersection, I got off the bus here and the bus left for Sidhi which was about 35 km from here now.
Descending at the crossroads, I saw the board here, on which the distance of the moon was written about 10 km. Before going to Chandreh, I asked a shopkeeper about the bus from here to Rewa, at what time does the bus to Rewa come from here. He said that he did Rewa at seven o'clock in the evening and satna at 7.30 pm. There is no bus after that. This meant that I had to come back here by seven o'clock and it is already half past four. Many auto drivers were standing on the way to Chandreh but none of them was going to go to Chandreh.
I waited here for a long time to go to Chandreh and finally I met the auto driver who told me that he would drop me at a place from where the distance of Chandreh temple would be just around 500 meters. I thought that when I have come here, without seeing the moon temple, I should not go back, no matter what happens now. Without wasting time I got into this auto. Here I must have seen some remnants of the monsoon, which means light clouds. At this time I was passing through the deep tribal area of Madhya Pradesh. The small villages made of tiled houses of Madhya Pradesh look very beautiful.
There is a lot of difference in Madhya Pradesh as compared to Uttar Pradesh. Where there is a lot of population in Uttar Pradesh, in Madhya Pradesh the human species is not visible far and wide. Here only plains and plains are visible, both green and barren land are visible everywhere. Therefore, the silence, the deserted and the deserted forests in Madhya Pradesh are enough to fill the fear in the heart of the lonely tourist who comes here. After some time, the era of khadars and ravines started appearing in the auto. I had seen such ravines on the banks of Yamuna ji in Agra and on the banks of Chambal river. I knew this much that a river has to be crossed to reach the Chandreh temple, but did not know that this river would be so huge.
Now a bridge was visible right in front of it, on the other side of this bridge the sequence of high mountains was also visible. This place was Bhanvarsen and this bridge is also known as Bhanvarsen and the river on which this bridge is built, this is the Son river, seeing the flow of which at once, I stood with goosebumps. After crossing the bridge, the auto driver pointed to the direction of flow of the river and said - go straight from here, Chandreh temple is situated at a short distance from here. After crossing the bridge of Bhanwarsen, the period of hills begins, and the era of ravines ends. Directly this road passes through the Sanjay National Park, where the auto driver has now gone and the road on its left has gone to Chandreh, right in the direction of the Son river.
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BHANWARSEN BRIDGE
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I left on foot in the direction of the river towards Chandreh temple. It was a very frightening and deserted area, but very calm, natural and beautiful. Natural beauty was visible everywhere. It was so beautiful that I could not even capture its entire beauty in the camera because the space the camera could cover was only a small part of its beauty. This road to Chandreh remains quite spectacular. I was walking on foot looking at the beauty of this place and now the fear of loneliness was gone from inside me. Right next to me, the Son river was flowing with its fast current and on the other side the sun was also on the verge of setting amidst the ravine hills.
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| WAY TO CHANDREH |
I had already asked that auto person whether I would get some means in return to go from here to Hattha, then he had said that you will definitely get something to go. I had no other option but to believe what the auto guy told me. Within no time I could see the village of Chandreh, as soon as I reached near the village, there is a board showing the direction of the historical Shiva temple and a huge gate has also been made. Chandreh Temple, protected by the Archaeological Department, is visible at a distance of 300 meters from the road.
Seeing the waning day, I had also looked for the option of staying in a house in this village here. First of all, I took a photo of its gate and drank cold water from the government hand pump built right near the gate. Being situated on the bank of the river, it was a tap giving very cold water. Just near this, a stone plaque telling the history and importance of Chandreh temple is also installed. According to the stone plaque, the construction of Chandreh was completed in 972 AD by the guru of Chedi rulers and Shaiv Yogi of Shaiva sect named Matt Mayur in the early period of Chedi dynasty.
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| FIRST VIEW OF CHANDREH TEMPLE |
This temple was built to worship Lord Shiva at the confluence of Son and Banas rivers, along with the temple, Shaiv Vihara and Math were also established here, which is confirmed by two ancient inscriptions written in Sanskrit language here. The structure of the temple appears to be similar to the yonipeeth meaning Shivalinga of the Shivalinga, another such temple is famous by the name of Parashurameshwara temple in Trivandrum city of Kerala. This temple is situated at a quiet and idyllic place. In the early period of the Chedi dynasty, the Chandreh temple was followed by the Kadwaya temple at Ashok Nagar and the Suravaya Shiva temple at Shivpuri.
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| CHANDREH TEMPLE |
After this, when the Chandella rulers established the kingdom on the land of Bundelkhand, they left no stone unturned in building such historical temples, whose evidence is still given by the temples of Khajuraho. The type of structure of the Chandreh temple is unique. A historical monastery is also located near the temple, in whose walls ancient inscriptions written in Sanskrit language are visible even today. In ancient times, the maintenance of this temple was completed by Guru Prabodh Shiva of Chedi rulers and today it is looked after by the Department of Archeology. As soon as I took out the camera to take photos of this temple and started taking a couple of photos, the manager of the Archaeological Department here caught sight of me and he refused me to take a photo with the camera. Forcing me to come so far near this temple, I had to take most of its photos from my mobile.
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| SHIVLING OF CHANDREH TEMPLE |
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CHANDREH TEMPLE
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After not staying here for long, I returned from here. After me, three more boys also came here with the intention of doing videography of the temple, who were youtubers and made videos of the temple and broadcast them on their YouTube channel. I walked from this temple towards Bhanwarsen's bridge on foot. The road was deserted, the sun too was now on the verge of setting, nearby the Son River was flowing with its swift current and on my other side the kingdom of hills and rocks was established. Looking at the scenic route, I soon reached near the Bhanwarsen bridge and stood at the same place where the auto driver had dropped me, there was also a board for going to Sanjay National Park.
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CHANDREH VILLAGE
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When I could not find any means to go to Hatha for a long time, I left on foot from here. I crossed the dreadful Bhanvarsen bridge on foot and I also saw the confluence of the Banas river joining the Son river here. On the other side of the bridge, there was also a Shiva temple on a high place on the side of the ravines and there was a small shop near it. I came and stood near this shopkeeper. Some boys were also taking selfies with their friends on the bridge of Bhanvarsen, but I was waiting only for some vehicle so that I could reach Hatha. Shortly after I found a bike rider, I rode on his bike and came to his village for some time.
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| BEUTIFULL NATURE WITH SONE RIVER |
Hatha was still 7 km away from here and there was still half an hour left for it to get dark. I made friends with this bike rider and he was very happy to know the purpose of my visit here. He reached his house and took a selfie with me and stopped me by hand to a boy like him and made me sit on his bike to handle. My problem was solved and I am now off to Hatha by that bike. The bike rider dropped me off at the crossroads of Hatha, I thanked him and reached a paan shop located at the crossroads.
When I asked the shopkeeper about the bus going to Rewa, he flatly refused and said that now there is no bus to Rewa, only one last bus is left for Satna. This bus will not go to Rewa but will go via Bela, on the exact same route by which I came here. My worries were increasing, I asked that shopkeeper while eating paan and asked how brother could reach Rewa again. Then he reminded me that eight km ahead of this there is a crossroads called Bahera, from where buses are available for Rewa overnight. This was the same intersection which was situated at the foothills near the mountain and went to Shahdol via Bandhavgarh.
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| VIEW OF BHANWARSEN BRIDGE |
By an auto I left for Hatha to Bahera. Even before I could reach Bahera, the bus going to Rewa left in front of my eyes. I asked a shopkeeper here about the bus to Rewa, he said that now the next bus will come at eight o'clock in the night. Would do, what not, I had to stand here waiting for the same bus. Many trucks were going from Shahdol to Rewa from here, but due to bus drivers, no private vehicle owner in Madhya Pradesh has the right to take passengers.
Because if the passengers waiting for the bus will start traveling by private and rough means, then there will be no justification for running the bus and the people of Madhya Pradesh cannot see their lifeline, their buses are closed, so they wait for them on the roads. But can stand for hours and can also travel long distances without standing in the bus, but do not think of any other option other than the bus. By doing this, the cost of operating the buses also comes out and the buses do not face any problem in traveling on the rare routes of Madhya Pradesh.
It is dark, slowly the process of closure of shops has started at the crossroads. The shop near which I was standing was a hut shop of a chai wala Baba, in which a candle was burning and the tea was being heated in a tea kettle on top of it. Baba was preparing to expand the shop, I took a tea from Baba and waited for the bus. The bus to Satna had arrived at 7:30 in the evening, except for me, the only passenger who was here boarded this bus.
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| BHANWARSEN BRIDGE |
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Between the beating heart and the fast breathing, I once again asked the shopkeeper whether the bus to Rewa would come now? She again gave me the same answer with confidence that she will definitely come and will come after this. I was a little satisfied to hear from him. After a long halt, the bus to Satna had left and the clock was now eight. My heart started beating faster once again, waiting for the bus I was no longer feeling hungry and thirsty. At a deserted crossroads in the wooded area of Madhya Pradesh, now in the midst of thick darkness, I was haunted by worries. My train from Rewa was at ten o'clock in the night and now I was far away from Rewa. Between me and Rewa stood a high mountain, which was impossible to cross on foot in the dark of night.
I sat down again in the hut shop of Chai Wale Baba and to my satisfaction I also asked Chaiwala Baba about the bus to Rewa. Baba was enjoying the late evening and darkness and was drinking after making jams of liquor and he replied to me that by now that bus should have arrived, today the bus may have been late. I now felt as if the Lord was personally testing my patience during my journey. But I had complete faith in my Lord, so I was still miles away from fear. After some time the bus to Rewa arrived and instead of the lines of concern on my face, there was a slight smile.
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| WAY TO SANJAY NATIONAL PARK |
I took a ticket to Rewa for the first time paying the conductor even before he asked for the fare and leisurely now I sit on the seat of the bus to reach Rewa. The bus had started climbing the mountain, from here the climb of this mountain was very difficult as it was a steep climb. After leaving Sidhi, I joined Rewa district and soon the chain of ghats also ended and the bus had now reached Govindgarh. Soon after Govindgarh, the bus took me to Rewa and after reaching the old bus stand, I got into an auto from here to the railway station.
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| दूर से भँवरसेन का नजारा |
Rewa was a very big city, it took more than forty minutes for the auto driver to reach the railway station from the bus stand. On reaching the railway station, I saw that my train was parked on platform 1. Reaching my seat, I heaved a sigh of relief and thanked God. Now my next journey was towards Bilaspur. I called up my mother to inquire about her health and informed her about my next travel plans. This general coach of the train was completely empty, this is where I put my bed on this seat and slept.
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