01-07-2004, 08:10 AM
A Door Stained by Maratha Blood
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A carved wooden doorframe which was a witness to the Third Battle of Panipat, about 239 years ago, constructed from the wood of âKala Ambâ (black mango tree), has recently been shifted from Karnal to Panipat to be preserved at the museum in Binjhol.
A team from the Department of Archaeology, Haryana, led by its Deputy Director took possession of the âChaukhatâ. It will be treated with chemicals to be preserved for at least 500 years.
The âchaukhatâ has been made from a mango tree which witnessed the battle between the forces of Ahmad Shah Abdaliand the Marathas. The battle was fought at a place named âKala Ambâ, near Ugrakheri village in 1761.
The place was named after the mango tree. It is a tourist centre now and the Haryana Government is constructing a museum here in the memory of the Marathas.
More than 20,000 Marathas were killed near this spot and it is said that the tree turned black when their blood ran into its roots.
Later, a local pandit, Shugan Chand, got two frames carved out from the wood of this tree and presented these to Queen Victoria. She in turn gifted one of the frames to the King of France, Louis XIV. The second doorframe was used in the Victoria Hall here which was renamed as Gandhi Memorial Hall after independence.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A carved wooden doorframe which was a witness to the Third Battle of Panipat, about 239 years ago, constructed from the wood of âKala Ambâ (black mango tree), has recently been shifted from Karnal to Panipat to be preserved at the museum in Binjhol.
A team from the Department of Archaeology, Haryana, led by its Deputy Director took possession of the âChaukhatâ. It will be treated with chemicals to be preserved for at least 500 years.
The âchaukhatâ has been made from a mango tree which witnessed the battle between the forces of Ahmad Shah Abdaliand the Marathas. The battle was fought at a place named âKala Ambâ, near Ugrakheri village in 1761.
The place was named after the mango tree. It is a tourist centre now and the Haryana Government is constructing a museum here in the memory of the Marathas.
More than 20,000 Marathas were killed near this spot and it is said that the tree turned black when their blood ran into its roots.
Later, a local pandit, Shugan Chand, got two frames carved out from the wood of this tree and presented these to Queen Victoria. She in turn gifted one of the frames to the King of France, Louis XIV. The second doorframe was used in the Victoria Hall here which was renamed as Gandhi Memorial Hall after independence.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->