here is what Rajesh was referring to in #45 and after.
At the main entracnce to the fortress-like srInAthajI temple of nAthadwAra in mewADa, the left hand side of the main doorway shows this inscription:
<img src='http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/39875/2650818180100818794S500x500Q85.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
and the right hand side this:
<img src='http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/39195/2603697150100818794S500x500Q85.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
At least left one is a typical of the late temple prashasti-s of the region. Especially the traditional royal seal of the sisodiyA rAjpUts of mewAD - a cow feeding her calf under the eyes of Sun and Moon.
The one on the right hand side does attest to what Rajesh had described the guide telling him. It states the orders of some "nawAb amIruddawlA mahamad shrI mIr khAn bahAdur Ji" to hindus and muslims visiting the temple to keep the sanctity of the shrine ("abad and marajaad"), and towards those tending to be not faithful to shInAthajI ("shrIjI kI sebA se vimukha"), i.e. true muslims, those are called upon to respect the shrine in name of the pig, kuran and khuda.
The left hand one mirrors the same message coming from "shrI mahArAjAdhirAja sUbedAra jI shrI jaswant rao kaskara", apparantly some governer of "alI-jAh bahAdur" and calls upon hindus and musalmans, this time in name of gau and sUrya. Both bear the same date - 11th vaishAkha of 1862nd vikramI. (1805 CE)
Now, who was this nawab? By his name, we do know, there happened to be a Nawab in lucknow, and the year would suit. To date there are some colleges in Lucknow by this name. So we may speculate it to be from him. Besides, no reference to Allah or Mohammed, but to Khuda instead also points to a Shia, which will support it to be this nawab. Besides the title of 'khAn bahAdur', a typical of the honorary titles given by angrez also suits this candidate. (This nawab and after had just stopped paying maratha-s and started paying Brits.) But I have no more interest to inquire on this subject.
and Rajesh, you were right, the guides were singing the tales of awrangzib cleaning the nine-steps of shrInAthJi with his red beard and gifting shrInAthJi with a diamond (to regain his eye sight because he was blinded due to some miracle of shrInAthJi when he was at the outkirts of nAthdwAra during his campaign -- although as per the real history the deity was already removed before awrangzib arrived here and stealthily moved to the safety of the lake-palace of udaipur and then again hidden into a small village called ghasiara near haldighati). I did think of asking for refund of what you paid the silly guide <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> . By the way I hope you noticed the fort like massive doors of the shrine. Also I hope you visited the museum of shrInAthajI's history in the shrI-vallabha-maTha, a few KMs from here.
At the main entracnce to the fortress-like srInAthajI temple of nAthadwAra in mewADa, the left hand side of the main doorway shows this inscription:
<img src='http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/39875/2650818180100818794S500x500Q85.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
and the right hand side this:
<img src='http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/39195/2603697150100818794S500x500Q85.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
At least left one is a typical of the late temple prashasti-s of the region. Especially the traditional royal seal of the sisodiyA rAjpUts of mewAD - a cow feeding her calf under the eyes of Sun and Moon.
The one on the right hand side does attest to what Rajesh had described the guide telling him. It states the orders of some "nawAb amIruddawlA mahamad shrI mIr khAn bahAdur Ji" to hindus and muslims visiting the temple to keep the sanctity of the shrine ("abad and marajaad"), and towards those tending to be not faithful to shInAthajI ("shrIjI kI sebA se vimukha"), i.e. true muslims, those are called upon to respect the shrine in name of the pig, kuran and khuda.
The left hand one mirrors the same message coming from "shrI mahArAjAdhirAja sUbedAra jI shrI jaswant rao kaskara", apparantly some governer of "alI-jAh bahAdur" and calls upon hindus and musalmans, this time in name of gau and sUrya. Both bear the same date - 11th vaishAkha of 1862nd vikramI. (1805 CE)
Now, who was this nawab? By his name, we do know, there happened to be a Nawab in lucknow, and the year would suit. To date there are some colleges in Lucknow by this name. So we may speculate it to be from him. Besides, no reference to Allah or Mohammed, but to Khuda instead also points to a Shia, which will support it to be this nawab. Besides the title of 'khAn bahAdur', a typical of the honorary titles given by angrez also suits this candidate. (This nawab and after had just stopped paying maratha-s and started paying Brits.) But I have no more interest to inquire on this subject.
and Rajesh, you were right, the guides were singing the tales of awrangzib cleaning the nine-steps of shrInAthJi with his red beard and gifting shrInAthJi with a diamond (to regain his eye sight because he was blinded due to some miracle of shrInAthJi when he was at the outkirts of nAthdwAra during his campaign -- although as per the real history the deity was already removed before awrangzib arrived here and stealthily moved to the safety of the lake-palace of udaipur and then again hidden into a small village called ghasiara near haldighati). I did think of asking for refund of what you paid the silly guide <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> . By the way I hope you noticed the fort like massive doors of the shrine. Also I hope you visited the museum of shrInAthajI's history in the shrI-vallabha-maTha, a few KMs from here.