Orchha Travel Guide

Distance : 12Okm From Gwalior, 178km from Khajuraho
Temp : Summer: Max, 47oC, Winter: Min, 4oC
Best season : October-March

Orchha today is a sleepy little hamlet but it was once the capital city of the mighty Bundelkhand Empire. From time immemorial, Bundelkhand has been an important destination for all sorts of tourists and travellers.
The famous Chinese pilgrim, Hiuen Tsang, visited the area in the 7th century a.d. and gave a vivid account of the kingdom of ‘Jejakabhuti’, which corresponds to modern day Bundelkhand and a small part of Bagelkhand as well.

¤ Foundation of Orchha

Orchha as it stands today, was founded in the 16th century a.d. by the Bundela chieftain, Rudra Pratap. The Bundelas were a warrior tribe who traced their ancestry to a medieval Rajput prince who sacrificed his life for the mountain goddess, Vrindavasini. In return, the goddess proclaimed that henceforth, he and his descendants would be known as ‘Bundelas’, or ‘those who gave blood’. The Orchha Bundelas are said to be chiefs of the Bundela clan settled all over the plains of North India.


¤ Main Charms of The Town

Although Orchha was never really a very affluent place, that did not deter the fiercely proud Bundelas from undertaking ambitious projects. Orchha’s legacy has been captured in stone and frozen in time, a rich legacy to all ages.
The remarkable proportions of the exteriors are matched by the grandeur of the interior-rich repositories of Bundela art. The richness of its palaces, temples and cenotaphs is reflected in the gently flowing water of the Betwa River.


¤ The Picturesque Site of River Betwa

The beautiful River Betwa on whose banks the city of Orchha is founded, is a picturesque site, with its monuments dotting the landscape on either side of the river.


¤ Jahangir Mahal

The most notable is the Jahangir Mahal, a tiered palace crowned by graceful chhatris (domed pavilions).
From here, the view of soaring temple spires and cenotaphs is spectacular.
The richness of the Jahangir Mahal contrasts nicely with the austere beauty of the Raj Mahal, built by Madhukar Shah who was a religious-minded person.
The last of the trio of palaces which embellish the Orchha fort is the Rai Parveen Mahal, built in the 17^th century for Rai Parveen, the talented and artistically inclined lover of Orchha’s king, Raja Indrajit Singh (see Rai Parveen Mahal under Places of Interest for more).


¤ Temple Attractions

of the three main temples, the Laxminarayan Temple is a curious mix of fort and temple architecture. Most of its walls are decorated with murals, some with secular themes. On the other hand, the Ramaraja Temple is unusual in that here, Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu (the Hindu Preserver of the Universe), is worshipped as a ruler, and the building is actually a palace.
The holy triad is completed by the Chaturbhuj Temple that is adorned with lotus emblems and other religious symbols.
Other sites worth visiting in Orchha are the shrines of Siddh Baba ka Sthan, Jugal Kishore Temple and the Janaki and Hanuman Mandirs.
Two famous memorials also dot Orchha – Hardol’s Samadhi, which has a tragic mystique about it, and the Shaheed Smarak, which commemorates the freedom fighter, Chandrashekhar Azad, who lived and worked in hiding in Orchha in 1926 and 1927. On the outskirts of Orchha is the Jaraika Math Temple, dedicated to Laxmi, the Hindu Goddess of Wealth.


¤ Art & Architecture

Orchha is known for its elegant architecture and its unique sequential development of domes, brackets, pillars, arches and ledges. The domes that crown the monuments of Orchha are primarily hemispherical, but in some buildings, one comes across palanquin-shaped domes.

The brackets are found mainly in two varieties: elephant-shaped ones that you can see in the Jahangir and Raja Mahals, and serpentine brackets with floral designs that are influenced by Islamic architecture.
The arches that decorate the monuments of Orchha are magnificent and greatly enhance the quality of the structures.
The earlier ones have horizontal lintels placed atop solidly constructed jambs, while the later fabrications have cylindrical-shaped trabeated openings united at the top to form a complex unit. The pillars are fairly plain with not much of ornamental work, but the Raja Mahal houses massive 12-faced pillars with inverted bases that are definitely worth a look.


¤ Bundela School of Painting

Complementing the noble proportions of the exteriors are the interiors that represent the finest flowering of the Bundela School of painting. For instance, in the Laxminarayan Temple, vibrant murals covering a wide variety of religious and secular themes bring the walls and ceilings alive.


¤ Literature and Poetry

In the medieval ages, Orchha also enjoyed a rich tradition in the fields of literature and poetry. Its most famous bard was Keshav Das who visited the courts of Birbal and the Mughal Emperor, Jehangir, in the 17^th century a.d. His most famous disciple, Rai Parveen, was equally well known for her ravishing looks as well as her lyrical voice. Her enchanting beauty and her sharp repartees dazzled even Emperor Akbar.