Agroha is the place the place I might hint my origins to. That is the place the place our ancestors Maharaja Agrasen dominated. Nonetheless, it took me discovering many historic locations in India earlier than I reached Agroha on a chilly January night.
Temporary Historical past of Agroha
Maharaja Agrasen was a Kshatriya of Suryavamsha or the photo voltaic dynasty. He was the 36th descendant of Sri Ram of Ayodhya by his son Kush. Additionally it is mentioned that he arrange his capital in Agroha after the Mahabharat Struggle. His father fought within the Mahabharat Struggle as per the chronicles at Agroha.
Ther or Historical Mound at Agroha
Agroha falls on the traditional commerce route connecting Takshashila and Mathura. No surprise then that the preferred and profitable buying and selling neighborhood has its roots right here.
Unfold throughout 566 acres, this historic mound that has many brick constructions together with a fort-like formation has remnants from 3-4th BCE and until about 13-14th CE. That may be a lengthy interval of historical past. Potteries from the Kushan and Gupta durations had been discovered right here throughout excavations.
A Buddhist Stupa belonging to the late Kushan or early Gupta interval may be seen right here. As I walked up and down on the uncovered crimson bricks of this stupa, it jogged my memory of Nalanda which has very comparable although a lot bigger constructions.
Adjoining to it’s a Hindu Temple. Each these constructions are surrounded by slim cells which will have been meditation cells or dormitories of a monastery.
Agroha Dham
Agroha Dham is unfold throughout a sprawling 67-acre campus constructed between 1976-84 CE.
The primary attraction is the Trikuta temple with three towering Shikharas. On the highest of the temple, a big Murti of Solar using his horses greets you. This depicts the lineage from the Solar or Suryavamsh.
The central temple belongs to Mahalaskhmi who’s the Kuldevi of the Agarwal neighborhood.
Mahalakshmi
The story goes that Maharaja Agrasen had worshipped Mahalakshmi and she or he appeared earlier than him. Since then, she has grow to be the presiding goddess of the clan.
The vigraha of Mahalakshmi right here is with 4 arms and is in a standing place. Her two fingers are holding the lotus and the opposite two are in Abhay and Varada mudras which stand for fearlessness and blessings.
Contained in the garbhagriha, you possibly can see glass work of Ram Darbar and Radha Krishna on both aspect of Mahalakshmi. On the aspect wall, you see a portray of Maharaja Agrasen praying to Mahalakshmi as she gave him darshan.
The left temple is devoted to Maharaja Agrasen because the Mool Purush of the Agarwal clan. His Murti as a king is proven sitting on a throne. He’s surrounded by his 18 sons who at the moment are the 18 gotras of the Agrawal neighborhood. There’s a Ram Darbar right here. It was fantastically embellished as we had been there on the day Pran Pratishtha of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was happening.
The temple on the appropriate has Saraswati Devi in a sitting posture carrying white and taking part in Veena. Subsequent to it’s a Murti of Kalki Bhagwan – the longer term incarnation of Vishnu using a horse.
Hanuman Murti
Different temples on the campus embody a 90-foot-tall Hanuman Murti towering over a small however very lovely Hanuman temple beneath. There are temples of Devi as Durga and Krishna as Dwarkadhish. A temple behind the primary temple has replicas of all of the 12 jyotirlingas. Mahakal is the largest of them. There are diorama-based digital jhankis or scenes from Ram Katha and Krishna Katha.
Essentially the most fascinating a part of the temple is a recreation of Amarnath and Vaishno Devi Yatra with caves on the highest ground of the temple. It takes you a while to undergo slim cave-like constructions, generally by a tiger’s mouth, to succeed in the deities within the cave after which come out. In between you meet the precise duplicate of Tirupati Balaji. Many individuals tie coconuts right here after worshipping Vaishno Devi and Bhairava for the achievement of needs.
There’s a Sarovar or pond that has sacred water from 41 sacred rivers throughout India. You are able to do boating and there are a couple of actions to maintain youngsters and everybody else too engaged.
Festivals
The largest competition right here is widely known in Sharad Ritu and within the month of Ashwin. On the primary day of Ashwin month is Jayanti of Maharaja Agrasen. The Purnima of this month known as Sharad Purnima, is the celebration of the annual competition of Mahalakshmi.
We attended the morning Arti round 7:30 PM and it was a divine expertise. I like to recommend you attend not less than one Arti while you go to.
You want a day to comfortably take pleasure in Agroha Dham.
Lakshmi Shakti Peeth
All India Agrawal Sabha has one other campus with a temple devoted to Maharaja Agrasen. A grand Lakshmi temple is being constructed. There’s a yagnashala with 18 yagna kundas representing the 18 Agrawal Gotras.
A ravishing Sarovar right here has a beautiful Murti of Ganga standing on her automobile Makar or crocodile. A board right here tells us that sacred water from 18 rivers has been introduced right here, sanctified by Vedic chants and these tirthas keep right here eternally. It implies that this Agra Sarovar has all of the Tirthas dwelling right here. Visiting it’s price visiting all of the Tirthas of Bharat.
A gallery right here exhibits the occasions from the lifetime of Maharaja Agrasen. It covers his journey from the time of his praying to Mahalakshmi to the Authorities of India issuing a postal stamp on him in 1976, and to Nationwide Freeway No 9 being named after him.
An enormous corridor showcases the achievers from the neighborhood with their images. There are busts of leaders from the society like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhartendu Harishchandra, and a plethora of philanthropists and businessmen. It’s nonetheless a piece in progress like a enterprise is.
Within the temple of Maharaja Agrasen, you possibly can see Agra Bhagwat – a Puranic story of Agrawals. I picked up a replica and hope to learn it quickly. The idea of ‘Ek Int, Ek Rupiya’ – a philosophy of serving to each new household to arrange their enterprise and therefore life is on show.
A bookstore presents literature on Maharaja Agrasen and Agrawals. I want they might add to it the literature authored by and written about Agrawals right here. This might assist the neighborhood respect the work of the bigger neighborhood.
Sheela Mata Mandir
A temple devoted to Sheela Mata is positioned about 500 meters from Agroha Mound and possibly a kilometer from Agroha Dham. Surrounded by brilliant yellow mustard fields, this temple in Pink stone was celebrating the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha with a Yagna. We participated by chanting Hanuman Chalisa and exchanging greetings.
All of the temples in and round Agroha are well-maintained.
Kajala Dham Hanuman Mandir
A bit of earlier than Hisar on the Delhi-Hisar Street, there’s a highly regarded Hanuman temple known as Kajala Dham. We stopped right here on our solution to Agroha and took part within the night Arti.
Although not an outdated temple, it has an enormous following as a wish-fulfilling Hanuman Mandir. Folks tie coconuts on its partitions they usually say their needs come true.
The outdated temple is in direction of the appropriate as you enter. You method the large temple by a flight of steps. It has a phenomenal five-faced Panch-Mukhi Hanuman Murti within the middle surrounded by all different Hindu deities. There may be glasswork that I’ve extra typically seen in Jain temples.
Journey Suggestions
- Virtually all temples are open from morning to night
- You are able to do pictures exterior the primary temple, however not inside
- Dharamshalas can be found inside the temple premises and lodges can be found in shut neighborhood. Free meals is on the market at Dharamshala at stipulated occasions. Nonetheless, you possibly can pay what you need on the time of checkout
- You may go to Rakhigarhi – the biggest Sindhu Saraswati Civilization website found thus far.