Orchha, Madhya Pradesh - Bundela Dynasty Royal Cenotaphs
The cenotaphs of the Bundela Rajput kings of Orchha stand like silent sentinels of history on the banks of the river Betwa. Even though the historic landscape of Orchha, a tiny medieval town in central India, is dotted with majestic palaces and temples, the cenotaphs have a sepulchral allure of their own.
Fourteen in total, these funereal monuments were built to immortalize the rulers of the Bundelkhand dynasty. From the early 16th to the late 18th century, Orchha, the capital of the Bundela kingdom, remained a theater of war between the Bundela Rajput chieftains and the imperial Mughal authority in Delhi. The Bundela-style of architecture, however, is a harmonious amalgamation of Mughal and Rajput influences, as reflected in the cenotaphs of Orchha. The cenotaphs have been constructed on raised platforms and designed in the form of tall, square buildings with a domed pavilion on top called chatris. A common feature of most Indian architectural styles, a chatri, from the Persian chatr or the Sanskrit chattra, is a type of trabeate domed canopy, resembling an umbrella or a parasol. Since Hindus are cremated, the cenotaphs are empty structures, but the chatris have become the living quarters of a colony of vultures, a critically endangered species.
Orchha, Madhya Pradesh - Bundela Dynasty Royal Cenotaphs
The cenotaphs of the Bundela Rajput kings of Orchha stand like silent sentinels of history on the banks of the river Betwa. Even though the historic landscape of Orchha, a tiny medieval town in central India, is dotted with majestic palaces and temples, the cenotaphs have a sepulchral allure of their own.
Fourteen in total, these funereal monuments were built to immortalize the rulers of the Bundelkhand dynasty. From the early 16th to the late 18th century, Orchha, the capital of the Bundela kingdom, remained a theater of war between the Bundela Rajput chieftains and the imperial Mughal authority in Delhi. The Bundela-style of architecture, however, is a harmonious amalgamation of Mughal and Rajput influences, as reflected in the cenotaphs of Orchha. The cenotaphs have been constructed on raised platforms and designed in the form of tall, square buildings with a domed pavilion on top called chatris. A common feature of most Indian architectural styles, a chatri, from the Persian chatr or the Sanskrit chattra, is a type of trabeate domed canopy, resembling an umbrella or a parasol. Since Hindus are cremated, the cenotaphs are empty structures, but the chatris have become the living quarters of a colony of vultures, a critically endangered species.