Shivpuri
: Places to See
Chhatris
Set in a formal Mughal garden, with quiet nooks under flowering trees, intersected
by pathways with ornamental balustrades and illuminated by Victorian lamps,
is the complex in which the cenotaphs of the Scindias are set. Facing each other
across a water tank are the chhatris of Madho Rao Scindia and the dowager qeen
Maharani Sakhya Raje Scindia. Synthesizing the architectural idioms of Hindu
and Islamic styles with their shikhara type and Rajput and Mughal pavilions.
The glittering white marble surface of Madho Rao Scindia's cenotaph is inlaid
in the pietra dura style, with lapis lazuli and onyx to create a spectacularly
rich effect, heightened by the delicacy of the trellis work on the sides. The
dowager queen's cenotaph has a noble dignity of line and superb structural harmony.
Both memorials contain life-size images of the Scindias and these are tended
to with extreme devotion by ceremonially-dressed retainers who perform the rituals
fo placing flowers and incense before the statues each day. In the evenings,
the hush is broken by the sound of music as artistes of the Gwalior gharana
render classical ragas before the statues.
Madhav National Park
156 sq km in area, the park is open throughout the year. With a varied terrain
of wooded hills, the forests being dry, mixed and deciduous, and flat grasslands
around the lake, it offers abundant opportunities for sighting a variety of
wildlife. The predominant species that inhabits the park is the deer, of which
the most easily sighted are the graceful little chinkara, the Indian gazelle
and the chital. Other species that have their habitat in the park are nigai,
sambar, chausingha or four-horned antelope, blackbuck, sloth bear, leopard and
the ubiquitous common langur.
The National Park is equally rich in avifauna; the artificial lake, Chandpata,
is winter home of migratory geese, pochard, pintail, teal, mallard and gadwall.
A good site for bird watching is where the forest track crosses the wide rocky
stream that flows from the waste Weir. Species that frequent this spot are red-wattled
lapwing, large-paid wagtail, pond beron and white-breasted kingfisher. The avifauna
also includes the cormorant, painted stork, white ibis, laggar falcon, purplesunbird,
paradise flycatcher and golden oriole.
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