North of the Omkareshwar island was the important place called Choubees Avatar, meaning 24 Incarnations of the Lord. It got submerged in the Omkareshwar dam project. The much revered saint of Narmadakhand, Sri Kamal Bharati, who revived the Parikrama tradition in the modern age had his ashram here. Also nearby is the Kashyap Ashram associated with the ancient sage Kashyap and the Chyavan Rishi Ashram.
A beautiful ashram near the Chyavan Rishi Ashram is called the Dolari ashram. The Mahatma who started this place was known as Dolari Baba. People who have seen him and many of them are Sadhus themselves regarded him very highly for his spiritual attainments even though he would often be seen ordinarily dressed in a half-pant. He was also a Mahatma who took great joy in serving Parikramavasis and completely self-effacing in his disposition.
Further westward is located Charukeshwar, where Choral, a tributary flowing down the Vindhyas from near Indore meets the Narmada. Choral’s trajectory is itself very beautiful, through deep forests, and it has a fall called ‘Patalpani’ which is a much visited picnic spot for people of Indore. One can get an idea of this area if one drives from Indore to Barwah towards Omkareshwar or Khandwa.
Charukeshwar, where Choral meets Narmada, has an ashram inspired by the renowned saint of the region Sri Mahadev Chaitanya Brahmachari, popularly known as Sri Dagdu Maharaj. A great Mahapurusha, he was known to do Dandawat (Sashtanga Pranam) to persons visiting him, being indifferent to whether they were all-renouncing ascetics or householding commoners.
The ashram has a huge banyan tree. It is said that if a banyan tree has more than 110 prop roots (that serve as secondary trunks) it becomes a ‘Siddha Vriksha.’ The banyan tree at Charukeshwar ashram has even larger number of roots and therefore is a very special and sacred tree and has the appearance of a beautiful grove. There is a shrine dedicated to Sri Dagdu Maharaj near the tree.
The spot where Choral meets Narmada is one of the most beautiful sights in the whole of Narmadakhand. On the other side (southern side) one only sees forested hills and even though the Omkar Parvat is less than six miles away it is hidden from the view. There are several ashramas in the Narmadakhand, particularly on the western side of the trajectory inspired by this venerable saint, Sri Dagdu Maharaj. There is an Akhand (non-stop) dhun – chanting of names of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna – that goes on in Charukeshwar ashram as well as other ashramas inspired by Sri Dagdu Maharaj. There are also a few other ashramas in Charukeshwar area. This place is near the town of Barwah on Indore-Khandwa highway and accessible by a motorable road off the highway.
The entire region between Omkareswar and the next important place called Maheshwar, about 60 km downstream, has scores of ashramas, particularly in the Khedighat region near Barwah in Khargone district. There is an Annakshetra and night-halting place for scores of Parikramavasis near Khedighat at a place called Katara which was till recently run by a very service-spirited Mahatma, popularly known as Vaishnav Baba. He was of Sri Ramanada Sampraday and his Gurusthan was in Chitrakoot. He was always seen working and serving the people just like several other volunteers. Such was his self-effacing nature that a Parikramavasi could spend an entire night at the place, get refreshed, and would yet not know that he was the person who had started the place and was its mainstay. Unfortunately, this great Sevabhavi Mahatma departed during the second wave of Corona in the summers of 2021. But the Annakshetra continues and its mantle has been taken up by the local villagers under the stewardship of another Mahatma of Sri Ramananda Sampraday.
Ravarkhedi and Bajirao Peshwa I
An important landmark in this stretch on the southern banks is the Samadhi-Sthal (the place of final repose) of Peshwa Bajirao I, who is generally accepted as one of the greatest military generals in history of India and is considered, after Shivaji, as the greatest Maratha leader. He pushed the frontiers of the Maratha domination to regions far beyond their earlier strongholds. Indeed it was during his regime that the Maratha power reached its zenith. He became the Peshwa at the age of 20 and spent the next two decades almost continuously on campaigns. It was under his leadership that the Marathas first extended their control north of Narmada. In 1720s Bajirao helped by his military commanders, Ranoji Shinde, Malharao Holkar, and the Puar (Pawar) brothers crossed the Narmada and subsequently captured the hill-fort of Mandu, gateway of Malwa. The Maratha army crossed Narmada at Raverkhedi as the lack of depth of the river here makes it easier to cross with the troops and cavalry. This became the standard crossing point for the Marathas in future too. Goods were also transported across the Narmada from here. It was here in 1739, that returning from a campaign in poor health, he died, on the southern banks of Narmada and was cremated at the same place.
During his last days he was served by his first wife Kashibai. He was just 39 at that time. There have many works on his life, books as well as motion pictures, some highlighting his marriage with Mastani of Bundelkhand. However, his military genius, one feels, gets a bit clouded by this and does not draw as much attention as it should. Though Samudragupta is often referred to as the ‘Indian Napoleon,’ a more apt choice would perhaps be that of Bajirao. Living in the first half of the eighteenth century, he was indeed closer to the historical period of Napoleon and had conquests achieved with such strategic aplomb that would have delighted his western counterpart who would storm the European stage, more than half a century later and feverishly conquer large parts of that continent in less than a decade.
The Samadhi-Sthal of the Peshwa is a site under the Archaeological Survey of India. There is a temple of Lord Shiva nearby which was built by Peshwa’s wife Kashibai. There is a new temple and ashram adjoining this old temple, which also has facility for hosting Parikramavasis. In the main village too there is an ashram serving the Parikramavasis.
A little ahead of Raverkhedi is the village of Bakawan which is famous for making of Shiva-Lingas. From here Shiva-Lingas also reach various markets and different parts of the country.
Siyaram Baba and Teli Bhatiyan
A little farther downstream from Raverkhedi on the southern banks is the village of Teli Bhatiyan. This village would have been just another of hundreds of villages on the Narmada banks but for the presence of a highly revered contemporary saint, Sri Siyaram Baba who shed his mortal coil in December 2024. This venerable Mahatma, wearing only Kaupin (loin cloth) throughout the year had spent around seven decades at this place. He sat in silence, often reading scriptures or immersed in his own inner world while people from nearby (or in some cases far-off places) flocked inside his simple room to offer Pranam and have his Darshan. On special days like Ekadashi or Amavasya there are long queues of visitors. The Parkammavasis are also served here with meal-Prasada. In his earlier days he had practised great austerities and is said to have been immersed in study of Ramayana for twelve years in standing position. He was given around Rs. Two Crores from government as his small ashram was coming under the dam backwaters. Within days he donated the entire amount.
His cremation, held in this interior village, was attended by five lac people such was the reverence people had for him. People who witnessed this event say that perhaps it was nothing short of a spectacle that an ascetic who never have any Pravachans (sermons), had little interactions with visiting people (as he almost kept continued silence), had drawn hundreds of thousands of people spontaneously in life as well as when he had gone beyond. It shows the genius of the common Indian people that even if they are at times hoodwinked or short-changed in their faith by charlatans in guise of religious Gurus, they still possess an eye for seeing true spiritual greatness. One would not think such an ascetic shorn of any outward expression of gifts (whether of scholarship or oratory or any special powers) that typically win the regard and attention of people would have been recognised in any comparable way in the western world or any other land for that matter except India.
In the nearby areas people had named shops, schools, even petrol pump after Siyaram Baba. It is like the case of bees coming to a flower without any effort on its part of the flower to bring itself to anyone’s notice. He was a great gem of Narmadakhand and his memory and the place of his Tapasya would surely continue to inspire countless seekers in times to come.
Further down are other places of significance like the Markati-Sangam where the river Beda meets the Narmada from the south. Sri Kamalbharati ji, who earlier lived at Chaubees Avatar later came to this place, though towards the end of his life, he again returned to Choubees Avatar. The Markati-Sangam has a very interesting Pauranik tale associated with it which can be read in the book ‘Narmada Darshan’ written by Sri Prabhudatta Brahmachari.
North of the Markati-Sangam is Mandaleshwar where there is a nice Ghat and a large Sri Rama temple. There is also a place called ‘Sankara Gufa’ with a legend associated with it pertaining to the great debate Sri Sankara had with Mandan Mishra. A few miles downstream of Markati -Sangam is beautiful temple called Shalivahan, where there is Annakshetra and stay facilities for Parikramavasis.
A very important village and a famous archaeological site comes just a mile downstream of Shalivahan. It is the village of Navdatoli and is exactly opposite to the famous town of Maheshwar. Excavation missions in the area, chiefly taken by teams of the Deccan College, between 1957 and 1959 yielded new insights about the region. The area revealed to have had settlements, both of the Stone Age, having lithic tools used very commonly and prepared by each household for themselves, as also the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) features. Lime was in common use in walls and floors. The settlements had domesticated cattle and other animals like dogs and pigs. Many kinds of pottery have been found from the areas which also reveal a cultural connect with Persia of the times.
Maheshwar and Ahilyabai Holkar
Just a few mile s downstream of Mandleshwar on the northern banks is Maheshwar, one of the most important places in the whole of Narmadakhand. The history of Maheshwar is inextricably linked with the story of perhaps the most revered figure in whole of Narmadakhand, one of the most illustrious women in Indian and indeed world history – Ahilyabai Holkar.
Maheshwar has the biggest Ghat on Narmada and one of the biggest in the entire country. The ghat is beautifully built with a large number of smaller temples and always has a number of boats enabling people take boating rounds. It served as the capital of the Holkars (who traditionally had their capital at Indore) during the regime of Ahilyabai Holkar.
This great lady’s life had been extraordinary, right from the beginning. She was not born in a family having any royal or aristocratic pretentions. Her father was a common village official in a village called Chondi in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra where Ahilyabai was born in 1725. It is said that Malharrao, a close associate of Peshwa Bajirao I, who controlled parts of Malwa, saw this 6 year old girl immersed in worship and meditation in a temple. He was profoundly moved at the sight and then and there chose to make this small girl his son Khanderao’s bride. This is how this little girl entered the Holkar household.
At that time the Malwa region was also divided among Maratha chieftains – the Holkars, the Shindes (later called the Scindias) and the Pawars. Malharrao ruled from Indore, a centrally located place in the Malwa plateau.
Khanderao was trained right from his boyhood, and made to participate in several military campaigns when he had not even entered his teens. He was a part of a major campaign undertaken by the redoubtable Bajirao himself in 1736 when the latter stormed into North India with fifty thousand troops and rendered the already weak Mughal royal (the glorious days of the empire were already a thing of the past) completely submissive to his demands. Khanderao also had successful campaigns against the Nizams and even the Portuguese. He was decorated by the Peshwa and seen to be having great promise. Unfortunately, Khanderao passed away in 1754, at the age of 31, fighting the Jats in the battle of Kumher, in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. Ahilyabai, having lost his young husband, wished to commit Sati, but was desisted by his father-in-law.
After that Malharrao continued to rule from Indore and till his death in 1766, he had imparted fine training to Ahilyabai in various aspects of statecraft – general administration as well as strategic and military understanding, that ensured that the kingdom would remain strong.
After Malharrao’s death in 1766, Ahilyabai’s son Malarao, still a young boy, was coronated the successor with Ahilyadevi acting as his regent. The boy, unfortunately suffered from mental illness, and passed away the very next year. Ahilyabai, now formally took the mantle of ruling the Holkar territory upon herself. In the initial years she had to ward off threats ensuing from the power intrigues involving various Maratha chiefs who naturally assumed her position to be highly vulnerable. Malhharao had already brought Tukojirao, his grand-nephew, as the military chief, adopting him as a son. Tukojiao continued to remain loyal to Ahilyabai and stationed himself in Indore while Ahilyabai ruled from Mahehwar. She kept the finances, regulatory and entire developmental matters under her direct control. One may visit her exceedingly plain Darbar at the quarters called Rajwada in the Maheshwar Fort.
Ahilyabai found large tracts of land in the region uncultivated and so she invited farmers from Gujarat to take over these lands, thus giving a fillip to the agricultural produce and also state revenues. Similarly she gave tax concessions in several spheres and promoted cotton plantations in Malwa for which the region became subsequently well-known – in fact it was the Malwa that supplied significant raw material to Lancashire mills and later the Bombay mills. Once her region was producing sufficient cotton, Ahilyabai ventured into textile productions, something called fancily in modern management parlance as forward or vertical integration. She brought weavers to Maheshwar from the erstwhile Nawabi states of Mandavgarh (also known as Mandu) in present day Dhar district and Chanderi (which was long famous for its fabrics) in present day Ashoknagar district of Madhya Pradesh. A unique blend of fabric-making that evolved came to be known as the Maheshwari fabric. It captured the fancy of royals and elites. Maheshwari saris were in great demand and even the Maheshwari dhotis were highly sought after by the gentry, including the Pune Peshwas themselves. This tradition though slackening in the subsequent period has again seen revival in last four decades due to the efforts of the Rewa Society, set up by present day Holkars, and Maheshwar still has around two thousand artisans, mostly women, operating handlooms, engrossed in embroidery and imparting high aesthetic touch to the fabrics.
However, Ahilyabai’s greatest contributions and her lasting legacy has been in the sphere of religious life of people not just in her state (which was by no means huge – just around ten thousand square miles) but across the length and breadth of the country. An ardent devotee of Lord Shiva she first made her efforts towards renovation at the sites of the 12 Jyotirlingas, setting up pilgrim facilities like dharmashalas, Annakshetras, endowing for regular and special Pujas, engaging and supporting fulltime priests and allied initiatives. She rebuilt the Somnath Temple in Gujarat, heavily renovated the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, and built ghats and Annakshetras in Varanasi and several other places. She then took up work in various places other than the Jyotirlingas. Her works spread from Kashmir in the north to Rameswaram in the south, and from Somnath in the west to Gaya in Bihar and Vaidyanath-Dham at Deoghar in present-day Jharkhand.
She was exceptionally efficient and meticulous with regard to details. It is not that she merely funded these projects. She conducted regular meetings with the builders, studied and discussed construction designs in great detail, and spent money with keen sense of economy.
Ahilyabai never made a single territorial conquest. Her own state was not big but she stands as a shining example of civilizational nationhood of India. Her imagination and initiative were not at all restricted to the boundaries of the Holkar state.
The Maheshwar fort has temples within like Ahilyeswar and Kashi Viswanath temple. Just outside the fort is the Rajrajeswar temple. At her simple court, Ahilyadevi personally received all commoners and helped redress their grievances. She also sponsored Muslim Fakirs and the period of her rule saw complete communal harmony. She was revered almost as a divine figure – ‘Devi’ and ‘Lokmata’ (mother of the people) by her subjects because of her great sense of fairness and justice, her remarkably austere life shorn of any ostentation, her great works of public welfare, and most notably her religious-philanthropic initiatives spread all across the country in pilgrim centres, major and minor – indeed her total dedication and spirit of empathy and service towards her subjects and the country at large.
Her enduring initiatives in religious sphere and philanthropy run into hundreds; indeed there is not yet any exhaustive list detailing her contributions and interventions. At many places she created permanent endowment funds that ensured that those initiatives continued even after her. Even now many of those keep going on under the aegis of the Khasgi Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Trust.
She was devoted to Shiva’s daughter Narmada and took her daily bath at the ghat below the Fort. In the Narmadakhand she built or renovated temples, numerous ghats and other public works including major initiatives in Amarkantak, Omkareshwar, Nemawar, and Barman.
A towering and inspirational figure that she was, Ahilyabai Holkar deserves to be much better known across the country. She led a longer life than other iconic women like Rani Durgawati, Avantibai, or Lakshmibai who are largely remembered for their extraordinary valour and resistance to those threatening their states leading to their martyrdom. Ahilyabai, is different in many ways; she was a visionary, an adept statesperson, and highly versatile in areas that drew her attention and enterprise. The university at Indore and the airport are named after her and some years back a statue of her has been installed at the Parliament. On a deeper reflection one unmistakably feels that she embodied the Soul of India and as such should serve as an inspiration for Indians for centuries to come.
▶Next Chapter: Maheshwar to Mandu (Malwa’s Marvel)