The artistic Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri

The facts and beauty of the Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri of Bundi, Rajasthan

By @Kurt

Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri, Bundi, Rajasthan

Bundi is a small city in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan. This city is ornate with a marvelous fort, gleaming palaces, and a number of stepwell water reservoirs. Apart from this the city also holds many cenotaphs, from which the Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri is the most beautiful one. Here I present you the history of this monument, that the locals told me and how I found this cenotaph.

Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri is one of the main attractions of Bundi, Rajasthan. As the name says, there are 84 pillars in this building which are supporting the entire monument. This huge monument is located at Devapura to the south of Bundi. It was built by the famous Rajput Rao Aniruddha Singh in the 17th century. This cenotaph is also widely known as Music Maharani's Chhatri. It is said, that one cannot count all the 84 pillers at a time.

The Pillars and Celling joining

Rao Aniruddha Singh had constructed this huge monument to pay homage to Nurse Deva, under whose love and guidance Rao Aniruddha Singh grew up as a prince. As in ancient times, nursing nurses were kept for special care for the princes and princesses. Children becomes associated with the nurse's love and affection. Some of them used to start loving the nurses as their mother. Deva was one of the same nurse who was kept for love and guidance of Maharaja Rao Anirudh Singh in his childhood.

The Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri is a two-story monument and it stands on a beautifully carved stone platform. One has to climb some twenty odd stairs to enter this monument. While climbing the stairs one will see many lavish stone carvings of cows, deer, elephants, dancers (apsaras) on the outer walls of this monument. Apart from these, you will also find many Indian gods carved on the walls of this monument.

The pillars 

Once you will reach inside, you will notice that the interior decoration and the stone carvings of this entire monument are of great and complex patterns and Rajasthani style. The ceiling is carved with such eye-catching patterns and you can also see how the top of the pillars are interconnected not just to support the ceiling, but also they create some jaw-dropping designs. This makes this magnificent cenotaph attract many tourists every year.

 Shiv-ling inside the monument

One will also witness a shiv-ling inside the monument, which is covered by a marvelously adorned rooftop that stands strong with the support of all the 84 pillars. You have to climb the stairs to reach the roof of the main monument. On climbing the stairs, you will also find that at the upper level, the main canopy is supported by 16 pillars. Also, there are four other small canopies which are placed on the four corners of the structure.

The celling

All the pillars of both the floors counted together are 84 and hence they are called chaurasi khambe in the Hindi language. Thus, the name 84-Pillared Cenotaph has been given to the structure.

This monument has had many outbreaks of time. You can also find that few parts of this monument has also been destroyed.