HARWAN GARDEN

Dears

Harwan garden is about 15 Kms from srinagar city and is not a Mughal Garden as such ln the strict sense of the term. No central canal Fountains and No terraces ;Yet sprawling flower beds with lush green sitting spaces under tall and shady chinars. Water from the SARBAND forms the central canal of the garden . The SARBAND or the old drinking water reservoir of the city gets its water from the nearby Dachhigam Nallah. As already said in my previous Blog , DACHHIGAM is a famous wild life sanctury having the extinct creature called Kashmiri HANGUL.Mahadev Mountain forms the backdrop of this garden .The Chinars of this Garden are the most majestic lot amongst the CHINARS of the Kashmir valley. one can see some remarkable remains of ancient ornamented tile pavements of the Buddhist era in the village HARWAN Nearby. Enjoy the views of this garden with a write up on Mahadevi Verma . I have already introduced Mahadevi Verma in my BLOG . Shri Gyaneshwar Mishra from Allahabad has asked me to say more about Mahadevi Ji. Here it goes :-

Mahadevi ji ( 1907-1987 ) was born in Farrukhabad ( U P ) in a family of lawyers. Her father Shri Govind Prasad was a leading lawyer . At a tender age of 9 She was married to Dr Swrup Narain Verma of Indore . She did her BA and MA ( Sanskrit ) and joined as Headmistress of a Girl’s school in Allahabad . She rose to become Vice Chancellor Prayag Mahilla VidyaPeeth Allahabad . She fought for the education of girl child and justice to poor and helpless women till her death. As mutually agreed ,Mahadevi Ji and her husband lived separately pursuing their respective interests and used to meet occasionally . Alongwith her maid , she also lived and moved in Himalayas in her spiritual quest. She was deeply affected by Budhism and had profound knowledge of SIKH and JAIN scriptures and practices. A stern teacher , a profound thinker totally devoted to the cause of emancipation of poor women and girls all along her life, Mahadevi ji was a freedom fighter as well. She was awarded Padam Bhushan, Sahitya academy award as well as the prestigious Jnanpith in 1982. She was the first woman to be made a Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi.

Mahadevi ji was a distinguished Painter and The illustrations in her book DEEPSHIKHA have been drawn by her only.. The principal theme of the poetry of Mahadevi ji is pain of separation from the supreme being . In this regard she is comparable to saint poetess Meera Bai of 16th centuary . She is also regarded as one amongst the four strong pillars of CHHAYAVAAD movement of Hindi Poetry , others being Surya kant Tripathi Nirala , Jai Shanker Prasad and Sumitra Nandan Pant .Her literature is a treasure house of deepest truths unfolded by Indian Philosophy. Mysticism is also her forte . She is considered as a mixture of the personality of Rani Jhansi and Meera Bai by her admirers . Incidentally, the Last Sikh Guru shri Guru Gobind singh ji was also called as SANT ( Saint ) and SIPAAHI ( soldier ). I am also an admirer of her personality and poetry . Enjoy some lines of her poem Ab yeh Chidiya Kahan Rahegi ( Where shall this sparrow live now? ). This is a simple poem for children apparently but in it lies the deep philosophy of life . The core content of the poem is an issue relevant to poor women only. Mahadevi ji also drew drawings for this poem herself.

Aandhi Aayee Zor shor se
Daali Tooti hai Jhakor se
Udda Ghonslaa Bechaari Ka
Kiss Se Apni Baat Kahegi
Ab Yeh Chidiya Kahan Rahegi
( Mahadevi Verma )

( The storm and winds were Furious ,
They broke the branches of the tree in fury,
The poor sparrow lost her dwelling .
To whom shall she convey her pain ?
Oh God ! Where shall this sparrow go now.)
(Translation a k Mota )

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