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Maharaja Rewa
50 Years of Glorious History
Born on 15th March 1923, Young Maharaj Kumar Martand Singhji was influenced by books & took to reading, which lasted till the last, before his indisposition in 1980s. He was given the best available education in Mayo College, Indore. M.P. and later went to Switzerland for for higher studies. After coming back to India, he was put into the then ICS Academy at Bangelore! It was then that the late Maharaja Gulab Singhji, who was openly against the foreign domination in India & was siding with the then Gandhi Movement, was imprisoned & Yuvraj Martand Singhji had to be made a ruler at an early age of only 23!
Later he was made as the "Raj Pramukh" in 1948. He contested the Lok Sabha as independent candidate in 1971 & won hands down. He remained an M.P. till 1977 and was again in the parliament in 1979/80 and served the people of Rewa till 1985.
The landmark achievement was capturing & late starting the breading of the White Tiger in 1951/52, after the capture of Mohan!
H.H.M.C.T. An Introduction
The Trust came into existence in October 1970 with a view to serve the people of Rewa! Late Maharaja Martand Singhji was a great philanthroph to who was all the time thinking about the poor & the downtrodden people and was also highly interested in the all round development in the field of education of the youths.
His keen interested to protect the rich heritage of the region can be reflected by the efforts made to protect the Fort by making it a "Heritage Zone" & having the museum, after it was sifted from Govindgarh. He had given up shooting long before the act was passed by the Parliament. His love for the Tigers can be imagined by the way he took the risk of breading the White Tiger in captivity!
In this trust there is a provision of giving monitory relief to the poor ones who were indisposed & needed money for treatment. He laid lot of trust on eye camps.
THE BAGHELA MUSEUM
Not many have the heart to spare the rich & personal gifts or valuables brought by the near and dears and put them to be displayed in the galleries for the crowed to see! Late Maharaja was not a greedy man. He decided to place his Royal belongings to the people to see & be proud of the rich Heritage!
Before Renovation
After Renovation
The Baghela Museum mirrors the richness of character of the Rulers of this dynasty & not the pompousness of kingship! This Museum could be divided in to 4 categories:
A. Arms Gallery:
This has many types of swords & weapons used at that period. The old guns & also the new ones. Most famous is the "pen-pistol" & double barrel .22!
B. Mohan Gallery:
This has the entire history about the White Tigers & the capture of Mohan, till his death.
C. Paintings & Rare Collections:
The paintings & rare collections are a treat to watch! The painting of Maharaja Raghuraj Singhji, Maharaja Gulab Singhji & Late H.H. Martand Singhji is unique! The throne & the character of the "Durbar Hall" is of a very intricate nature.
D. The Stone Gallery:
The rich sculptures left by the Kalchuri Kings are a treat to see at this Fort Museum. Spread all over the Fort, this can offer a 3 to 4 hour observation to any keen and ardent observer. The Gurgi Gate, the 2 stone gate on the front of the Fort & the rich stone gallery inside the museum & Jagganath Temple offer a feast.
Before Renovation
After Renovation
The HHMCT along with Bandhavgarh Foundation has embarked upon many programmes relating to Environment & Wildlife protection. These could be divided into the following categories:
A. Wild Life :
In this field we have reached lofty heights mainly in Bandhavgarh. Our main emphasis has been on the Man-Tiger-Forest Department relations. This area has a potent threat of being very close to the sector where Naxalism is rampant and our chief goal has been to keep the people off from joining the movement for which up till now we have met with success! Our programmes like the "general awareness rallies', "Krishi samman Yojna","nashamukti abhiyan" & education for children have been well accepted by the villagers! Bandhavgarh Foundation has been a pioneer in that area to work as an NGO & its upon our recommendation that area to work as an NGO & its upon our recommendation that the WWF donated about 1.30 crore to the Park in 1996/97.
B. Saving the Kaimore degraded forest & launching the water shed mission:
The entire Kaimore range had been degraded due to rampant stone quarries supplying to the Ban-Sagar Dam! The wild life faced a severe attack of poachers from Rewa, Sidhi & Satna, or fled away! The precious teak was ripped & cut by forest mafia. This lead to tremendous de-silting of soil & later followed by floods in Rewa region.
The bringing of "Rajiv Gandhi Jagrahan" mission proved a boon to the place and today the forest has begun its process of regeneration. However , there a lot to be done before it attains its lost glory. The HHMCT stands committed for this future too! Through the we have carried a task to find out through the markings if there is any wildlife in this area & the results have been encouraging , leopard's pug marks were also found along with wild bore & sambar .But the poaching has to be prevented.
C. Taking the river cleaning work along with INTACH:
The HHMCT took upon its self the task of cleaning the rivers , after it continuous plead to the district administration. However , now the State Govt. has begun this work on a larger scale . There has been a slow ,But a sure progress of silt deposit in both the rivers flowing across Rewa city, Behar & Bichiya . The Trust also motivated the people to alert the Govt. authorities of this problem.
D. Improving bird life on the river side of Rewa & generating public interest.
By cleaning the river programme & developing a Heritage Club at the Fort named Baradari , a continuous flow of visitors has increased the interest of bird watchers in Rewa . The Trust ha identified them & enlisted them for the public . A general awareness campaign also was launched to keep the "Ghats" clean for the protection of these birds.
E. Urban Awareness Campaign in Rewa:
The HHMCT along with the children of BPS School under took a drive to free the Fort from polythine! On the July 7th 2005 a 2 month's drive resulted to the Fort being free of this . However we have planed to under take this again in july 2006 in other parts of the city, mainly touching heritage sites of the city ! Headed by B.P.S. Dy .H.M. Miss Alka Tiwari this programme was reflected in the INTACH magazine & Channel "Aaj-Tak"!
As very rightly said by our late Chairman Maharaja Martand Singhji, when he was asked during the shifting of the Museum from Govindhgarh , by the then working trustee Shri R.S.Mishra , that "Where will the Museum be shifted ?". His reply was "The Fort ...where else ?" He knew that from Govindgarh Fort this museum could only find a worthy place at the Rewa Fort! This itself has very intricate sculptures from Kalchuri period i.e. 6-8 Century A.D. like the "Gurgi Gate " & other stone gates in the outer Palace!
Before Renovation
After Renovation
CLUB ROYALE AT BANDHAVGARH
The old revenue building made in 1880 by Maharaja Gulab Singhil, the Grand Father of our Present Chairman .Used later as a hunting lodge , by Late Maharaja Martand Singhji. This had become very dilapidated & when M.K.Pushpraj Singhji ,in the capacity of a Trustee visited the place ,he strongly suggested the building's repairs . But as fate Would have it the very next year he became the "de-facto" Chairman due to the indisposition of Late Maharaja and carried out this work. The entire re-enforcement of pre-fabricated
BANDHAV PUBLIC SCHOOL AT FORT REWA
Situated on the eastern side of the Fort adjoining the Gurgi Gate entrance this building has seen many changes of times. During the time of Maharaja Vyankat Raman Singh Jodeo in 1880s this part was mainly used for army and keeping stocks. Later during the time of Maharaja Gulab Singh and Former Maharaja Martand Singh Jodeo this became a store-house of house keeping for "Shikargah". It also was used as a "Motor Khana". After that during the period between 1980 till 2000 the place was almost abundance and began to fall. It was then that the present Chairman Maharaj Pushpraj Singh Jodeo took up its renovation and restoration to convert it into a Public School.
EDUCATIONAL TOURISM
The concept of educational tourism is playing an important role in the country in the recent times. HHR group has not lacked far behind and is promoting it in a systematic manner due to the support of its sister concerns.
The company has an extended support from its sister concern Bandhav Public School, a prestigious English medium school, situated in the Fort Rewa itself. Also having the backup of Bandhavgarh Foundation and H.H.M.C.T. - NGO’s which are already established in their respective fields.
Foreign student on heritage walk
A lady doing Arti Tika during cultural exchange program
Student celebrating holi festival
THE BARADARI
The Baradari is a typical Rajasthani area facing the "Sangam" 2 rivers meeting point. This was under a long period of neglect was almost on the edge of collapsing. Its roof was broken with 3 large trees shooting up from the main floor, the key stone taking the load of the ceiling of the ground floor, meeting the stairs had cracked, very intricate carvings on the gate had layers of lime one of the main stone pillar had cracked too. The job was no play, but our experts Mr. G. K. Khan, Mr. V.Tripathi managed to save this make it a place worthy of taking tourist.
Before Renovation
After Renovation
The ceiling of Hawa Mahal is of vita. importance as it adjoins the ceiling of Raghav Mahal, which is the main hall of the Museum, plus it is also the roof to the "Stone Gallery" of the Baghela Museum. There were continuous problems of leakage during and after rains. The water was causing damage to the main sitting hall area located 2 floors down. as there had been no repair works under taken for the last 30-40 years this old building had very little resistance to offer.
Although faced with financial restraints the Chairman very cautiously made a head- start , so as to give an additional life to this old heritage building of the Baghela Dynesty. A landmark decision it was taken to start the repairs at the Fort.
In other way it can be said that if the fore fathers of the Chairman were the builders of this Heritage, then Maharaja Pushpraj Singh was the restorer of that heritage.
Pili Kothi Rewa
PILI KOTHI RESTORATION
A building similar to the judges Court at Himanchal Pradesh stands majestically in the middle of the city popularly known as Pili Kothi. Build by Maharaja Gulab for his sister in 1924. This building has a very typical European Architecture of a castle. The long neglect of this building was showing and when the Baghela Museum was transferred from the Fort the restoration work of this building was taken up. Its main hall on the second floor was changed in to a traditional mosaic and major cracks on the roof were repaired.
PRESERVATION OF PICTURE
Large number of picture having heritage and historical value of Late Maharaj Gulab Singhji, Maharaj Martand Singhji, Royal Family of Rewa and its Guests like Maharaj Kumar Katch Fatah Singhji and Guests from Jodhpur, Udaipur, etc have been salvaged from complete ruination and restored to be kept in various people based places like Hotel Rewa Rajvilas, Dawat-I-Baradari Fort Rewa and Maharaja,s Royal Retreat Bandhavgarh. However due to neglect before this work began hundreds of pictures were already spoiled.
LIBRARY
The late Maharaja was a keen reader and had a big collection of books ranging from fiction, science, history, literature, spiritualism, and the list is endless. On the occasion of the opening of this library Shri Arjun Singhji said that though he was said to be very close to the late Maharaj, it is the efforts of the present Chairman, which enabled him to have a glimpse of this great treasure. There are about 5000 books from a single collector in this Library, which are well maintained by the Trust.
CHARITY
One of the most important objects of this Trust is the charity under taken for the poor and the needy. The members of the Trust stand dedicated and committed to his cause and in the main budget this section takes a big cake. However the dispensing of funds its done carefully and verification of the needy person.