Burhagarh Sagar, Gandhi Gram
I visited Burhagarh , Sehora Tahaseel, Jabalpur, MP and discussed with the residents about the visit of Mahatma Gandhi . Gandhi ji visited this place in 1932( i.e. about 81 years ago) and at that time this village was consisted of few houses. Today number of migrants have settled. For confirmation I got a chance to meet a lady of 105 years old the resident of this place before Gandhi ji visited and no other person of that time is alived now and population of migrants is in majority.The land lord of Burhgarh Beohar R.Simha renamed the place as Gandhi Gram. Since then the name of this place is Gandhi Gram for all administrative purposes but the old name is also very common.
The resident of that place were very kind enough to me . They took me on their vehicle to roam around the important places of that village. The Burha Sagar which now a private property of three share holders( Jain family, Beohar family ,..) is the second largest Talab (after the Talab of Bhopal) of Maddhya Pradesh. There is a tale that a Gadaiy had built this Talab after getting Paras madi in the forest. It needs to be searched by archelogists about its period. The Ministry of Tourism should think over it and treat it as a tourist spot and boating/steamer could be given on lease to the youth of the village to generate employment for them.
Burha Sagar’ view
On Makar Sankranti a festive Mela for seven days is organised by Panchayat at
the bank of Sarovar of Budhagar the Gandhi
Gram.
On visiting this Mela I observed few ruins /remains of temples which I did not notice earlier.
The same question again arises that some archeologist of
Center or State has to visit to examine the historical importance of this
place. This is a beautiful place as well has historical importance. It could be
a lovely tourist spot.
The Burha Sagar cover the area of about 900acres and the villages Gandhi Gram, Hraday Nagar, Dev Nagar and Ramnagar are established in its surrounding. Burhagarh the Gandhi Gram is the oldest.
The Pipal tree under which Gandhi ji taken rest and addressed to the villagers is still there and the Manas Bhawan is being built as well as a statue of mahatma Gandhi has also been built. The inauguration of the campus is awaited.
In the old colony of Gandhi Gram on a hill where almost all the houses are made up of bricks and concrete but the lanes are very narrow. Here is a temple known as Badhi Madaiya Shiva temple. It appears that in early nineties this temple was renovated by the ancestor of an resident running a Kirana shop. However the statue of Shiva is of TRIRUP and other seven Goddess statue in the temple appears very old as a circular curved base of diameter about one and a half feet is lying out side of the campus of the temple. The similar shape of the circular base I observed in Tigma’kankali Devi temple.
Badhi Madaiya Shiva temple
The circular base lying in the temple
There is also a very old temple of Lord hanuman at the bank of Burha Sagar. However it has now renovated by the villagers.
In 1956, a villager found a statue at the Ghat of Kardahi river in Gandhi Gram . He took the statue and built a temple which is famaous as Banjari Mata temple.
So Gandhi Gram is a important place in the point of view of Medieval and Modern History, with the archeological point of view as the Burha Sager has fifty two stair case in hemisphere built of big size of stone blocks, and overall it could be given a shape of a lovely tourist spot, Unfortunately, the private owners are not giving attention. If the matter is of national importance the State/central Govt. should find out the way out for its development.
Dr, V N Sondhi
