Mirabai

Mirabai is one of the most important mystic poets of the Bhakti movement of mediaeval India. The movement began in South India through the poems and teachings of the Vaishnava Alvars and Shaiva Nayanars in the 6th century CE, before spreading northwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th centuries CE. 

Mira was a Rajput princess born around 1498 in Kudki, Rajasthan. The only child of Ratan Singh, the younger brother of the ruler of Merta, she was given the education customary for a royal descendant, which included music, ancient Indian scriptures and training in skills essential in warfare. From the early years, she was fascinated with Krishna, having learnt about him from her mother. Seeing the way a travelling priest worshipped his Krishna idol, as if Krishna was really present in the idol, she insisted on getting the idol for herself, and the priest, who initially refused, finally relented and gave his precious possession to her. Mira began to worship the idol as her divine lover and husband. 

Against her wish, Mira was married to Bhoj Raj, the crown prince of Mewar, Rajasthan, and son of Rana Sanga, in 1516. It was in accordance with the practice of forming a coalition of kingdoms through matrimonial ties against a common enemy (in this instance the enemy was, Babur, who became the first Mughal emperor). Mira never accepted Bhoj Raj as her husband, focusing solely on Krishna, leading to conflict with some of her in-laws. Her husband and father-in-law (Rana Sanga) sympathised with her, and she was allowed to have her own Krishna temple in the palace. Her husband died in 1521 from wounds in a war with the Delhi Sultanate years earlier. Her own father and father-in-law also died after being defeated in the Battle of Khanwa against Babur in 1527. 

Mira was something of a rebel and did not fit the established pattern for a Rajput princess and widow. She spent most of her days in her temple, receiving sadhus and pilgrims from throughout India and composing songs of devotion. At least two attempts made on her life are alluded to in her poems. Once a poisonous snake was sent to her in a basket of flowers, and in the other she was given a poisoned drink. 

Due to the palace hostility, finally, Mira left Mewar and returned to Merta, but finding that her way of being was not acceptable there either, she set out on a series of pilgrimages (presumably in Braj), eventually settling in Dwarka. In the vicinity of the present Dwarka in Gujarat existed a kingdom by that name ruled by Krishna about 5000 years ago but went under the sea later. 

When Mira was 49, in 1547, then ruler of Mewar, Udai Singh II (the last son of Rana Sanga to rule Mewar, founded Udaipur), sent a delegation of priests to bring her back. Reluctant, Mira asked permission to spend the night at a temple of Krishna in Dwarka, but the next morning and thereafter, she wasn't found there or anywhere else. One theory is that she slipped away to spend the rest of her years wandering in disguise.  

Ref: Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia and others. 

The full Vande Mataram becomes the national song

The four stanzas dropped from Vande Mataram while declaring it as the national song of India during the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1950 are now officially restored. A historic error has been corrected in this 150th anniversary year of the song, but the restoration is only the first indispensable step, and making it really the song of the people ought to be the next step.

Vande Mataram has been traditionally sung in Hindustani, which is properly possible only for those trained in classical singing. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, under The Mother's direction, had a band version of the song composed as early as in the mid-1950s, making it more powerful and easier for all to sing. Since then, hundreds of Ashramites, students and guests have been singing it on important annual occasions at the Ashram playground.

When Dr Karan Singh, a former cabinet minister and veteran parliamentarian, was the chairman of the Auroville Foundation, the full Vande Mataram was sung by residents of Auroville in the presence of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, during his visit on the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of Auroville, on 25th February 2025. That was perhaps the first time ever in Independent India that a prime minister and a stalwart opposition leader of the country joined in the singing of the full Vande Mataram.

Though private and official bands have begun to play Vande Mataram more now, they are playing it in Hindustani. It seems only the Sri Aurobindo Ashram band plays the proper band version, which they did during the Prime Minister's visit to the Ashram in 2018.

Ganweriwala - The least excavated of the five large known ancient Indus cities

Source of image and article: Harappa.com /  Facebook - 4th February 2026

 The least excavated of the five large known ancient Indus cities – Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira, Harappa and Rakigarhi – is Ganweriwala, discovered in the late 1980s by Rafique Mughal. Deep in the desert, far from any towns and close to the Indian border, it has hardly even been written about until Farzand Masih's article Ganweriwala – A new Perspective published in Walking with the Unicorn (2018). "In recent years," writes Masih, "a four-meter wide road was constructed though the middle of Ganweriwala to facilitate the movement of hunting parties from the UAE. Although this is highly unfortunate, it did provide ready-made sections across the upper portions of the mounds" (Unicorn, p. 381, Figure 2, the road is also shown as the line through Mounds A and B in Figure (above).

Some remarkable finds have been coughed up from Ganweriwala, but first: how big is it really? Mughal estimated over 80 hectares, which would make it one of the largest Indus sites. A survey ten tears later had it at about half that size, though Masih writes: "it is possible that some areas of the site are now covered by sand dunes and, perhaps, will be located during future explorations" (p. 381). In any case, Ganweriwala was much larger than the dozens of other sites measured along the old Hakra riverbed by Mughal (see Ancient Cholistan, 1997) Perhaps the most astounding discovery was four unicorn figurines, the most from any Indus site (they are only also found at Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Chanhu-daro). Then there is a clay tablet with a seated yogi-type figure, as well as a nearly pure copper seal with boss not found elsewhere.

Ganweriwala also lies along the old Hakra riverbed that once flowed through here (the Saraswati? even if it flowed perennially as recent work seems to show till 1900 BCE). It is also roughly equidistant between Harappa, to the north on the Ravi River, and Mohenjo-daro, to the south on the Indus River, which might have made it a regional capital well downstream of Rakigarhi. Of course we will not know until it is properly excavated and some real trenches are dug deeply into the two known mounds, and the surrounding region is better explored. When that might be, no one know, the site has been untouched for thousands of years – until a sheikh got his road, and Indus archaeologists were tossed another tantalizing puzzle (we may lament the road construction, but the truth is that rapid construction throughout the subcontinent is unearthing many new sites which, sadly, are momentarily visible and then paved over and lost to scholarship for who knows how long).

Excavations at the site were briefly restarted in 2024-25 but then apparently discontinued.

Source: www.facebook.com/share/p/1EAT23NjXZ/

Ganweriwala, near India border, Pakistan - Source: Dawn.com