Know about place where Bike is worshiped ?

You might have seen a lot of temples, but have you ever thought about a temple where Bike (Enfield) is worshiped?


This place is 50 km away from Jodphur on the highway to Pali, near Chotila village.

This place is an accident prone site, hence a sign board has been put up to tell the traveler and commuters to slow down.

Om Banna Bike

It is know for 'Bullet Baba' (Om Banna). Hundreds of devotees turn up every day to pray for a safe journey, often bearing liquor.

It may sound bit surprising to most of people but its a really divine place for nearby people as well for most of vehicles passing highway.  Every day nearby villagers and travelers stop and pray to the bike and its late owner Om Singh Rathore. The temple beside the Enfield motorbike has a big picture of Om Banna.

It is said that a person who does not stop to pray at the shrine is in for a dangerous journey. The story goes that back in 1991, on a fateful summer night, Om Bana was returning from Pali to his native Chotila on his Bullet 350 when it skidded and hit a tree, killing him on the spot. The tree stands over the battered vehicle till date. Villagers say after Om Bana’s death, the motorbike was taken to a local police station. But next day morning, it was found at the accident spot.

Police initially thought it was a prank and after emptying the fuel tank they brought the bike back to the

Om Banna

station. However, the motorcycle was again at the accident spot the next day. As soon as the story spread, people in the nearby village built a platform on the spot where the death occurred and started offering prayers. Many shops offering incense sticks, flowers, coconut and red thread meant for offering prayers have sprung up near the shrine. Local people sing folk songs in the name of Om Bana who owned the Royal Enfield. The cause of his death, the tree itself remains ornamented with offerings of bangles, scarves and rope. The temple even has its own priest, who has been incharge of the upkeep of the shrine for two decades.

Travellers, especially drivers of vehicles that pass by, offer prayers at the site, which is almost in the middle of the road. Some drivers also offer a small bottle of country liquor at the site.

A mini-economy has sprouted around the shrine. Over the last few years, at least a dozen shops have come up around its premises, selling everything from religious offerings like flowers, incense sticks, kumkum, turmeric and camphor to memorabilia including VCDs, audio tapes, key chains, necklaces, charms, rings and of course, photographs of Om Bana in all sizes.

You may hardly find any tourist vehicle not having memento of 'Om Banna' for his divine blessings in it :)

Remembering The Princely State: Rajputana (Mewar) - II

Thanks for such a support on previous post about Shekhawai, today in same series I would love to share about another region of princely Rajputana - Mewar, a land of warriors. (Also about less known 'Great wall of China' :) )

Mewar is south central region of Rajasthan. It include areas with historical importance such as Bhilwara, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand majorly.

Fort of Chittorgarh

There is a saying in Rajasthan
"Garh to Bas Chittorgarh, baki Sab Garhiya" which means "Chittorgarh is the only fort, rest of all are fortresses". This single saying itself describe the impact of Mewar, its pride and history.  At first glance Chittorgarh does not present a very pretty picture, unlike the lavish splendor of Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan or Udaipur’s Lake Palace. But it is when you look at the background of this fort, that you feel its true spirit. Chittorgarh was the capital of the Mewar kingdom. Mewar, a name synonymous with bravery, honor and pride.

This was the only Rajput kingdom which refused to surrender to Akbar, and even after the Mughal Army conquered it, they were never allowed to rest in peace.

Chittorgarh fort was once who witnessed Jauhar of Rani Padmini rather than falling into the hands of the invaders,  Maharana Pratap swored not to eat in silver vessels, and slept on the ground, until he recaptured this fort from the Mughals. Also Mira Bai composing wonderful bhajans in praise of Lord Krishna.

In 734 A.D, Bappa Rawal , founded the kingdom of Mewar, with Chittorgarh as the capital but was attacked and captured by Allaudin Khilji in 1303 AD.

Less known Great wall of India - Kumbhalgarh

Many may not know but one of later ruler of Chitorgarh 'Rana Kumbha' erected around 32 forts, and the famous fort of Kumbhalgarh in this region. This is the second largest continuous wall on the planet. Also refered by some as 'The Great Wall of India' although this is little known outside its own region. His rule is also know a Golden era of Mewar region.

Later Rana Sanga made Mewar most powerful Rajput state with hardcore warriors. Due to this no much wonder most known and deadly warriors as well wars have been marked in this region. He lost Mewar to Mughals in Batte of Khanwa which en-marked start of Mughal rule in this region. Mewar never remained a piece of cake for Mughals not even for Akbar who was challenged by bravest and most valiant hero 'Maharana pratap', he was the only Rajput king, who refused to accept Akbar’s rule. In 1576, the famous Battle of Haldighati took place.

In the end however it was a pyhric victory for the Mughals, as they suffered great losses. Rana Pratap later with the help of the Bhils recaptured many forts in Mewar from the Mughals. However his dream of recapturing Chittorgarh was never realized in his lifetime, and later with Udaipur becoming the capital

Remembering The Princely State: Rajputana - I

Rajasthan is today one of state know for its royalness although it is progressing quite fast with the pace of time but still we cannot ignore the royal past of  'Rajputana', as Rajasthan known as before 1949.

An 1876 engraving of Rajputs, from the Illustrated London News
Source: Wikipedia

This desert State of India, covers some 342,000 sq km in the north-western region of India and today is divided into 33 districts for administrative purposes but in older time it was mainly divided into 6 regions:
- Shekhawati
- Mewar
- Marwar
- Mewat
- Dhundhar
- Hadoti

Each of these region have its own historical importance and strong presence and majority of rulers over these regions were Rajputs, a clan known for its bravery and royalness.

Shekhawati:

It is located in northeast part of Rajasthan originated by name of Shekhawat Rajputs and famous for Haveli's of this region.

A general myth about this region as portrayed to most tourist is that its either some village or town but in actual its area is 13784 square kilometers and include multiple villages and towns. With this single region there used to be multiple small princely states ruled by Shekhawats and known as Thikans.

It was founded by Maharao Shekha Ji (Some time I feel going throgh historical facts is a kind of fantasy itself, believe me. More you explore it more you get into love with it :) I want to share here about interesting birth story of Maharao Sheka Ji also but let me save it for upcoming posts)

Shekhawati was formerly a wealthy but lawless land at some point of time on the trade route between the ports of the Arabian Sea and the fertile Ganges Valley. And today some of leading business house of country are from this region. In older time marwaris from this region settled in the new coastal cities, and they built havelis for their families back home which were symbols of their success and homes.

Map of Vedic India

Reference of this region is found in ancient history also, as said during the Mahabharata period it was known as Matsya Kingdom and extended to the Sarasvati River. This was because the first clan ruling this region, in the Mahabharata period, were descendants of fishermen. So the Vedas were supposed to be written and compiled on this land of brave Rajputs.

Few of must visit places in Shekhawati are butnot limited to Mandawa Fort, Dundlod Fort, Surajgarh Fort, Fatehpur, Nawalgarh.

I will be sharing more about other regions too in upcoming posts.