Bhadrarjun Fort: where Shubhadra and Arjun of Mahabharat’s love echoes through times
Location :Bhadrarjun village ,Rajasthan
Essence of words : The word ‘Bhadrajun’ is directly linked to the Mahabharata epic. Bhadrajun is made up of two words, the name of ‘Subhadra’, sister of Lord Krishna, plus ‘Arjuna’, the third among the five Pandava brothers of Mahabharata. Initially, it was called “Subhdr-arjun” but over the years it got changed to the colloquial usage of the single word “Bhadrajun”.The legend linked to this name is a story of romance.
About Bhadrajun
Bhadrajun village is situated in the Jalore district of Rajasthan, it dates back to the times of the Mahabharata epic. However, in recent centuries, it was the sight of war between the Mughal Empire and of the rulers of the Marwar dynasty.
Bhadrajun Fort was constructed at Bhadrajun in the 16th century by the Rathore kings of Marwar. Presently the fort is owned by Rathan Singh Rathore, son of Maharaja Maldeo, the 16th successor of Marwar Ranas who ruled from Jodhpur. Now this fort is converted into a heritage hotel. The fort has a large collection of goods from its long past.
Story of Adoration (History)
According to the Mahabharata legend, Lord Krishna advised Arjuna to marry sister from Dwarka(where she resided with her parents). The reason for Krishna’s advice was because Arjuna, along with his four brothers, was under a vanvas (incognito living), as per the demand of the Kauravas, for having lost their kingdom in a dice game. However, Arjuna, who was disguised as a saint, fell in love with the daughter of Vasudeva (maternal uncle of Arjuna), Subhadra. Arjuna spent the last year of his 13-year exile period in Dwarka. Krishna, who was aware of this fact, advised Arjuna to escape with his sister so that his true identity would not be revealed during the marriage. Identification would have resulted in a further 13 years in exile as per Pandava’s pact with the Kauravas. It would have also invited the wrath of Balrama, brother of Krishna who wanted the Kaurava king Duryodhana to marry Subhadra. Lord Krishna was not in favour of such an alliance as he was particularly attached to Arjuna, and wished nothing but the best for his sister Subhadra.
Arjuna, in disguise of a saint, fled from Dwarka with Subhadra in a chariot, in full view of Krishna and Vasudeva and the family members. After an arduous journey of three days and two nights, through mostly uninhabited forest area, they reached the valley near Bhadrajun where they decided to get married, before proceeding to Indraprastha, their capital. The marriage was conducted by a local Brahmin priest. The Brahmin priest was given an earring (vali in local language) by Subhadra and a conch – shell by Arjuna as fee for performing their marriage. The village of the Brahmin was named thereafter as ‘sankhavali’ (in the word “sankavali”, ‘sankh’ means ‘conch-shell’ and ‘vali’ means “ear ring”). It is also said that Balarama, though furious initially with Arjuna did not chase him to stop the marriage. He was persuaded by Krishna and Vasudeva to forgive Arjuna and Subhadra, given that they were in love with each other. Convinced of this fact, Balarama later sent gifts to his sister – a dowry of jewellery, elephants, chariots, horses, servants and maidservants. Following this marriage, Bhadarjun grew in population. A small temple in the name of Subhadra, popularly known as the “Dhumda Mata”, exists even now in a nearby village.
Digging down more : While the mythological history of Bhadrajun is traced to Arjuna who lived in the dwapar yuga, one of the four Hindu eras of Mahabharata; the history of Bhadrajun and the Marwar rulers of Jodhpur can only be traced from the 16th century. Several historic wars took place in Bhadrajun, initially against the Suri dynasty and later against the Mughal dynasty rulers.
The earliest ruler who occupied Bhadrajun was Thakur Rattan Singh, fifth son of Rao Maldeo, the Maharaja of Jodhpur in 1549. It was a feudal land under the Jodhpur kingdom, which had ten land lords who were called Rajas or Thikanas, out of a total of 1,891 land lords. These ten Rajas were known as Sirayats in the State of “Jodhpur Marwar”. They held high positions in the court of Jodhpur. The Bhadrajun feudatory was also one of the ten feudatories which received special privileges in the court.In the seating arrangement in the Jodhpur court, the Raja of Bhadrajun was always seated to the right of the king, since he belonged to the king’s lineage. Sixteen generations of Marwars ruled from Bhadrajun.
Devotional Remembrance
Ganesha on the wall of the fort
There are a number of historic monuments in and around the village Bhadrajun. The best known is the Bhadrajun fort due to its history and status as a heritage hotel.
Bhadrajun fort
Bhadrajun fort is built on the top of hill and although small, it was built as a strong hill fort. It is also strategically located in the village of Bhadrajun, which is also strongly protected since it is surrounded in a horse shoe shape valley with one entry from the east. The walls of the fort are 20–30 feet high, built at strategical locations around the village with a constant width of 10 feet. Bastions, known as burjis, were constructed to erect canons and to eject arrows against invaders. The fort is constructed on rocky hills with forest vegetation which contains trees, rocks, cacti and bushes. The forest around the fort is occupied by wildlife such as wild cats, foxes, jackals, hedge hogs and blue bulls.
Visitor information
There are a number of tourist attractions in and around the village of Bhadrajun. Most prominent tourist spot in Bhadrajun is Bhadrajun fort due to its history and status as a heritage hotel.
Bhadrajun is 97 kilometres (60 mi) from Jodhpur. Jodhpur is well connected by road, rail and air links with rest of the country.
By road, Bhadrajun is 54 kilometres (34 mi) away from Jalore, the district headquarters, on the Jalore-Jodhpur road, 200 kilometres (120 mi) from Udaipur, 356 kilometres (221 mi) from Jaipur and 618 kilometres (384 mi) from Delhi.
Pali is the nearest railway station on the Broad gauge line. The nearest airport is at Jodhpur, 97 kilometres (60 mi) away...
## so subhadra arjun has whole one city which is known by their love story., their name is also joined in such a way that it cannot be separted " BHADRARJUN ".Such a great lovestory.
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