Patiala, India
It
was an hour to dawn break, but the women of this classical town had woken up
already. Some of them had set off for Gurudwaras on foot. The Gurudwaras were
alive with the recitation of the Japji. It was calm and solemn. It would remain
so for next two hours before the Punjabi vibrancy takes over. The noise and
traffic were minimal. A distant sound of chants of Gurudwaras and temple bells
mixed with the sound of breeze in the trees. The peace was broken by a solitary
vehicle here and there.
Rajat
and Vibhu arrived at the Rajpura station on the Sutlej Express. As they crossed
over for a helitaxi to the downtown, Rajat imbibed the atmosphere of the place
in his mind.
“It
feels so different.” He said to Vibhu as the taxi took off. The city was a mix
of the traditional and the modern. It had grown as a hub of education, music
and fashion. However, its residents actively worked to conserve its culture.
People came from around the world and got modified to its culture – enriching
its composite culture in that process. Rajat looked down at the urban sprawl.
They would be at the Moti Bagh helipad in next ten minutes, whereon they would
take a cable car to their destination – Baradari.
The
city was founded by Baba Ala Singh – a chief of the Sikh clan of Phulkian who
were Siddhu Jatts of the area around Barnala. He had defeated the Mughals and
carved a principality that he wished to centre around a new city that he built
on the fertile mound close to the Delhi-Lahore highway otherwise known as
‘Patti’. Around the rivultes dominted by what is now called ‘Patiala ki Rao’ or
‘Badi Nadi’, he built a fort that he called the ‘Mubarak’ – the blessed one.
More
importantly, it was also the city of her Goddess, Kali…..
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