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PLACES
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WAIRAGADH.
Wairagad, situated at the confluence of the Kophragarhi and the Satnalas in Gadhciroli tahsil, lies about 128.74 km. (80_ miles) north-east of Candrapur and about eight miles from Armori. From Armori it can be reached only by a bullock-cart road. It is a place of great antiquity and is sunposed to have been founded in the Dvapara Yuga by a king of the family of the moon, who called it Wairagad after his own name Vairocan [Mr. Hira Lal Jain considers the name to be a corruption Of ' Vajrakar ' meaning ' Diamond mine '. The latter name is mentioned in Tamil inscriptions. For details of identification see Mr. HiraLal Jain's article in Epigraphia Indica, Vol. X.]. It has been identified by some as being the same as Viratnagari of the Mahdbharat where the Pandavas passed in hiding the period of their exile in disguise. On coming to historic times we find the city ruled by Mana Chiefs, who about the 9th century fell before the Gonds and a line of Gond princes then succeeded, holding in subjection to the Canda Kings the parganas of Wairagad with the Zamindaris attached to it, and Garbori and Rajgadh. In those days Wairagad was a prosperous place, but it has sunk steadily in importance and now has only 2,069 inhabitants. The village is surrounded by groves of extremely fine and ancient
trees and is grouped around a large stone fortress occupying a
area of nearly ten acres. It was erected about the beginning of
the 17th century and now lies in a partially decayed condition. It is entered through a triple gateway with a deep and very filthy ditch or khandak and the height of its rampart walls ranging in height from 15 to 20 feet (4.57 to 6 metres). At a short distance from the entrance is a broad platform on which perhaps stood the killedar's house, with a ruined stepped well nearby. To the right against the rampart is a temple to Kesavnath from where the idol was removed by the villagers when the temple fell into disrepair and housed it in the village. From the eastern bastions a fine view of the thickly wooded hills can be had. Within the forest, outside the fort premises, is the tomb of the Gond prince Durga Sah, not far from which is the grave of an unknown English girl, said to have been the daughter of the officer who commanded the garrison between 1818 and 1830 A.D. The surrounding land is thickly covered with forest and contains numerous foundations of former buildings. Near the village are several temples, none of which, however, is of much significance. The most antique among them is that of Mahakali, an unpretending structure probably built by one of the Gond Rajas. It overlooks a deep reach of the Kophragarhi, wherein is supposed to stand an old-world temple buried in the sand. Wairagad once possessed diamond mines and are referred to in the Ain-i-Akbari of Abul Fazl. On a hill, at the foot of which there used to be one of these mines, stands an old Muhammedan Idgah and nearly 108 Musalman tombs which appear to be those of the soldiers killed in the battle when Ahmad Sah Bahamani made a raid on Wairagad about 1422 A.D. About half a mile to the south of Wairagad is a small temple of Bhadresvar crowning the top of a small hillock. It is probably quite antique and bears great resemblance to the style after which the Markandeya temple at Markanda is built. Wairagad has a medical practitioner, a middle school and a post office. Thursday is the bazar day.
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