PLACES

PAVNAR

Pavnar is an historically important village of 3,765 inhabitants in the Wardha tahsil on the Dham river, lying about five miles north-east of Wardha. It is a railway station on the Wardha-Nagpur route. Pavnar is one of the oldest settlements in the Wardha district and is supposed to be named after a legendary Rajput King by name Pawan (literally meaning wind) so called because his movements were as swift and his actions as sweeping as the wind. Many miracles are told of this king and legends have grown around him. His kingdom included Pavni, Pavnar and Pohna which places he visited daily, leaving Pavnar in the morning and bathing in the Wainganga at Pavni over 100 miles distant, and then embarking on a return journey of 130 miles to Pohna in the Hinganghat tahsil to take his food, after which he returned another 30 miles to Pavnar for the night. He had parts or the philosopher's stone and could turn all metals into gold by its mere touch. It is further related that he exacted no revenue from his people, but annually each cultivator brought him a ploughshare which he turned into gold. He took iron from the people and turned it into gold. He could kill and annihilate his enemy by magic as it were, merely by taking a bundle of jowar stalks and chopping of their heads, which caused the heads of his enemies to fly in unison. His wife was so virtuous that she could cross the river just by standing on a lotus leaf. It is related that it was ordained that the Raja would perish only at the hands of a headless man. A Muhamme-dan saint on hearing of the Raja's miraculous powers took the precaution of leaving his head in a village before daring to approach Pavnars On seeing the headless trunk approaching his castle and perceiving the artifice the Raja and his queen threw themselves in the Dham and were drowned. Here there it a deep pool in the Dham. His 200 and odd troop are also reported to have followed their king. Of the Dham pool the usual tale is related that the people could, by prayer and performance of puja, obtain vessels for use on festive occasions. These were found on the bank and the condition attached was that they should be returned back to the pool after done with. But finally someone stole one of the vessels and since then the miracle ceased. On the hill, on which stood an old fort, is a tomb which is pointed out to be that of the Muha-mmedan saint to whom the Raja succumbed. There is no basis for this legendary story.

Coming to historical times we find that Pavnar was the capital city of Pravarasena II of the Vakatakas. Rudrasena II of the Vakatakas, who ruled from Nandivardhan near Ramtek in Nagpur district, died soon after his accession, leaving behind his queen Prabhavatigupta and two sons Divakarsena and Damodarasena alias Pravarasena. Prabhavatigupta was an able and capable woman who ruled as the regent. Divakarsena appears to have died at an young age. Damodarasena or Pravarasena succeeded him and later founded the city of Pravarapura where he shifted his capital. Some of his later grants were made at his new capital. He built there a magnificent temple of Ramchandra evidently at the instance of his mother who was a devout worshipper of Vishnu. Some of the sculptures used to ornament this temple have recently been discovered here on the banks of the Dham and have thus led the historians to the identification of Pravarapura with Pavnar. The discovered panels illustrate various scenes from the Ramayana. The idols and the sculptures excavated are indicative of the high level of architectural and sculptural skill of the ancient Indians. Among the idols found, those of Vishnu, and the panel illustrating Rama-Bharata meeting with Sita, and Lakshmana nearby, are especially noteworthy. To house the idol of Rama a temple with a spacious sabhamandap is erected. The sabhamandap was built in 1962 at a cost of Rs. 25,000. Panels illustrating Sugr-iva-Vali fight, Ramajanma and other incidents decorate the compound of the temple.

Sir R. Jenkins in his report on the Nagpur territories (1827) states that Pavnar was formerly the chief seat of Muhammedan Government east of the Wardha, and an officer styled the Faujdar of Pavnar resided here and was charged with the collection of the tribute then paid by the Gond Rajas of Devgad and Chanda to the Emperor of Delhi. In 1807 the Pendharis attacked Pavnar and sacked it. Under the Marathas it was the headquarters of a paragana and the residence of a Kamavisdar. Many remnants of buildings remain to show the evidence of Muslim and Hindu rule. The village contained an old fort which must have been a place of considerable strength. It was built on a height surrounded on three of its sides by a deep reach of the Dham. A reference to this fort is found in the Ain-i-Akbari of Abul-Fazl. The ruins of the old fort are still traceable and one of its gateways is standing. It was a large and imposing structure of stone and contained an illegible inscription apparently in the Devanagari character. [It may be added here that Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. V. V. Mirashi of Nagpur has recently published some articles which are the results of the research he conducted in regard to ancient idols and panels, and inscriptions found at Pavnar. Recently, excavations were conducted here by the Nagpur University, which have carried back the antiquity of the place to 1000 B.C.]

A relic of Muhammedan rule is found in an old mosque said to have been built several centuries ago, which is now partly in ruins. The structure affords an example of Hindu influence on Muhammedan architecture, as it is without the dome, which is the distinguishing feature of a mosque.

On the opposite bank of the Dham there is a large linga which is said to be of considerable antiquity. Nearby a temple to Mahadeva has been constructed by one Kailas Maharaj, a saint of Wardha. In this temple, besides the linga in the sanctuary, eleven other lingas are housed signifying the twelve Jyotir lingas of India. In the bed of the river in rocks near Panchdhara some linga caricatures are engraved. People worship these also with great devotion. While some opine that they are of considerable age, others say that they must have been engraved in modern times.

Of the modern places which have been invested with sanctity are the Gandhi Kuti and the Paramdham Ashram of Vinobaji, the Sarvodaya leader, who launched the Bhoodan Movement. The Gandhi Kuti contains the sundry things of Gandhiji, the father of the nation. For years Vinoba stayed in this Ashram and went out every day to the surrounding villages and worked ceaselessly to ameliorate the conditions of the indigent and the downtrodden in diverse ways. At the spot in the river where Gandhiji's ashes were immersed a memorial pillar is erected where on 12th February every year a fair is held. On this day nearly 10,000 people gather and many participate in spinning thread. A weekly market is held on Mondays.

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