The main Ganga temple of North India, next to the historical Lohagarh fort and the ancient Chauburja Gaddi of Singhdwar Bharatpur in eastern Rajasthan, will get the main gate after 181 years of its establishment and 89 years of the consecration of the idol of Mother Ganga. Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, a native of Bharatpur district, has approved an amount of Rs 9 crore 57 lakh for the main gate and incomplete spire of Ganga temple and other construction works. This work is to be completed in 15 months under the supervision of Bharatpur Development Authority. On Ganga Dussehra, on May 25, Chief Minister Vande will participate in the Ganga Aarti organized at the Ganga Temple under the Ganga Water Conservation Campaign and Sujan will participate in the lamp donation program on the Ganga Canal. This time, Ganga Dussehra festival will be a Mahayoga of five special auspicious yogas including Hasta Nakshatra, Ravi Yoga, Vyatipat Yoga, Anand Yoga, Jupiter Moon conjunction Gajakesari Yoga. According to the old tradition of the Ganga temple, a silver carved bottle placed on a silver throne in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple was filled with Ganga water which was distributed as Prasad to the devotees on Ganga Dussehra. And the bottle is again filled with Ganga water till the upcoming Ganga Dussehra.
Foresight was adopted in selecting the land for the construction of Ganga temple. Just in front of the southern gate of Lohagarh fort is the mouth of the idol of Mother Ganga. The opening of the temple is in the north direction. To the north of Bharatpur is Delhi which was conquered by Bharatpur’s founder Maharaja Surajmal and his son Jawahar Singh. The construction of the temple from red white sandstone of Banshi Paharpur was completed in 90 years.
Maharaja Balwant Singh (1826-53) of the then Bharatpur princely state laid the foundation stone for the construction of the temple of his favorite goddess Ganga Maa in Haridwar in 1845 after his wish of having a son was fulfilled. In the same year, in the hope of pleasant rains during the severe famine, prayers were prayed in unison by all the religious people at the famous Akhahad Maidan in Bharatpur and a resolution was taken to build Ganga Temple and Jama Masjid. Financial support was taken from the employees including the princely state in the construction of the temple due to which the common man had an emotional connect. Shops were constructed for the arrangements of temple and mosque. In the fifth generation of Maharaja Balwant Singh, Maharaja Sawai Brijendra Singh consecrated the statue of Mother Ganga on 22 February 1937, Magh Shukla 12, Chandravar No. 1993. The statue of Ganga ji riding on a green crocodile is simply worth seeing. The statue made of white marble is 4 feet tall.
The irony is that the grand temple is still without a main gate. Built on a huge plot of 275X275 feet at a height of 18 feet from the ground level, this temple rests on 80 carved pillars. To reach the temple, a slide of Kakaiya bricks was built before the main gate site. Later, a channel gate was built by making a stepped path with sandstone. With the initiative of the Chief Minister, the main gate of the temple is being constructed and the incomplete peak will also be given a new grand look to the temple built in a specific architectural style on the basis of the old map.
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