Gujarat Na Paliya : khambhi in Saurashtra And kutch.
Paliya or khambhi are mostly well known in western part of india specially in kutch and saurashtra. ther are symbol of victory. If you go through the villages of gujarat you can found various types of khambhi and paliya in most of the village. To understand this we have made gujarati pdf you can read it and download it.
Traditionally, they’re classified as paliya (flat stone memorials), khambhi (column without carving erected as memorial to deceased), thesa (small crude stones near paliya), chagio (heap of stones), surapura (erected for warriors died saving others as fulfillment of life) and suradhana (erected for accidental deaths like murder, suicide, accidents). a number of them are called Satimata or Vir or Jhujhar (headless hero).
Warriors’ memorials
This type of memorials are the foremost common which are mostly associated admiration thus with martial communities and tribes. they’re found in large numbers in limited area and referred to as Rann Khambhi. they’re erected near the battleground or at the place where the warrior died. Initially they were erected to honor the deeds like saving tribe, women or cattle which later became tradition related to battles.
The memorials mostly depicts a warrior with weapons like sword, mace, lance, bow and arrow and even guns in recent memorials. The warrior is mounted on sort of transport like horses, camels, elephants and chariots. Sometimes they’re infantry. Sometimes people carrying royal emblem or playing a war drum who died during war are depicted. Vir-jo-jod paliya marks the land which are granted to brave person for his act of bravery specifically found in Sindh. These lands aren’t cultivated and only used for cattle gazing.
The examples are the memorials at Bhuchar Mori and therefore the memorials of Hamirji Gohil et al. near Somnath temple. there’s a Vir-jo-jod paliya in Dongri village of Nagarparkar, Sindh.
Sailors’ memorials
Gujarat features a long maritime history. The
memorials of sailors commemorates people died during their voyage in
sea. Their memorials are depicted with a contingent ship sometimes.
Folklore memorials
Several
memorials marks the people related to folklore about religious
devotees, love stories, sacrifices, friendship, suicides to protest. the
instance may be a memorial of Veer Mangaro at Bhutvad near Bhanvad.
Animal memorials
The
memorials depicting animals like horses, dogs and camels were also
erected. Gauchar paliya has figures of cow which were installed on
communal pastures to mark boundaries between villages. Memorials
depicting cows also are erected by Vanjara community.
Sati memorials
These memorials are related to the royal families mostly. The females who died practicing Sati or Jauhar are commemorated with it. they’re also related to folklore and sometimes are worshiped as demigoddess.
The memorials mostly depicts the proper hand bent at 45 or 90 degrees in blessing gesture. Sometimes the memorials are depicted with hands and other symbols like peacock and lotus. they’re also depicted because the full figure of a lady giving blessings or in Namaskar position. the lady getting into the flames and having the body of his husband in her lap, the ritual of Sati practice, are depicted in some memorials.
The example include the memorial of Surajkunwarba of Bhuchar Mori. they’re found in Sindh region of Pakistan and Rajasthan state of India also.
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