Welcome to Sri Ganganagar - A Beautiful Green Place.........

The city is surrounded with many canals which comes out from Gang Canal and these canals and water ways make some beautiful places for picnics and sight seeing. There are many places around city, like Teen-Puliya(three bridges)which are most visited by city folks on week ends and holidays. Other famous spots are Shivpur-head and Sadhuwali-head. The city is surrounded by lush green farms and orchards. The best time to visit is during February to March when Mustard fields are covered with yellow flowers, and during October to November when Cotton fields are covered with White Cotton. There are many religious places which are very famous, the famous Gurudwara of Sri Budha-johd is one of them and which is 85 km south west of the city. There are many other religious places also. Sri Jagadamba Andh MahaVidyalya is also a famous institute for education of the Blind and said to be one of the biggest education institutes of visually, hearing and speech impaired people in India and is also worth visiting. The ruins of the Harappa, Mahanjodaro and Kalibangan civilizations are found in Baror Village which is on Anupgargh Ramsinghpur road and which is also worth visiting.

Links for Hotels

p>1)Pagoda Hotel & Restaurant Sri Ganganagar

2) Hotel Raj Sheronz Sri Ganganagar

3)Hotel Vikramaditya Sri Ganganagar

4)Hotel Shagun Sri Ganganagar

5)Sahil Hotel & Restaurant Sri Ganganagar

Online Booking Links

1) HolidayIQ.com - Hotels Review & Booking in Sri Ganganagar
2) World66.com - Hotels Review & Booking in Sri Ganganagar
3) indiahotelreviews.com - Hotel Reviews
4)Indiamike.com - Hotels Reviews in Sri Ganganagar
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Hotels & Inns

Contact No. Of Hotels
Hotel Pagoda - 0154-2442364
Hotel Raj Shronz - 0154-2443521
Hotel Sahil - 0154-2470259
Hotel Akashdeep - 0154-2442647
Hotel Ashish - 0154-2444295
Hotel Moonlight - 0154-2444626
Hotel Shagun - 0154-2441437
Hotel Bombay - 0154-2441125
Hotel Hansal - 0154-2475762
Hotel RamaPalace - 0154-2440811

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Gurudwara Budha Johad

Gurdwara Shaheed Nagar Budha Johad is a wonderful shrine located about 50 KM from Ganganagar. This is where Bhai Sukha and Mehtab Singh brought Massa Rangarh's head and hung it on a jandd da darakhat (translation needed). The Jandd where Massa rangar's head was hanging is now enclosed in a glass case. That Jandd stood for few hundred years and fell around 2000. They had stopped here where they saw the water body (Johad).

Bhai Sukha and Mehtab Singh were part of the Sikhs who during the days of Islamic invasions of Punjab, had established a Sikh Community in Rajasthan, seeking to escape the repression and forced conversions. One day a Sikh who had recently been in Amritsar happened to mention that a muslim invader named Massa Rangar had taken up residence in the Harmandir Sahib. Not only was he living in the temple, but he had expelled the mahants (the caretakers of the temple) and had even brought Nauch girls, alchoholic beverages (and probably even tobacco) into the temple, defiling the Holy site by turning it into a house of pleasure.

Enraged by the story and the fact that no Singh had already killed Massa for such beadabi (

Kalibangan

Kalibangan
Kalibangan Location of Kalibangan in Rajasthan
Coordinates	29.47°N 74.13°E
Country	India
State	Rajasthan
District(s)	Hanumangarh
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Kalibangān (Hindi: काली बंगा) is a town located at 29.47°N 74.13°E on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar (Ghaggar-Hakra River), identified by some scholars with Saraswati River^[1]^[2] in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumāngarh in Hanumangarh district,Rajasthan, India 205 km. from Bikaner. The prehistoric and pre-Mauryan character of Indus Valley Civilization was first identified by Luigi Tessitori at this site. Kalibangan's excavation report was published in its entirety in 2003 by the Archaeological Survey of India, 34 years after the completion of excavations. The report concluded that Kalibangan was a majorprovincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and "world's earliest attested ploughed field".^[3]

edit]Indus Valley Civilization

Western mound known as Citadel

The identity of Kalibangan as a pre-historic site was discovered by Luigi Pio Tessitori, an Italian Indologist (1887-1919) ^[4]. He was doing some research in ancient Indian texts. He was surprised by the character of ruins in that area, and he sought help from Sir John Marshall of the Archaeological Survey of India. At that time ASI had some excavations done on Harappa, but they never had any idea about the character of the ruins. In fact, Tessitori is the first person to recognise that the ruins are 'Prehistoric' and pre-Mauryan. Luigi Pio Tessitori also pointed out the nature of the culture, but at that time it was not possible to guess that Indus Valley Civilisation lied in the ruins of Kalibangan, and he died five years before Harappan culture was duly recognized.

After India's independence, both the major Harappan cities together with the Indus went into Pakistan and Indian archaeologists were compelled to intensify the search for Harappan sites in India. Amlānand Ghosh (Ex. Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, or ASI) was the first person to recognise this site as Harappan and marked it out for excavations. ^[5]. Under the leadership of B. B. Lal (then Director General, ASI), Balkrishna (B.K.) Thapar, M. D. Khare, K. M. Shrivastava and S. P. Jain carried out excavations for 9 years (1960-9) in 9 successive excavation sessions. Two ancient mounds were excavated, spread over half kilometre (area quarter square kilometer). On western side is the smaller mound (KLB1), 9 metres high and known as citadel. Eastern mound is higher(12 metres) and bigger, known as lower city (KLB2).

The excavation unexpectedly brought to light a twofold sequence of cultures, of which the upper one (Kalibangan I) belongs to the Harappan, showing the characteristic grid layout of a metropolis and the lower one (Kalibangan II) was formerly called pre-Harappan but now it is called "Early Harappan or antecedent Harappan". ^[6].

[edit]Proto-Harappan Phase

Traces of pre-Harappan culture have been found only at the lower levels of the western mound. According to archaeological evidence, the Indus Valley culture existed at the site from the proto-Harappan age (3500 BC - 2500 BC) to the Harappan age (2500 BC - 1750 BC). This earlier phase is labelled Kalibangan-I (KLB-I) or Period-I.Similarity of pottery relates Kalibangan-I with the Sothi culture because this type of pottery was first discovered at Sothi village in Afghanistan.

[edit]Fort and houses

Ruins of Kalibanga. Brick wall can be seen in the hole in the centre.

In this phase, the settlement was fortified, using dried mud bricks, from the beginning of occupation. Thisfort had been built twice in different periods. Earlier, fort wall had a thicknessof 1.9 metres, which was raised to 3.7-4.1 metres during reconstruction in this phase. Brick size was 20 x 20 x 10 cm in both construction-phases. The citadel mound (smaller mound) is a parallelogram about 130 metres on the east-west axis and 260 metres on the north-south. Town planning was like that of Mohenjodaro orHarappa. The direction of houses and brick sizes was markedly different from that used in the Harappan phase (KLB-II).

Within the walled area, the houses were also built of mud bricks of the same size as used in the fort wall; the use of burnt bricks is attested by a drain within the houses, remains of ovens and cylindrical pits, lined with lime plaster. Some burnt wedge shaped bricks also have been found ^[7].

[edit]Earliest ploughed field

B. B. Lal, former DG of ASI, said : "Kalibangan in Rajasthan has given the evidence of the earliest (ca. 2800 BC) ploughed agricultural field^[8]ever revealed through an excavation."^[9] ^[10]. It has been found south east of the pre-Harappan settlement, outside the fort. "Kalibangan excavations in present western Rajasthan shows a ploughed field, the first site of this nature in the world. It shows a grid pattern of furrows, placed about 30 cm apart running east-west and other spaced about 190 cm apart running north-south, a pattern remarkably similar to the one practiced even now."^[11]. Even today, similar ploughing is used for two simultaneous crops in this region, esp. of mustard and gram. For preservation , this excavated ploughed field area was refilled after excavation and the area was marked by concrete pillar posts.

[edit]Pottery

The distinguishing mark of this early phase is pottery, characterized by six fabrics labelled A, B, C, D, E and F, which were first identified atSothi in Afganistan ^[12].

Fabrics A, B, and D can be clubbed together. They are red painted. Fabric-A is carelessly potted in spite of use of potter's wheel. It contains designs in light-black, often decorated with white lines. Lines, semicircles, grids, insects, flowers, leaves, trees and squares were favourite motifs. Fabric-B shows marked improvement in finishing, but the lower half was deliberately roughened. Flowers, animals and flowers were painted in black on red background.

Fabric-D contained designs of slanted lines or semicircles in some, while most pots were plain. But Fabric-C pottery was thicker and stronger. Fabric-C was distinguished by violet tinge and fine polish, with designs in black; it is the best proto-Harappan pottery in finishing. Fabric-E was light coloured and Fabric-F was grey.^[13].

[edit]Other finds

Among the other finds of this Period are: small blades of chalcedony and agate, sometimes serrated or backed; beads of steatite, shell, carnelian, terracotta and copper; bangles of copper, shell and terracotta; terracotta objects like a toy-cart, wheel and a broken bull; quem with mullers, a bone point, and copper celts, including an unusual axe, etc ^[14]^[15]. Toy carts suggest carts were used for transportation in early phase of Kalibangan.

[edit]Earliest earthquakes & end of Phase-I

B. B. Lal, former DG of ASI, said : "Kalibangan in Rajasthan ... has also shown that there occurred an earthquake around 2600 BC, which brought to an end the Early Indus settlement at the site."^[16]. This is perhaps the earliest archaeologically recorded earthquake ^[17] At least three pre-historic earthquakes affecting the Indus ValleyCivilization at Dholavira in Khadir have been identified during (2800 or)2900–1800 BC^[18].

KLB-I phase has left 1.6 metres of continuous deposits during five distinct structural strata, the last of which was destroyed perhaps by an earthquake and the site was abandoned around 2600 BCE, soon to be settled again by Harappans .

[edit]Harappan Phase

The most distinctive feature of KLB-II or Harappan phase was settlements in two parts, one citadel and another lower town, as in other Harappan towns, which was absent in KLB-I.

[edit]Citadel

In KLB-I, all the inhabitants lived within the fortified town on western mound. But in KLB-II, the citadel was built atop the ruined citadel of KLB-I on the western mound, with a lower town at some distance in the east. The citadel complex was roughly a parallelogram, consisting of two equal halves (northern and southern), both squares but differently designed. Both parts were within a fort whose wall was 3-7 metres wide with bastions at some distances, made of 40 x 20 x 10 cm bricks in first phase of Harappan period, and of 30 x 15 x 7.5 cm in second structuralphase. The fort had four entrances from the outside, three in the eastern-northern half. The southern gate is in a dilapidated state, but stairs outside the southern gate have been identified. There was a narrow corridor beside the stairs. This southern gate was for the public, while northern gate was for the aristocracy living in the northern half of the citadel. The main northern gate was between two bastions. There were two other gates in the north-eastern side.

[edit]Fire altars

At Kalibangan fire Vedi (altar)s have been discovered ^[19] ^[20], similar to those found at Lothal which S.R. Rao thinks could have served no other purpose than a ritualistic one ^[21]. These altars suggest fire worship or worship of Agni, the Hindu god of fire. It is the only Indus Valley Civilization site where there is no evidence to suggest the worship of the "mother goddess".

Within the fortified citadel complex, the southern half contained many (five or six) raised platforms of mud bricks, mutually separated by corridors. Stairs were attached to these platforms. Vandalisation of these platforms by brick robbers makes it difficult to reconstruct the original shape of structures above them but unmistakable remnants of rectangular or oval kuṇḍas (Kundas) or fire-pits of burnt bricks for Vedi (altar)shave been found, with a yūpa or sacrificial post (cylindrical or with rectangular cross-section, sometimes bricks were laid upon each other to construct such a post) in the middle of each kuṇḍa and sacrificial terracotta cakes (piṇḍa) in all these fire-pits. Houses in the lower town also contain similar altars. Burnt charcoals have been found in these fire-pits. The structure of these fire-altars is reminiscent of (Vedic) fire-altars, but the analogy may be coincidental, and these altars are perhaps intended for some specific (perpaps religious) purpose by the community as a whole. In some fire-altars remnants of animals have been found, which suggest a possibility of animal-sacrifice. ^[22].

The official website of ASI reports : "Besides the above two principle [sic] parts of the metropolis there was also a third one-a moderate structure situated upwards of 8O m e. of the lower town containing four to five fire altars. This lonely structure may perhaps have been used for ritual purposes ^[23]." Thus, fire-altars have been found in three groups : public altars in the citadel, household altars in lower town, and public altars in a third separate group.

[edit]Lower town

The lower town was also a fortified parallelogram, although only traces are now left. The fort was made of mud bricks (40 x 20 x 10 cm) and three or four structural phases have been recognised. It had gates in north and west.

B. B. Lal wrote :"Well-regulated streets (were) oriented almost invariably along with the cardinal directions, thus forming a grid-iron pattern. (At Kalibangan) even the widths of these streets were in a set ratio, i.e. if the narrowest lane was one unit in width, the other streets were twice, thrice and so on. (...) Such a town-planning was unknown in contemporary West Asia."^[24].

The lower town was 239 metres east to west, but north-south extent cannot be determined. 8 main roads have been recognised, 5 north-south and 3 east-west. Few more east-west roads are expected to be buried within the unexcavated remains. Second east-west road ran in a curved outline to meet the first at the north-eastern end (towards the river), where a gateway was provided. This road was an anomaly in the grid-pattern of straight roads. There were many lanes connected to specific housing complexes. Roads and lanes had widths in accurately determined proportions, like in other Harappan cities, ranging from 7.2 metres for main roads to 1.8 metres for narrow lanes. Fender posts were installed at street corners to prevent accidents. In second structural level, roads were laid with mud tiles. Drains from houses emptied into pits (soakage jars) beneath the roads. Some central authority must be there to plan and regulate all this ^[25].

[edit]Housing

Like town planning, housing also followed the common pattern of other Harappan cities. Due to grid-pattern of town planning like a chess board, all houses opened out to at least two or three roads or lanes. Each house had a courtyard and 6-7 rooms on three sides, with a well in some houses. One house had stairs for going to the roof. Houses were built of 30 x 15 x 7.5 cm mud bricks (same as those used in second structural phase of fort wall). Burnt bricks were used in drains, wells, bathing platforms and door-sills, besides fire-altar. Floors of rooms were built of thrashed fine mud, sometimes laid with mud bricks or terracotta cakes. One house had floors built of burnt tiles decorated with geometrical designs ^[26].

[edit]Pottery

Some early Kalibangan pottery has close resemblance to the pottery of the Hakra ware in Cholistan, to other Early Harappan pottery from the Indus Valley Civilization and to the pottery of the Integration Era ^[27]. Functionally, pottery can be classified into household pots, religious and burial purposes. Structurally, we have classes like plain and decorated wares. Some pots had Harappan inscriptions (undeciphered) on them.

[edit]Terracota

The best terracota figure from Kalibangan is that a charging bull which is considered to signify the "realistic and powerful folk art of Harappan Age".^[28]

[edit]Seals

Harappan seals have been found in this phase. Most noteworthy is a cylindrical seal.

[edit]Other finds

A cylindrical graduated measuring rod and a clay ball with human figures are other notable finds.

[edit]Burial systems

The passage to the graveyard

Three systems of burial have been attested in the burial ground ~300 yards south-west of the citadel, where ~34 graves have been found :

Burial in rectangular or oval pit, with corpse laid down straight (extended), head northwards amidst pottery. In one pit a copper mirror was found among these objects. Pits were mud filled after burying. One grave was enclosed with a mud brick wall plastered from inside. One child had six holes in the skull. Many paleopathological evidences have been gathered from these graves.

Burial in pot(urn) in a circular pit, with no corpse. Four to 29 pots and utensils were placed around the main pot(urn). In some graves beads, shell, etc have been found.

Rectangular or oval grave-pit, containing only pottery and other funerary objects. Like the first type, the length of this type of graves was also along north-south. The latter two methods were not associated with any skeletal remains and may be related to symbolic burial, not found at other Harappan towns. The third type of graves contained objects as in the second type, like beads, shells, etc, but no corpse. Some pits were not filled ^[29] ASI official website : ^[23].

[edit]End of civilisation

Robert Raikes ^[30] has argued that Kalibangan was abandoned because the river dried up. Prof. B. B. Lal (retd. Director General of Archaeological Survey of India) supports this view by asserting: "Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Mature Harappan settlement at Kalibangan had to be abandoned around 2000-1900 BCE. And, as the hydrological evidence indicates, this abandonment took place on account of the drying up of the Sarasvati(Ghaggar). This latter part is duly established by the work of Raikes, an Italian hydrologist, and of his Indian collaborators" ^[31].

[edit]Modern Kalibangan

Kālibangan is also known for its bangle industry. Its name translates to "black bangles" ("Kālā", in Hindi, means black and "bangan" means bangles). Few miles downstream is the railway station and township named Pilibangā, which means Yellow Bangles.

ASI set up a Archaeological Museum at Kālibangan in 1983 to store the excavated materials excavated here during 1961-69. In one gallery, Pre-Harappan finds are displayed, while Harappan finds are displayed in the other two galleries.

Provided By - "WIKIPEDIA"

The following pics shows the Suratgarh Super Thermal Power Station...a great electricity production project...This generating station operated and maintained by Rajasthan Rajya Vidhyt Utpadan Nigam Limited is renowed in the country for their outstanding performance. Suratgarh TPS - "The Pride of Rajasthan", is recognized amongst the best-efficient and reputed power station in the country.
Suratgarh Thermal Power Station is the First Super Thermal Power Station of Rajastahjn with a total planned installed capacity of 1500MW.Presently the operational installed capacity of STPS is 1250(5x250)and one more unit of 250MW is slated for commissioning in March 2009.

Location : Suratgarh Super Thermal Power Station is located 27Km away from Suratgarh Town in Ganganagar Distt. of Rajasthan.

Awards : 1. Cash award of 3.75 lacs (for productivity) and Rs. 6.19 lacs for specific oil consumption
2. Golden Shield award from Union Ministry of power

Environmental Profile : To control pollution and ensure atmospheric emission within the prescribed limits of Environment, lacs of plants of various species have been planted in STPS, and most of them have grown into full trees. It is proposed to plant many more seedlings during the current year.
220 meter high stack have been provided to release flue gases into the atmosphere at an approx velocity 25m/sec. so as to disperse the emitted particulate matter over a wide spread area. Microprocessor based intelligent controllers to optimise the ESP of 99.9% efficiency have been provided. Regular monitoring of Stack Emission,Ambient Air Quality and Trade Effluent is carried out.

Sri Jagdamba Andh Vidhyaleedaya Samiti for the Blind was started with the vision of one person, Swami Brahm Dev. It is situated at the international border of India & Pakistan with various activities for persons with disabilities.

The Society has Schools and Hostels for Blind and Deaf boys and girls, vocational trainingcentre, computerised Braille press, Teacher training centre for teachers of the visually impaired and a 100 bed charitable eye hospital. It is also a proud recipient of the "National Award" for 1996 by the Ministry of Welfare, India.

Sense International (India) has financially supported this organization for five years and the programme is now running from its own resources with technical support from Sense International (India).

Contact Address:
L.K.C. Sri Jagdamba Andh Vidyalaya Samiti
Hanumangadh Marg
Sriganganagar - 335 001
Rajasthan

Shri Sant Baba Kernail Das ji Maharaj very graciously laid foundation stone of Shri Jagdamba Andh vidyalaya on 13 December 1980 with blessings to Paramhans Swami Brahamdev Ji , to continue the effort on a regular basis and MaBhagwati would help him in this endeavor. Inaugurated on 23 Oct.1983, this Institution became a large institutionand has acquired a special place in the country because of continuous hard work and dedication of Shri Paramhans SwamiBrahamdev ji and the help of his followers who have donated freely to the cause. Shri Paramhans Swami Brahamdev ji, the founder organizer is managing Institution very efficiently with the donations received from well meaning and generous people.

More than 100 visually impaired and 400 Hearing Impaired students are getting free education, training and rehabilitation facilities under the able leadership and guidance of Swami ji. Deaf-Blind are being trained in home training programme. India’s first braille press has been installed and is operational since 1993. Braille books are printed and provided free of cost to all schools for the blind of Rajasthan State.
Institute is also doing colossal work at the National level for eradication of blindness. Shri Jagdamba Charitable EyeHospital is open to the public where on an average 300, eye patients are being treated free of cost in out door and 30 eye operations are conducted daily. In addition indoor patients and their attendants are provided free boarding and lodging . The running expenses for such services and welfare of the people is met out of funds raised by Swamiji’sefforts. The institution is spread over 16 Bighas of land and more than Rs. 10 crores have been spent on the buildings. Modern and state-of-the-art equipment with latest technique and furniture are being used for all programmes being carried out by this institution. With the efforts of Paramhans Swami Brahamdev ji Maharaj, 6308 disabled students have been provided with free education, training and rehabilitation till march 2004. 935 visually impaired boys and 39 girls have been imparted training in music and caning. 815 hearing impaired boys and girls have been given different vocational training. Motive of institution is to prepare disabled children to work and earn their living. Twenty three visually impaired students have been placed in Central and State Government jobs and 48 teacher trainers have been provided employment. 29 hearing impaired boys and 19 girls have been helped to establish self-employment ventures. A Regional Primary Teacher Training Centre for Blinds is being run since 1999 and this centre receives the funds and help from the National Association for the Blind, Mumbai.
Commendable work has been done in the field of eradication of Blindness Control Programme. 8,00,000 patients have been provided free medication from 1987 to 2004.In addition 5424 patients have been successfully treated for cataract and lens have implanted in the eyes of 23290 patients. Besides 5900 patients are given gift of Sight through JagdambaEye Bank.

Indira Gandhi Nahar Project

Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) is one of the most gigantic projects in the world aiming to dedesertify and transform desert waste land into agriculturally productive area. The project objectives include drought proofing, providing drinking water, improvement of environment, afforestation, employment, rehabilitation, development and projection of animal wealth and increasing agricultural produce.

The project construction commenced in the year 1958. Though the project is only partially complete it has shown remarkable success.

Indira Gandhi Nahar Project was designed to utilise 9,367 Mm3/yr of the total 10,608 Mm3/yr allocated to Rajasthan from the surplus waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers. The construction of the project has been divided into two stages.

Stage I

Stage I consists of a 204 km long feeder canal, having a headworks discharge capacity of 460 m3/sec, which starts from Harike Barrage. 170 km of the feeder canal lie in Punjab and Haryana and 34 km in Rajasthan.

The entire system of stage-I consists of the 204 km long feeder canal, 189km long main canaland 3454 km long distribution system, is concrete lined, and serves 553 kha of culturable command area, out of which 46 kha are served by pumping to a 60 m lift, through four pumping stations.

In addition to irrigation and domestic water supply through this project , it has been proposed by the Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB) to install a total of 12.76 MW of mini hydro electric power stations, to utilise the available water fall in the canal. One such power station, with an installed capacity of 2´2 MW has already started functioning at the Suratgarh branch of IGNP stage I.

Stage II

IGNP Stage II comprises construction of a 256 km long main canal and 5,606 km of a lined distribution system, and will serve 1,410 kha of CCA (873577 ha area in flow and 537018 ha under lift), utilising 4,930 Mm3/yr of water. The main canal in the entire length was completed in the year 1986.

Layla and Majnun Ki Mazar

Layla and Majnun

Leyli o Majnun (1936 film).

A scene from Nezami's adaptation of the story. Layla and Majnun meet for the last time before their deaths. Both have fainted and Majnun's elderlymessenger attempts to revive Layla while wild animals protect the pair from unwelcome intruders. Late sixteenth century illustration.

Layla and Majnun, also known as The Madman and Layla - in Arabic مجنون و ليلى (Majnun and Layla) or قيس وليلى (Qays and Layla), in Persian: لیلی و مجنون (Leyli and Madjnun), (Leyli və Məcnun) in Azeri - is a classical Arabic story of star-crossed lovers. It is based on the real story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah (Arabic: قيس بن الملوح‎) from the northernArabian Peninsula. In one version, he spent his youth together with Layla, tending their flocks. In the other version, upon seeing Layla he fell passionately in love with her. In both versions, however, he went mad when her father prevented him from marrying her; for that reason he came to be called Majnun Layla, which means "Layla's Lunatic."

When Qays heard of her marriage, he fled the tribe camp and began wandering the surrounding desert. His family eventually gave up on his return and left food for him in the wilderness. He could sometimes be seen reciting poetry to himself or writing in the sand with a stick.[edit]StoryQays ibn al-Mulawwah ibn Muzahim, was a Bedouin poet. He fell in love with Layla bint Mahdi ibn Sa’d from the same tribe, better known as Layla Al-Aamiriya. He soon began creatingpoems about his love for her, mentioning her name often. When he asked for her hand in marriage her father refused as this would mean a scandal for Layla according to Arab traditions. Soon after, Layla married another man.

Layla moved to present-day Iraq with her husband, where she became ill and eventually died. Qays was later found dead in the wilderness in 688 A.D. near an unknown woman’s grave. He had carved three verses of poetry on a rock near the grave, which are the last three verses attributed to him.

Many other minor incidents happened between his madness and his death. Most of his recorded poetry was composed before hisdescent into madness.

Among the poems attributed to Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, regarding Layla:^[1]

“ I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall
It’s not Love of the houses that has taken my heart
But of the One who dwells in those houses
”

[edit]Variations

In India it is believed that Laila and Majnu found refuge in a village in Rajasthan before breathing their last. The 'graves' of Laila and Majnu are believed to be located in the Bijnore village near Anupgarh in the Sriganganagar district. According to rural legend there, Laila and Majnu were from Sindh and escaped to these parts and died there. Hundreds of newlyweds and lovers from India and Pakistan, despite there being no facilities for an overnight stay, attend the two day fair in June.

There is also a Laila-Majnu tomb in Al-Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.

Another variation on the tale tells of Laila and Majnu meeting in school. Majnu fell in love with Laila and was captivated by her. The school master would beat Majnu for paying attention to Laila instead of his school work. But some sort of magic happened. Majnu was beaten but Laila would bleed for his wounds. Word reached their households and their families feuded. Separated at childhood, Laila and Majnu met again in their youth. Laila's brother, Tabrez, would not let Laila shame the family name by marrying Majnu. Tabrez and Majnu quarreled; stricken with madness over Laila, Majnu murdered Tabrez. Word reached the village and Majnu was arrested. He was sentenced to be stoned to death by the villagers. Laila could not bear it and agreed to marry another man if Majnu would be kept safe from harm in exile. Laila got married but her heart longed for Majnu. Hearing this, Laila's husband rode with his men to the desert towards Majnu. He challenged Majnu to the death. It is said that the instant Laila's husband's sword pierced Majnu's heart, Laila collapsed in her home. Laila and Majnu were said to be buried next to each other as her husband and their fathers prayed to their afterlife. Myth has it, Laila and Majnu met again in heaven, where they loved forever.

History and influence

Persianization of the story

Majnun in the wilderness

From Arab and Habib folklore the story passed into Persian literature. Thestory of Lili o Majnoon was known in Persian at least from the time Rudaki who mentions the lovers.

Although the story was somewhat popular in Persian literature in the 12th century, it was the Persian masterpiece of Nezami Ganjavi that popularized it dramatically in Persian literature. Nezami collected both secular and mystical sources about Majnun and portrayed a vivid picture of the famous lovers . Subsequently, many other Persian poets imitated him and wrote their own versions of the romance . By collecting information from both secular and mystical sources about Majnun, Nizami portrayed such a vivid picture of this legendary lover that all subsequent poets were inspired by him, many of them imitated him and wrote their own versions of the romance^[3]. Nezami uses various characteristics deriving from 'Udhrite love poetry and weaves them into his own Persian culture. He Persianises the poem by adding techniques borrowed from the Persian epic tradition, such as "the portrayal of characters, the relationship between characters, description of time and setting, etc.".

In his adaptation, the young lovers become acquainted at school and fell desperately in love. However, they could not see each other due to a family feud, and Layla's family arranged for her to marry another man ^[4]. It is a tragicstory of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet, which was itself said to have been inspired by a Latin version of Layla and Majnun to an extent.^[5] However, Shakespearean scholars deny any such influence.^[6] This type of love is known in Arabic culture as "Virgin Love" (Arabic: حب عذري), because the lovers never married or made love. Other famous Virgin Love stories are the stories of "Qays and Lubna", "Kuthair and Azza", "Marwa and Al Majnoun Al Faransi" and "Antara and Abla". The literary motif itself is common throughout the world, notably in the Muslim literature of South Asia, such as Urdu ghazals.

According to Dr. Rudolf Gelpke: Many later poets have imitated Nizami's work, even if they could not equal and certainly not surpass it; Persians, Turks, Indians, to name only the most important ones. The Persian scholar Hekmat has listed not less than forty Persians and thirteen Turkish versions of Layli and Majnun.^[7]. According to Vahid Dastgerdi, If one would search all existing libraries, one would probably find more than 1000 versions of Layli and Majnun.

[edit]Azeri adapation

Azerbaijani folk art based on theLayla and Majnun novel by Nizami Ganjavi.

The Azerbaijani language adaptation of the story, Dâstân-ı Leylî vü Mecnûn (داستان ليلى و مجنون; "The Epic of Layla and Majnun") was written in the 16th century by Fuzûlî. Fuzûlî's version was borrowed by the renowned Azerbaijani composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, who used the material to create what became the Middle East's first opera. It premiered in Baku on January 25, 1908. The story had previously been brought to the stage in the late 19th century, when Ahmed Shawqi wrote a poetic play about the tragedy, now considered one of the best in modern Arab poetry. Qays's lines from the play are sometimes confused with his actual poems.

[edit]Other Influences

The enduring popularity of the legend has influenced Middle Eastern literature, especially Sufi writers, in whose literature the name Layla refers to their concept of the Beloved. The original story is featured inBahá'u'lláh's mystical writings, the Seven Valleys. Etymologically, Layla is related to the Hebrew and Arabicwords for "night," and is thought to mean "one who works by night." This is an apparent allusion to the fact that the romance of the star-crossed lovers was hidden and kept secret. In the Persian and Arabic languages, the word Majnun means "crazy." In addition to this creative use of language, the tale has also made at least one linguistic contribution, inspiring a Turkish colloquialism: to "feel like Layla" is to feel completely dazed, as might be expected of a person who is literally madly in love.

This epic poem was translated into English by Isaac D'Israeli in the early 1800s allowing a wider audience to appreciate it.

Layla has also been mentioned in many works by the notorious Aleister Crowley in many of his religious texts, perhaps most notably, in The Book of Lies.

[edit]Popular culture

The name "Layla" served as Clapton's inspiration for the title of Derek and the Dominos' famous album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and its title track. The song "I Am Yours" is a direct quote from a passage in Layla and Majnun.

The tale of Layla and Majnun has been the subject of various films produced by the Indian film industry beginning in the 1920s. One, Laila Majnun, was produced in 1976. In 2007, the story was enacted as both a framing story and as a dance-within-a-movie in the film Aaja Nachle. There is a reference to the story in the song 'Laila' from the film Qurbani.

The term Layla-Majnun is often used for lovers, also Majnun is commonly used to address a person madly in love.

one of the panels in the Alisher Navoi metro station in Tashkent, Uzbekistan represents the epic on blue green tiles.

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