Bhatiyani Pratapkunwari, the queen of Jodhpur King Mansingh got the temple reconstructed elsewhere as the earlier one had caved in. She got the temple consecrated in 1857. The name of temple is -
- (1)Kunj Bihari Temple
- (2)Mahamandir
- (3)Ghanshyamji Temple
- (4)Teeja Manji Temple
Answer
Why
Correct — option (4), Teeja Manji Temple.
The temple of Bhatiyani Pratapkunwari, a queen of Maharaja Man Singh of Jodhpur, is the Tija Maji (Teeja Manji) temple in Jodhpur city.
Lieut.-Colonel Archibald Adams's The Western Rajputana States (1899) says: "Tiji Maji-ka-Mandar was built by Maji Tija Bhitianiji, widow of Maharaja Man Singh." Bhitianiji is his spelling of Bhatiyaniji, a queen from the Bhati clan.
The Bharatiya Sanskriti Kosh describes Pratapkunwari as a poet devoted to bhakti who was Man Singh's third queen. It says she built many temples after his death in 1843.
Madhu Prasad Agrawal's Marwar ki Chitrakala (1993) names her directly: Man Singh's third queen, the Bhatiyani Rani Pratap Kunwari, built the Tija Maji temple, whose ceiling carries murals such as a Ram Rajyabhishek.
The stem's other details, the earlier temple caving in and consecration in 1857, are not given in these accounts; they do not change which temple the queen built.
Bhatiyani Pratapkunwari, widow of Man Singh — the Tija Maji temple.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Kunj Bihari Temple — The Kunj Bihari temple of Jodhpur was built earlier, in Maharaja Vijay Singh's time. Adams (1899) calls Kunjbihariji-ka-Mandar "the best carved and finest temple in Jodhpore".
He says it was built by Gulabrajji of Maharaja Bijai Singh's time, who also built the Gulab Sagar tank.
- (2)Mahamandir — Mahamandir is linked with Man Singh, but with the Nath sect, not with a queen's temple.
Adams (1899) lists Nij Mandar, Udai Mandar and Maha Mandar as temples built during Man Singh's reign that belong to the Naths. He names Deonath as the founder of Mahamandar, a walled suburb outside Jodhpur's Nagori gate.
- (3)Ghanshyamji Temple — The Ghanshyamji temple is connected with Rao Ganga and Maharaja Vijay Singh, not with Man Singh's queen.
Adams (1899) says Rao Ganga brought an idol of Shamji from Sirohi and placed it in an old temple he had built, later known as Ghunshamji-ka-Mandar. Maharaja Bijai Singh moved the idol to his own temple, which came to be called Gangshamji-ka-Mandar.
Concept
Jodhpur's temples record the city's rulers and their households. Maharaja Vijay Singh's period gave the Kunj Bihari temple and temples of the Vallabhacharya sect. Maharaja Man Singh's reign gave Mahamandir and other temples of the Nath sect; Adams calls the Nathji of Mahamandir the descendant of Man Singh's spiritual guide.
Queens of the royal family also built temples. Adams names the Tija Maji temple, built by Man Singh's Bhatiyani widow, and two temples built by the Bagheli queens.
The Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979) still lists Tija Maji ka Mandir, with the Kunj Behari, Ghanshyam and Mahamandir temples, among the city's temples.
RPSC's 2021 Prelims syllabus lists "Architectural Tradition of Rajasthan- temples, forts, palaces and man- made water bodies; Various schools of paintings and handicrafts." under the history, art and culture of Rajasthan.
Later rulers added to these temples. R. A. Agarwala's History, Art & Architecture of Jaisalmer (1979) notes that in Maharaja Takhat Singh's time apartments of Jodhpur fort and the Tija-Maji temple were embellished with paintings.
Key facts
- Adams (1899): "Tiji Maji-ka-Mandar was built by Maji Tija Bhitianiji, widow of Maharaja Man Singh."
- Maharaja Man Singh of Jodhpur died in 1843 (Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature; Bharatiya Sanskriti Kosh).
- Adams (1899): the Kunj Bihari temple was built by Gulabrajji of Maharaja Bijai Singh's time.
- Adams (1899): Deonath was the founder of Mahamandar, a temple of the Naths built in Man Singh's reign.
- The Jodhpur District Gazetteer (1979) lists Tija Maji ka Mandir among Jodhpur city's temples.
Builders as given in Adams, The Western Rajputana States (1899). Option (4) is the answer.
Study next
Common traps
- Mahamandir and the Tija Maji temple both date from Man Singh's time, but Mahamandir belongs to the Nath sect and the Tija Maji temple to his queen.
- The temple's name uses the queen's title, not her personal name: Adams calls her "Maji Tija Bhitianiji", while the stem calls her Pratapkunwari.
- Two buildings share the Ghanshyamji story in Adams's account: Rao Ganga's old temple, which he calls Ghunshamji-ka-Mandar, and Vijay Singh's temple that received its idol, Gangshamji-ka-Mandar.
A question can describe a temple's builder and history and ask its name, as this one does.
A question can also match temples to the rulers or queens who built them, or match temples to their towns or districts.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Mahamandir of Jodhpur is associated with which sect ?
- (a)Nath sect
- (b)Vallabh sect
- (c)Dadu Panth
- (d)Ramsnehi sect
Answer(1) — Adams (1899) lists Maha Mandar among temples built in Maharaja Man Singh's reign that belong to the Naths, and names Deonath as its founder. Option (2), the Vallabh sect, is linked in his account with temples of Maharaja Bijai Singh's period; option (3) and option (4) are other sects of Rajasthan that he does not connect with Mahamandir. - practice — not a real PYQ
According to 19th-century accounts, the Kunj Bihari temple of Jodhpur was built in the time of which ruler ?
- (a)Rao Ganga
- (b)Maharaja Vijay Singh
- (c)Maharaja Man Singh
- (d)Maharaja Takhat Singh
Answer(2) — Adams (1899) says the Kunj Bihari temple was built by Gulabrajji of Maharaja Bijai (Vijay) Singh's time. Option (1), Rao Ganga, built the old temple later called Ghunshamji-ka-Mandar; option (3), Man Singh, is linked with Mahamandir; option (4), Takhat Singh, is linked with paintings in the Tija-Maji temple.