5 Historical Places That Celebrate Love In India

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This is that time of the year when love is in the air. So I thought of writing about a few legendary places that Celebrate Love in India.

Indian Places that Celebrate Love

Prem, Bhakti, Vatsalya, Mamta, Moh – there are so many words to describe so many types of love that we experience in our lives. As a traveler, ancient cities are my love. So, I tried looking at destinations that celebrate the love how we usually understand it as.

Vrindavan in Braj Mandal

Portrait of Radha Krishna at Braj Bhoomi
Portrait of Radha Krishna at Braj Bhoomi

You can not grow in India without hearing the eternal love story of Radha & Krishna. The city of Vrindavan celebrates their love. While Krishna is more popular in the Indian conscience. In Vrindavan, it is Radha who rules. I was told that while Krishna controls the universe, it is Radha who controls him. So she is more powerful than him. People use Radhe-Radhe for just about everything.

To say Hello, to say Good Bye, to say Excuse me and to say Oh God!. Holi here is a celebration of their youthful love. That has become a ritual where women from Radha’s village Barsana beat men from Mathura & Vrindavan. You can feel that in the air of Vrindavan their love is celebrated as a divine blessing.

Hyderabad

Charminar, Hyderabad
Charminar, Hyderabad

The fifth Nizam of Hyderabad Quli Qutub Shah created a new city by the river Musi. He called it Bhagnagar after his beloved Bhagmati. Legend is that after they got married, she was named Hyder Begum. And the city got its present name Hyderabad.

In the lanes of Hyderabad, the love story of Bhagmati, the legendary singer still can be heard. When you pass my Laad Bazaar you feel if these bangles ever adorned the arms of the love-struck Bhagmati.

Jaisalmer

Lodurva Jain Temple
Lodurva Jain Temple

Lodurva – A small temple town a few km’s from Jaisalmer celebrates the Love story of Moomal. She was a princess who lived here on the banks of river Kak and Mahendra the prince of Amarkot. They were separated by a misunderstanding and eventually died in each other’s embrace.

I am not sure if any physical memory of their story is left anymore. But their story continues to haunt you in the music of the region. You can invariably hear someone singing it as if it happened yesterday and they are still mourning their death. A love story that lives in the music of the place.

Mandu

Rani Roopmati Pavilion at Mandu
Rani Roopmati Pavilion at Mandu

The story of Rani Roopmati and Baaz Bahadur is what you hear in the ruins of the palaces of Mandu. Their love story blossomed through a series of wars in the region.

Rani Roopmari Mahal or Pavilion perched on top of a hill, from where the queen could see Narmada river. It was her condition to marry the King, that she should be able to see and worship the Narmada. On one side she can see the Narmada, on the other side her beloved palace.

Read More – Ancient Water Management System at Mandu

Agra

Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal – Agra

Now is there a more famous monument than Taj Mahal when it comes to Celebrate Love. The 400 years old white building by a flowing Yamuna river has mesmerized millions of hearts. I am sure most visitors – no matter where they came from would have thought ‘ Sigh! wish someone would make something like this in my memory too’.

Read More – Taj Mahal – the most photogenic monument in the world 

There are many facts that contradict the popular love story but then legends have their own life too.

Read More – Burhanpur, where Taj Mahal was to be originally built

Do you know of any more places in India that Celebrate Love? Do let me know, I would add it to the list.

9 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for posting such wonderful informative post. Well apart from this list there are few places in India where people love to travel and Ooty is one it.

  2. Very nice, visited 3 of these places myself and was in doubt to go to Vrindavan in december, but chose Shekaswati instead. 🙂

  3. Correct your knowledge of Charminar in Hyderabad . Qutub shahi and Nizams are different dynasties.Qutub shahis were defeated
    By Aurangazeb of Mogal dynasti.and ruled over Hyderabad. After some years one of the Mogal ministers of Delhi was appointed to take care of Hyderabad on their behalf . That minister declared himself independent , after Aurangazeb’s death , naming his dynasti as Nizams.
    Charminar can not connected with Nizams.

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