Famous Warrior Queens of India, Belagavi, and a train

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The traveler who has eyes to see occupies a world as fresh as the first day and just full of wonders. 




Simple fact - there are many more Warrior Queens in India, not just the Rani of Jhansi, who took on the Mughal invaders and European Colonials that I did not know about till I got moving on budget travel all over India. The simple reason for this was that almost all of them hailed from smaller towns and cities in India when compared to the Metro Cities and barring a few, were simply not there in the larger public mindspace.


So there I was, on my way by road from Pune to Belagavi (Belgaum) to Bengaluru. Every which way, one of the explanations for its name was and is "Village of Bamboos", and that's what got stuck in my mind. In addition to the fact that it is the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Training Centre as well as the location for the Commando Training Centre - both of which are well worth the visit too. 


Belagavi is one of those newer tourist destinations, which used to be a mid-way stop for those driving from Bombay (Mumbai) to Bangalore (Bengaluru), in the days when the Railway route was a mix of broad gauge and metre gauge, and air tickets were difficult to come by, whilst cars needed to be rested. This I learnt from my wife, whose family would do an annual pilgrimage, and also from my late father, whose paltan the Marathas were for a while - till he went on to 2-Para.


I also have a specific very good friend who is from Belagavi, as well as a famous media person who has been and shall always remain my guru, and so Belagavi was often on my travel map. By road and by rail. 


Till one day I started asking questions about who Rani Chennama was. Why was the main overnight train from Bangalore (Bengaluru) named after her and why was she, mounted on a prancing horse, with a sword raised, no less, on the big statue in the middle of Belagavi?


Belagavi became one of my favourite go to towns in India after that, and I learnt a lot about bio-diversity, Indian Queens who fought the invaders (oh yes, there are and were many more of them in that part of India) and yes - it fitted in our below 5000/- rupees per day model


More on Belagavi, or Belgaum, soon. Sure. Till then, do look it up yourself? This blog shall return to Belagavi. 





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