Omid Shams-Koyel Das- Muhammed Sayyaf A C

M.U.D- 2018-20

School of plann ing an d a rch itectu re, Delh i

Deeg Palace, Rajasthan

Key Function: Tourist attraction

Introduction
Deeg (27°28′ N, 77° 20′ E), ancient Dirghapura is a town in the district Bharatpur, Rajasthan, became
a stronghold of the Jat rulers during 18th -19th century AD. The ‘Eastern Gateway to Rajasthan’, was
founded by Maharaja Suraj Mal in 1733 AD, it was once an impregnable well-fortified city, carved out
of the region formerly known as Mewat. Deeg falls within the territorial limits of the ancient holy
Brajbhoomi which connects its past with the mythological hero Krishna and his kinsmen, the Yadavas,
who, according to a strong local belief, were ancestors of the modern Jats of this region.

Brajbhoomi or the Land of Radha-Krishna is geographically and culturally a part of the Ganges-
Yamuna-Doab (Ganges valley and upper Indus) region, almost encompassed in by the modern-day
Delhi, Jaipur, Agra Golden Triangle circuit.

Brajbhoomi can be divided into two distinct units:

 Eastern Part- Gokul, Mahavan, Baldeo, Mat and Bajna

 Western Part- Mathura region that encompasses Vrindavan, Govardhan, Kusum Sarovar,
Barsana and Nandgaon.

Locational Setting
Deeg is located towards the north of city of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. It is located at a distance of 153
km from Delhi and 98 km from Agra. Before the eighteenth century Deeg was one of the tiny and
unknown villages of eastern Rajasthan, forming a part of the Agra province of the Mughal Empire.
The place is situation at a very strategic location connected to Delhi in the north, Alwar in the west,
Bharatpur City in the south and Govardhan in the east. The Major District Road (MDR) 70 directly
connects Deeg to Govardhan. The Bharatpur-Alwar road also crosses the vicinity of Deeg. Some of
the surrounding villages like Didawali, Kumher, Au and Madhera has been in existence long before
Deeg was built. Due to its proximity with Agra and Delhi it passed through several vicissitudes and
suffered the burden of many external invasions.

History and Urban Context

Mythology- The history of Deeg is traced back to Lord Krishna’s time and a profound mythological
reference can be seen. Krishna has been related to ‘vans’ and ‘kunds’ many times for various reasons.
There are 137 sacred forests and around 1000 kunds on holy hills and the banks of river Yamuna.
Among these, the Vrishbhanu Kund and Kirti kund along with Jal Mahal are associated with the past
times of Shri Radha Rani, the conjugal partner of Lord Krishna.

It is said that her father Raja Vrishbhanu who was the king of Vrishbhanu Pur built this Kund for
bathing of his family. Radha Rani used to come here every morning for her bath, along with her
friends and mother etc.

Sanskrit scholars have said that the name of this place is derived from the word ‘diga’ or ‘dirgha’
which means ‘to slacken’ or ‘to loosen’, and refers to Shri Krishna, who could slacken the strict moral
principles kept by Radha Rani simply by his charm, his incredible beauty and by the sound of his
transcendental flute.

Religious Text- The ancient Dirghapura (Dig) originates from one of the eighteen Hindu religious
texts, Skanda Purana. This text is the largest Mahapurana which contains over 81,000 verses and is
titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati.

In one of the references from Skanda Purana it is seen that after leaving Shakatikara (Chhatikara), it
is believed that Nanda Maharaja stayed at Dirghapura for some period of time, before moving to
Kamyavana and then finally to Nandagrama.

Some historians have said that in the Treta-yuga, when Lord Rama’s brother Shatrughna established
his kingdom at Mathura, his brother Lakshmana established his kingdom here at Dighapura.
Historians also say that Rama’s other brother Bharata established His kingdom at nearby
Bharatapura.
History- The past of Deeg is more intimately associated with the rise of the Jat peasants of
neighboring villages of Sinsini and Thun to power, as a result of the Mughal misrule. It was the site of
a legendary battle between the Jats and a combined Mughal and Maratha army of 8,000 men. After
Aurangzeb’s death in the year 1707, the Jats became politically very powerful and Deeg became the
capital of the great Jat kingdom founded in 1722 by Badan Singh. He selected this spot as the
headquarters of his newly established kingdom. The strong citadel with towering walls and bastions
was erected slightly later in 1730 AD by Surajmal, Badan Singh’s son.

Deeg Palace was built as a luxurious summer resort for the rulers of Bharatpur state. After eight years
of success in his forays, Suraj Mal captured Delhi, defeated Ghazi-ud-din (II) and carried smartly-cut
out pieces of a complete marble palace from the Red Fort and had it reassembled to add on to the
Suraj Bhawan.

During the British rule, the great fort at Dig became a bastion and stronghold of the Jats, and was the
scene of many a fierce battle. Dig Fort could not be captured by the British due to its strength and
impregnability.

Deeg palace was later added to the 84 Kos Braj Parikrama path when Jawahar Singh, son of Suraj Mal,
insisted on diverting the route and include Deeg in the outer parikrama path so that the pilgrims or
travelers can rest and have good food while travelling. The farmlands all around is believed to be the
playgrounds for Lord Krishna.

Key Determinants
Climate- The climate of the place being dry, becomes extremely hot during summer and extremely
cold during winter. The period of monsoon is very short. The maximum temperature during summer
scales up to 47 degree Celsius and goes down up to 3 degree Celsius during winter. The normal annual
rainfall is about 671.5 mm.

Topography and Soil- The soil of Deeg is fertile and topography is usually flat. Alluvial plains are
fairly well wooded and boarded with detached hills in the north. Since the landform is mostly flat in
the area, to build the fort and the palace on a higher ground they made a moat around the fort and
used the excavated materials to level up the ground. For the palace, two water bodies were built,
one in front and the other at the rear.

Water bodies- There are 2 major water bodies, Roop Sagar and Gopal sagar inside the palace
complex. And a moat is in existence around the fort which is quite dirty. Gopal sagar is a bit higher
than Roop sagar. The former is fed by a nallah which originates from the Yamuna crosses Haryana
and enters Rajasthan from the north and subsequently joins here. Water from Gopal sagar flows
through a channel and fills up Roop Sagar. Other than these three prominent water bodies, there
are few kunds in and around the area.

Public Interaction Spaces- The palace gardens act as a major public interaction space. One of the
major reasons for this is free of cost entry. There are external spaces located at almost all major
street intersections and are male dominated. Groups of elderly women are found inside the palace
complex singing devotional songs of Lord Krishna, in the evening.

The central market street is also a busy public area and stays active from morning till the evening.

Landmarks-
 Jal Mahal- The Jat rulers were influenced by the magnificence of the Mughal courts of Agra
and Delhi, so the layout of Deeg gardens is based on formality of the Mughal Char bagh or
four-fold garden patterns and flanked by two reservoirs called namely Rup Sagar and Gopal
Sagar.
 Deeg Fort- To the east of Roop Sagar this formidable edifice has a square plan roughly
measuring about 274 square meters. Major attraction of Deeg fort is watchtower. One can
have a 360 view of the town from this watch tower. The remains of the fort can be seen here
along with the canon looted from Agra fort, a deep gorge and tall walls made of rubble and
mud over 20m in height surrounding the fort.
 Laxman Temple- This is the oldest Laxman temple of Rajasthan, location right at the centre of
the market of Deeg. The temple is built such a way that every morning the first ray of sun falls
directly on the idol placed inside the temple. According to history, the real Laxman idol was
transferred to another Laxman temple in Bharatpur through an underground tunnel to save
the idol from destruction.
 Darwazas- The ruined fortification made of mud enclosing the town of Dig are about 7.24 km
in circuit. Piercing the fortifying walls there are ten gates known as Au, Bhura, Panhori,
Shahpur, Bandha, Kama, Delhi, Jasondi, Govardhan and Ramchela Darwazas.
Present Characteristics
Even after so many years the predominant area of the palace and the settlement has not changed in
the overall morphology. Most of the buildings are of G+1 and G+2, except for few lodges and guest
houses. The economy of this area sustains on agriculture, small business and a very negligible amount
comes from tourism. Communal harmony and cohesiveness are seen from the really active Mela
ground, the markets and the streets. The drainage system is a major eye sore in this region.

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