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LEGEND OF THE RANITUNK.
DECEMBER, 1873.]
LEGEND OF THE
RANI
TUNK,
BY MAJOR J. W. WATSON, ACTING POLITICAL SUPERINTENDENT, PALANPUR.
THE Surbakri Hills are a subordinate portion of the great Aråvali range, and at their western extremity is a conical peak called the Râni Tunk. This peak is a conspicuous feature in the landscape from Disa, and the peak itself is only about a mile and a half from the town of
Dântiwāra, under Pålanpur. This small peak can be seen by the traveller between Disa and Abu (lying to the right of the road) as far as
Reodar, and it can be discerned on a clear day from Abu itself.
Near the foot of the peak is
his castle walls. Lākhā Phulāni, indignant that any one should venture to hunt without per mission in his domains, at once mounted, and
taking with him a troop of horsemen soon over took Chandan Sodă. Observing their hostile in tentions, Chandan Sodá appealed to Lākhâ in person and asked him why he was following him to slay him without cause. Lākhā re proached him with having slain his boar. Chan dan Sodă replied: “The boar is not yours, but one of mine I chased from my fields on the
the site of the ruined city of Dhārāpura and the Dhārāsar tank. The legend regarding this
other shore of the Ran.”
tunk or peak is as follows:—
threatened Chandan Sodă with instant death.
Chandan Sodă, Chief of Nagar Párkar, went one day to one of his villages bordering the Ran, for shikár. One morning he roused a noble boar in the village fields. As he was
In this extremity Chandan Sodă proposed that the stomach of the boar should be ripped open, and that if b^jrī-ears and water-melons were
mounted on his good steed and had his trusty
came from his (Chandan Soda's) country, where as if its stomach contained sugarcane or pulse, that he would agree that the boar belonged
lance in his hand, he gave chase; the boar went straight across the Ran, and Chandan Sodă followed it. At length evening drew near, but, as the moon was full, Chandan Sodă did not draw rein, and at last the boar reached the
Wägar side of the Ran. Chandan Soda still urged on his panting steed, and as the dawn broke he overtook the now exhausted boar and laid him dead at his feet with one thrust of his
spear: this happened close to the walls of Kelā
Lākhā refused to
believe this, as the distance was so great, and
found in it, then it would be clear that the boar
to Lākhā Phulāni.
Lākhā Phulāni then said:
“And if the boar be mine, what
then P”
Chandan Sodă replied: “And if the boar be mine, what then P’’ Eventually they agreed that if the boar should turn out to be Lākhā Phu
lāni's, Chandan Sodă should submit to impri sonment at that Chief's pleasure and pay a heavy ransom for his release, but that if the
kot, where reigned the celebrated Lākhā Phu
boar should be Chandan Soda's, then Lākhā
lāni. The following duho describes the magni ficence and pomp of Lākhā :—
agreed to give Chandan Sodá his daughter Phulmati in marriage. The boar was now ripped open, and bájrī-ears and water-melons
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Lākhā, the son of Ocean, took an incarnation at the house of Phul.
O Lākhā, in thy darbār the pigeons feed on pearls, On the saddles of thy steeds diamonds, O thou of surpassing wisdom, Lākhā Phulāni, Hindu King of the West
On seeing the boar speared by Chandan Sodi, a villager informed Lākhā Phulāni that a stranger had ventured to spear a boar close to
were found in its stomach, as Chandan Soda had
said. Chandan now claimed the performance of Lākhā’s promise. Lākhāji held a kacheri and solemnly betrothed Phulmati to Chandan Sodi.
He then dismissed Chandan Sodă with
honour, and told him to return to celebrate his
nuptials as soon as he should receive an invita tion.
Chandan now returned to Pārkar. After
Chandan's departure, Phulmati's mother and all Lākhā’s court declared that he would be
disgraced if he married his daughter to Chandan
Sodi, who was but a small Chief comparatively with Lākhā the King of the West. To all their remonstrances Lākhā replied: “I will never go back from my plighted word.” One of his ministers suggested that there was a mode of