In Pics: Erasing the Khilji-Padmavati Mirror Legend in Chittorgarh

“Padmavati was an honourable woman. She would have never shown her face to Alauddin Khilji”.

Sarv Samaj member have demanded a ban on the release of the film Padmavati. 

(Photo: Athar Rather/The Quint)

Chittorgarh has been the epicentre of protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, Padmavati. The Quint travelled to Chittorgarh to meet protesters, guides and tourists to find out their thoughts on the month-long agitation against the release of the film.

Effigies of Salman Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Deepika Padukone and Mamata Banerjee at the entrance of Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan. 

The anti-Padmavati demonstrators have resorted to a number of measures to protest the film, accusing it of being disrespectful to Rajput history. Members of the Sarv Samaj, for example, have been protesting since 1 November to keep the film from hitting the big screen.

A member of the Sarv Samaj outfit. 

On the road to Chittorgarh fort, we spotted children holding up stickers demanding a ban on the film. Several of these children also stopped cars that made their way to the fort and stuck the posters on the vehicles.

Students hold stickers, calling for a ban on the film.

A man sticks a poster on a car entering Chittorgarh fort.

In order to avoid any untoward incident, the Archeological Survey of India has reportedly covered a plaque outside the Rani Padmini Mahal in Chittorgarh.

ASI covered plaque on ‘Khilji mirror legend’.

The plaque in question details the lore of the Palace, which is believed to be where Alauddin Khilji saw Rani Padmini’s reflection and became obsessed with possessing her. It is important to mention that the plaque calls.

The plaque detailing the legend where Alauddin Khilji saw Rani Padmini’s face in the mirror was covered after the Karni Sena alleged that it was a “distortion” of history.

Legend has it that Khilji saw Padmini’s reflection from the fort on the left, while she stood on the staircase of Padmini Mahal.

Padmini Mahal in the middle of the lake. 

The ‘room of mirrors’, from where Khilji reportedly saw Rani Padmini’s reflection, was locked after protests broke out ahead of the film’s release.

The locked ‘room of mirrors’ after the Karni Sena protests broke out.

The controversy around the film has clearly piqued public interest in the region, as tourists are flocking to the palace to understand what the hullabaloo is about.

Rani Pawar with her husband Rakesh Pawar and son visiting from Madhya Pradesh after being intrigued by the Padmavati controversy. 

Narendar Singh, the President of Guides Association in Chittorgarh, dismissed the mirror theory. Khilji came to expand his empire and not for Rani Padmini, he says.

Narendar Singh, President, Chittorgarh Guides Association

A stone carving of Padmini, inside the temple dedicated to the Rani, located at Jauhar Sthal.

Tour guides say the Sarv Samaj has persuaded them to refrain from talking about the mirror legend during tours. They have also been asked to stop selling tourist guides that mention the lore.

A woman sits with a stack of books to sell to the tourists.

A page from a tourist handbook on Rani Padmini mentions the Khilji mirror theory and is being sold outside Padmini temple in Jauhar Sthal.