Ever since Deepika Padukone’s first look in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati has been unveiled, we are besotted. And why not? Just a look at her and your heart will skip a beat!
Since then, there has been much chatter around the movie, characters, costumes and what not. Such is the furore around Padmavati that much before its release, the posters were reportedly burnt down by a Rajput organisation - Shri Rajput Karni Sena, the set attacked and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali manhandled. All in the name of distorting history which has been questioned on instances more than one.
Social media is buzzing with intrigue over what’s to come this December, the fashion police is out on Deepika’s unibrow in the movie and the industry can’t stop gushing over Deepika’s beauty.
The trailer of the much-awaited movie was released on Monday and has once again heightened the deep sense of curiosity among the audiences, primarily around the titular subject.
Watch the trailer of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavati here.
Doesn’t all the intrigue and interest around Bhansali’s Padmavati warrant revisiting history for finding traces of Mallika-e-Chittor, The Goddess Queen Rani Padmavati who is at the heart of the matter?
Also Read: Rani Padmavati Controversy: Myth vs Reality
Who was Rani Padmavati? Fact or Fiction?
To have a concrete answer to that would be like falling between the cracks as history itself is hugely divided over the existence of Queen Padmavati. What has been documented, however, is an imaginary Padmavati in Padmavat (1540 AD), a poem composed by an Avadhi poet named Malik Muhammad Jayasi. The poem takes us a whooping 250 years back in time – a time when Delhi Sultanate and Rajput kingdoms ruled over North India. Surprisingly, annals of history are silent on the existence of Padmavati or Padmini as she was popularly called, despite having chronicled the various conquests of Alauddin Khalji.
The complete abnegation of Padmavati in historical narrative gives wings to the rumours of Padmavati being a little more than Jayasi’s figment of imagination. The existence of Padmavati, therefore, remains clouded in a thick shroud of mystery.
Jayasi’s Padmavat and the Birth of a Legend
Jayasi’s Padmavat was based on Delhi sultan Alauddin Khilji's attack on Chittor in 14th century, nearly 200 years after the attack actually took place. As per the poet, Rani Padmavati was born in the Sinhala Kingdom to King Gandharvsena and his chief consort Champavati.
She is described as a breathtakingly beautiful woman, one who could see the water she drank or the betel leaves she chewed because her skin was so fair and unblemished.
A parrot named Hiraman is said to have played a pertinent role in spreading the tales of her beauty to lands far and wide. This could be the reason King Ratan Rawal Singh, the ruler of Chittor got smitten with her, despite being a married man. What followed was Padmini’s swayamvar, where Ratan Singh won over the princess after defeating her in a sword game.
The Revenge of Raghav Chetan or a Saga of Deceit?
King Ratan Rawal Singh had a lovely palace adorned with some of the most talented minds of the time. Among them was Raghav Chetan – a deft artist and the King’s gateway to the happenings inside the palace. But Chetan had a dark side to him. He was a sorceror who secretly practiced black magic inside the palace to his own benefit. The King caught him red-handed and thereby banished him from the court. This, according to Jayasi, was the beginning of the revenge tragedy.
Simmering with rage, Chetan decided to avenge himself by taking refuge under Khalji. It was Chetan who fed Alauddin Khalji with painstakingly beautiful tales about Padmavati, preparing ground for the seige of Chittor. Some sources, however, hint that it was Ratan Singh’s own brothers who aroused Khilji with lustful stories of Padmavati as they didn’t get their share of the Queen’s dowry, leading to the eventual Rajput doom.
Myths galore. But whatever be the source, Khilji set out for Chittor with the hope of looking at the Queen – on whom he was fixated by now – himself.
On reaching Chittor, Alauddin Khalji conveyed his desire to the King to have a glimpse of the Queen about whom he had heard so much. Unaware of the impending danger, the King acceded to the demands of Khilji only to reveal the fort’s defence loopholes to the enemy.
The Queen, on the other hand, agreed to only show her reflection to Khilji through a mirror. A mere glimpse of Padmavati’s reflection was enough to captivate Khilji who was obsessed with the desire to possess her.
Lust, Treachery and a Gory Battle
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In an attempt to possess Padmavati, Khilji seized Ratan Singh. offering to free the King only in exchange of Padmavati. The Rajputs concocted plans to defeat Khilji’s army but in vain. This news led to a bedlam in the fort with the women preparing for self-immolation or Jauhar in the event of Rajputs losing at the hands of Khilji.
The news of panic among women encouraged Khilji further who attacked the fort walls from all sides in a bid to capture Padmavati.
The Jauhar of Rani Padmavati
However, before Khilji could actually get his hands on the Queen, she jumped into the Jauhar Kund along with other Rajput women, wailing for the Rajput men. Though Khilji managed to conquer Chittor, he couldn’t actually possess Padmavati who chose honour over her life.
Historians, however, remain highly skeptical of Padmavati’s existence claiming it a mere figment of imagination on the part of Jayasi.
The subject, shrouded in layers of mystery and folklore, has often evoked popular curiosity. How Bhansali treats it in his upcoming movie which has already created much stir remains to be seen. Will he perpetuate the myth or take a detour from folklores which pervade popular imagination? Only time will tell.
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