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Mothi Haveli of Raje Nemiwant: The Secrets Beneath Vidarbha's Historic Mansion

Mothi Haveli of Raje Nemiwant
Mothi Haveli of Raje Nemiwant

Within the old quarters of Malkapur in Buldhana district, tucked into an area known as Durga Nagar, stands the Mothi Haveli, a structure that represents both architectural ambition and religious intervention.


This magnificent residence belongs to the legacy of Raje Nemiwant, a figure who rose to prominence during the Nizam's reign and left an indelible mark on the region's cultural landscape in Vidarbha.


The haveli, built sometime in the early eighteenth century, bears witness to a peculiar moment in its construction history when labour uncovered something that fundamentally altered its destiny. The structure stands among other notable buildings in the area, including the Lahan Haveli and a Sri Ram temple, all testifying to the wealth and standing of the man who commissioned them. Today, the Mothi Haveli occupies a contested space in the town's memory, remembered as much for what was discovered during its making as for what was ultimately built.


Raje Nemiwant's ascendancy in Malkapur cannot be separated from the political structures of the time. The Nizam of Hyderabad, seeking to consolidate control over frontier territories, granted the Vatandari of Malkapur to Nemiwant in 1734, along with authority over several surrounding villages, including Kund, Dharangaon, Badoda, Panhera and Rajura. Vatandari meant hereditary administrative rights over these territories, a grant that bestowed upon the recipient the responsibility of revenue collection and local governance.


According to inscriptions preserved on stone within the Sri Ram temple adjacent to the Mothi Haveli, this significant conferral of power occurred during a period when Hyderabad functioned as the capital of the Nizam's domain.


The man who received this honour was Sri Srinivasrao Nemiwant, known for characteristics that extended beyond simple administrative competence. Historical accounts describe him as deeply pious, a person of high moral standing engaged in spiritual discipline, and notably, someone with extensive knowledge of Ayurveda and mastery over the science of mantras.


This combination of worldly authority and spiritual inclination shaped not only his personal endeavours but also the structures he commissioned.


Discovery of the Shiva Linga and Construction Challenges


Raje Nemiwant's reputation transcended the boundaries of his immediate territory. He was reportedly a brother disciple of Srimat Swami Chandrashekhar Saraswati, who later became the Shankaracharya of Sringeri Peeth, a position of considerable spiritual authority within Hindu philosophical traditions.


Both men had studied scriptures under the same roof, suggesting that Nemiwant's learning extended into domains of religious scholarship and esoteric knowledge.

His standing became such that when the Shankaracharya visited Malkapur and toured Vidarbha, he made a point of calling at the Ram temple despite it not being part of his original itinerary. During this visit, he performed ceremonial ablutions on the Padukas, or sacred sandals, of his former master that were installed within the temple.


Such recognition from a figure of considerable religious stature hints at the depth of Nemiwant's spiritual credentials within the circles of that era.


The construction of the Mothi Haveli proceeded as an ambitious undertaking. The very name suggests opulence and scale, with "Mothi" carrying connotations of magnificence and pearl-like preciousness.


The architectural planning would have been meticulous, following principles established by traditional Vastu Shastra that governed the orientation, layout and proportions of buildings intended for elite families.


The foundations were being laid with considerable care when an unexpected discovery halted progress. During the excavation work, a labourer's spade struck against something remarkably hard, producing a visible spark and flash of light. The workers, startled and frightened by this phenomenon, abandoned their work immediately.


News of the incident reached the manager of Raje Nemiwant, who organised a more careful examination of the site. He arrived at the location accompanied by several Vedic Brahmins knowledgeable in scriptural matters.


What they discovered beneath the surface was a Shiva Linga, a stone representation of the deity Shiva that manifests in an abstract, cylindrical form. The artefact bore visible marks from the labourer's spade strike, dents and scars that remain discernible to this day.


This discovery triggered a crucial deliberation among those responsible for the haveli's construction. The location where the Shiva Linga had been found lay directly within the footprint of the building as originally planned. If they were to preserve the haveli's intended architectural design without deviation, they would have needed to disturb or relocate this sacred object.


However, doing so would violate fundamental principles of Vastu Shastra, which dictate that certain sacred geometries and placements are inviolable.


The experts discussed the entire situation at length, recognising that to skip over the place where the Shiva Linga had emerged would require reconfiguring the entire structure according to new principles, which itself would render the modified design non-compliant with vastu shastra specifications.


The decision made was to construct a temple in the nearby available space and ceremoniously install the Shiva Linga within it according to scriptural injunctions.

However, when workers attempted to remove the Linga from its original location to transfer it to the newly constructed temple, they encountered unexpected resistance. Despite repeated and vigorous efforts, they could not move the object.


According to accounts preserved in local tradition, a senior member of Raje Nemiwant's family subsequently experienced a vision in which Lord Shiva communicated directly. The deity reportedly conveyed an explicit message: "I am here from time immemorial, eternal. Do not try to remove me from this place, otherwise you will face consequences." This communication from the divine realm settled the matter decisively.


The family abandoned attempts at relocation and instead adjusted their plans to build the temple in the available space adjacent to where the Linga remained.


Architectural and Cultural Significance in Vidarbha


Within this newly constructed temple, built primarily from black stone, workers installed a Panchamukhi Shiva Linga, a representation featuring five heads.


Over the passage of centuries, the Shiva Linga that had resisted removal became known locally by the name Mallikarjuna, derived from Sanskrit references to jasmine flowers associated with Shiva worship.

The town itself, previously called Mallikarjunapur in honour of this sacred stone, gradually underwent linguistic simplification.


Through the natural processes of language degradation and oral transmission across generations, Mallikarjunapur eventually became Malkapur, the name by which the town is known in contemporary Vidarbha.


The architectural context of the Mothi Haveli situates it within the broader heritage of Malkapur's old town, an area entirely encompassed by fort walls that once represented a formidable defensive structure.


The haveli shares this neighbourhood with other monuments of significance. The Sri Ram temple, constructed from black stone with substantial entrance structures and tall pillars adorned with detailed carvings, stands approximately seven hundred years old according to local estimates.


It was substantially renovated during the devastating famine of 1856 by Raje Nemiwant himself, suggesting that the family maintained commitments to these structures across generations. The temple features an open courtyard surrounded by covered verandas supported by arches that rise from decorated pillars.


The main sanctum houses black stone images of Bhagavan Sri Ram, his consort Ma Sita, and his brother Lakshman. Beyond the principal temple, smaller shrines dedicated to Hanuman and the goddess Lalita devi occupy the complex.


The Lahan Haveli, another structure within Durga Nagar, functioned as a secondary residence or possibly an administrative building within Raje Nemiwant's establishment. Together with the Mothi Haveli, these structures offered tangible evidence of the substantial resources at the disposal of a Vatandar during the eighteenth century.


The architectural programme undertaken by Raje Nemiwant extended beyond mere residential necessity into the realm of public religious expression and ceremonial grandeur. The scale and quality of execution across these multiple structures speak to access to skilled craftsmen, financial resources, and organisational capacity.


The Mothi Haveli today represents a palimpsest of intentions, discoveries and adjustments. Its construction was not a straightforward execution of a predetermined plan but rather an encounter with the sacred that required adaptive decision-making and spiritual negotiation. The structure stands as a record of how elite patrons of the period navigated the intersection of architectural ambition, religious belief and practical constraints.


The discovery of the Shiva Linga beneath its intended foundations introduced an element of contingency into what might otherwise have been a purely secular building project. The response to this


contingency, rather than dismissing or destroying the sacred object, reveals attitudes toward divine manifestation and the sanctity of discovered artefacts that characterised the worldview of the period.


The marks on the Shiva Linga remain visible to contemporary visitors, physical evidence of the moment when construction intersected with the unexpected.

For anyone visiting the old quarters of Malkapur in Buldhana district, the Mothi Haveli and its associated temple complex offer not merely architectural specimens but a glimpse into the religious sensibilities, administrative systems, and material culture of eighteenth-century Vidarbha.

 


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