Holipura Heritage Village, a small (and save for the glossy paint, largely non-descript) board on the road from Agra to Bah announces a potential excursion to those meandering in the ravines of Chambal… that ‘tis a short detour swings the decision in its favour as one turns the car down a narrow bumpy road for the three odd miles…
The road ends at the junction of two large havelis brooding perpendicular to each other… Sanjay Chaturvedi, a lanky disposition of around fifty or so who serves as the local guide (a vocation one assumes he has a monopoly on), peeks inquisitively from the courtyard and snaps into the role at our behest…
Holipura has a 500-year history clinging on to its ruins, a seat of saint Hari Hara Nandji who’d have inspired this settlement of Chaturvedi brahmins established by Holinath Chaturvedi, many of whom went on to achieve important positions across politics, law, business and many other areas… the state of the village belies this fact though… while ‘tis the way of the past to pilfer away eventually, laying claim to a brood of well-renowned gentry should ideally buy it some more time, which in this case it clearly doesn’t…
There are supposed to be more than 30 odd culturally important buildings here, but apart from half a dozen or so havelis, everything else is a callous caricature of crumbling facades… there are very few abandoned buildings though… Indrajeet Bhawan was the one building that still preserved some character, imagery of Gandhi upon its rusting balcony railing speaking of the fervour of the freedom struggle… another decently preserved building housed the local branch of Allahabad Bank… the rest are ruminations on urban migration and those left behind biding their time…
No doubt there are some stories, for broken walls are seldom bereft of an anecdote… the quintessential Rajput connections… small vertical slits in the walls used for mounting guns now romancing vines… ornate Victorian doors now embellished with charpoys and cloth hooks… there is forlorn look about the place, as if all the beseeching to those in places of prominence led to little more than some cursory acknowledgements in government annals…
We’d come to Chambal for the crocodiles, hence this was a strange flavour on the palette, the sombre hues of decadence… yet one also realizes that this despondency mostly plagues the visitor, for the native almost always weaves a cocoon, one that reminisces in the glory of the past and remains indifferent to the perils of the present…















Musings on a heritage village, Holipura, Uttar Pradesh
Very well written. I am proud to be a member of family of Indrajeet Bhawan.
Well mesmerizing content but few things needs updating holipura has a history of 800 years not 500 secondly it’s shri Holisinh ji chaturvedi not holinath thirdly you missed covering kesri sinh baba worshipped by whole village and Hathi baba a mohammedian by religion from Mewat and was killed in war came to holipura, and died people of holi pura buried him
Fourthly Sati Mata temple also not covered
Thank you for your valuable inputs… Sanjay ji was very kind to elaborate on many of these points but we were in a hurry so I must’ve missed some of these important points…
I am delighted to read the narration of my village .
But it needs some correction . Founder of village Holipura was Holi Singh chaturvedi- the head of bhadawar – a princely state army and pious believer in lord shiva not holi nath chaturvedi . He was combination of equal knowledge of SHASTRA and SHAASTRA .
Not only this, approx 90 years old the prestigious educational institution of area also has some heritage value . Village Gave first mayor to agra city and a first police commissioner to DELHI STATE (UT) and also a DGP to Uttar Pradesh .
Thank you for your valuable inputs… Sanjay ji was very kind to elaborate on many of these points but we were in a hurry so I must’ve missed some of these important points…
Excellent article and coverage . Feels so good to see my family ( maternal) heritage being documented and blogged .
Kudos to you Parth .
Heritage Village Holipura…has a great potential for Rural Tourism….The village which has a rich historical background and rich cultural heritage possesses enough options like Homestay facilities for tourists,agri food,agritainment, agrirecreation etc. Promoting socio eco benefits for the residents…