Many of you must have seen such structures ..Rachna Singh of Times of India tells you the story behind them.................

Publication:Times Of India Jaipur;

Date:Jan 2, 2009;

Section:Times City;

Page Number:2

Worship is pillar of ‘wish homes’

Rachna Singh | TNN

Ranthambhore: The Ranthambhore Fort houses thousands of ‘wish homes’. Not mere castles in the air, a close look at the stone structures scattered all over inside the fort, spilling right up to the entrance of the Wildlife Park, would reveal realistic ambitions of the rich and the poor alike.

Overrun by vegetation, the scattered remains of the crumbling fort, a reminder of a historic past set within a wild present — can be seen thousands of tiny stone built houses. The structures scattered all over are emblematic of the devotees wish for a house of their own.

“It is a very old tradition. After paying obeisance at the Ganesh temple, people collect stones and build little houses praying for a house of their own. In most cases people have returned in a span of 15 days to two years saying they had been able to buy a house of their own,” said the temple priest Sanjay Dadhich. In a few cases, people have come back just after three to four days, said Dadhich.

Located deep into the Ranthambhore Wildlife Park, the undulating topography of the surrounding forests was used as an outer defence to the advantage of the fort. It was reported to be one of the strongest forts of Northern India that houses many buildings inside it, of which only a few have survived the ravages of wars and time.

The approximately 700-year-old Ganesh temple in the fort, among other structures holds great reverence for the devotees.

“While it is difficult to track the origin of the ritual, probably it began when in order to clear the path, people put the stones together in a manner that it looked like a house. But I also tried it two years back and the resort that you see came up after that,” said Balendu Parmar, owner of Dev Vilas.

Interestingly, if you stop by and take a close look, the aspirations of the devotees is clearly reflected in the stone structure. Some are single storey, some double; others are huge with a boundary wall. According to sources, every year even the Thakurs from Pachar village in Rajasthan, who are also builders, come and ask Ganeshji for help. And they gather stones to make a multi-storey building each year, only to later transport the plan in their multi-storey housing project.

“And beginning of the New Year for the last two days, on December 31 as well as January 1, long queue of thousands of devotees come to seek Ganeshji’s blessings. The religious fervour caused immense traffic-jams in the Park,” said Balendu.

A wish house built by a devotee at the Ranthambhore Fort. (Below) Hundreds of such houses