Begam Rubia of Lakshmanpuri

Begam Rubia of Lakshmanpuri was not blessed with any child for a long period after her marriage. The prayers were offered for the blessings in many places of worship. She had been advised by many to offer prayers in the Hanuman mandir of Hanumanbadi (Aliganj), which is on the other side of the river Gomathi. She was contemplating doing the same. As she was hesitating, she had a divine direction to visit the temple and offer her prayers. She immediately proceeded to the Hanuman temple of Hanumanbadi and offered her prayers and solicited Him to bless her with a child. After some time she was blessed with a child.

Ancient Hanuman moorti found

After giving birth to the child, she proceeded to Hanumanbadi and offered many new ornaments to the Hanuman of the temple. Poor feeding was arranged, and many cultural activities were arranged. While she was staying in Hanumanbadi during this time, she had a dream about a Hanuman statue that was lying below the ground under a small hillock. The next morning she arranged for a search party to locate the hillock, giving the descriptions she had seen in her dream. Once the hillock was located a few miles away from Hanumanbadi, the bottom of the hillock was searched, and to her amazement, she could see the same identification as she had seen in her dream. Now she ordered that particular spot to be excavated, and the Lord Hanuman idol was found in the very same spot. She was thrilled by the blessings showered on her by Lord Hanuman. She felt that a suitable temple had to be built for the Lord. After counseling with her ministers, it was decided that the temple would be built in Hasi Pudowla Himambade, which is in Lakshmanpuri.

Ancient Hanuman moorti reestablished in new mandir

The idol of the Lord Hanuman was kept on a singasan (throne) mounted on the top of an elephant. A grand procession was arranged to take the idol to Hasi pudowla Himambade from the spot where it was found. With pomp and show, the procession started and proceeded. While the procession was near Chandganj, the elephant became tired. The procession halted for some time, and the elephant was given rest by demounting the singasan with the idol. After a while it was restarted, but the elephant could not move with the Lord Hanuman in the singasan mounted on it. However it was observed that the elephant could move with ease with singasan alone. The Begam was worried and asked for advice from the Mahant of the Hanumanbadi temple. It was suggested by the Mahant that there could be two reasons for this: one, that Lord Hanuman may wish not to be away from Chandganj, or secondly, he has no desire to go to Lakshmanpuri, which is on the other side of the river Gomathi.

Begam then decided not to take Lord Hanuman's idol to Hasi pudowla Himambade in Lakshmanpuri. Instead, a grand temple was planned for the Lord where the elephant had stopped in Chandganj. A Nawabi ordinance was passed, and a new Mahant was appointed for the temple at the exchequer cost. Mohamadhabat reign had donated lands to the temple. Today this ancient temple is known as the New Hanuman Mandir of Aliganj, and the activities are managed by a trust.

Begam Aliya and Lord Hanuman mandirs

Begam Aliya, sister of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, was taken ill for some time. Many Hahims and Vaidhs were called, and the best medical attention was given by Nawab. But Begam Aliya's illness could not be cured. Prayers in the places of worship were offered to cure Begam's illness. As per the advice of elders, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah offered his prayers in the (New) Hanuman temple and pleaded for his sister to be cured of the mysterious illness. Like a miracle, Nawab's sister was cured of the mysterious illness within a few days of his prayers in (New) Hanuman mandir.

Begam Aliya

As gratitude for saving his sister by Lord Hanuman, he organised a grand mela in the New Hanuman temple of Aliganj on the Hanumath jayanti day of that year, which also happened to be Tuesday. As per the tradition, the Hanumath Jayanti is celebrated on the full moon day of the Jesht month of the lunar calendar. He had offered a grand feast to many (known as 'Bada Bhog') on that day.

The tradition of organising the mela during this particular day, i.e., the first Tuesday of the Jesht month of the lunar calendar, had continued for years now. Even now the Bada Bhog is arranged and many people are fed. Though the tradition was started from the new Hanuman mandir, the old Hanuman mandir also adopted this, and the devotees go to both the mandirs during this day, which is popularly celebrated as "Bada Mangal.".

Bada Mangal festival

There is a peculiar tradition followed by some of the devotees to come and attend the prayers in these two Hanuman temples on the bada mangal day. The devotee makes a namaskar lying on the ground with his folded hands above his head. A brick is kept where his hands end, and from that spot the devotee once again makes a namaskar lying on the ground with his folded hands above his head. The process is repeated till the devotee reaches the Hanuman temple. This process of devotees proceeding from their place of dwelling to the temple on the Bada Mangal day is known as 'sayana thapas.' This tradition was followed by many devotees, and devotees used to come from many far-off places like Sitapur, Kanpur, Unaov, Hardooi, Bharabhaki, etc. The tradition has more or less come to a stop nowadays because of the heavy traffic conditions on the roads.

Now tradition has been formed that whenever a new temple for Lord Hanuman is built around Lucknow, the first cloth, weapon, and sindur for the new idol are initially offered to the Lord Hanuman of either the Old or New Hanuman temple in Aliganj.

 

---

SRI HANUMAN THINKS DIFFERENTLY, THINKS FAST
THINKS AHEAD AND ACTS FOR SURE

---

Ed [[ed 26.02.03]]
[Updates: Jan 2025]

KINDLY RECORD YOUR VIEWS