This Is Chhipri

Chhipri is not only a very ancient village but also holds a significant place in the history of Bundelkhand. Before the year 1600, Lodhis used to reside in this village. Banjara Nayaks would bring goods for their needs loaded on horses to sell, and then they settled here and became residents. Fifty-year-old Brijnandan Nayak of this Nayak family narrates that our ancestors, after settling here, used to go to nearby villages to sell small and large items of daily needs. In 1680, while this Nayak family became very prosperous on one hand, on the other hand, they became increasingly troubled by dacoits and robbers, after which they asked the king for permanent help.

The king of Orchha State, whose capital was Tikamgarh, spoke to the king of Gwalior State. Agar Singh Parmar, who was a Jagirdar (feudal lord) in the 'Karaiya' estate of Gwalior State, was instructed to come and reside in Chhipri.

Agar Singh Parmar came from Karaiya and became the Jagirdar of Chhipri. As this Parmar lineage progressed, Chhatrasal Singh Parmar, the Jagirdar of Chhipri, was at that time under King Hamir Singh of Tikamgarh. Hamir Singh married his second wife, 'Kamal Kunwar,' who was Chhatrasal Singh Parmar's daughter. After the death of King Hamir Singh, this daughter of Chhipri ruled the Tikamgarh state for approximately twenty-five years, but she was childless. Therefore, she adopted a boy named Pratap Singh, and the daughter of Chhipri declared Pratap Singh the successor to the Tikamgarh state.

Among the three ancient temples located in Chhipri, the Narsingh temple was built by the Nayak family, and the two temples of Ramjanki and Veer Hanuman were built by the Parmar descendants. The Ramjanki temple is known as "Jaan Raye Bhagwan," which means "O Lord! Keep my life safe."

The remains of the fort of the Parmar Jagirdars of Chhipri can still be seen, which have now been turned into bricks by amateur treasure hunters. This Parmar family of Chhipri always stood by the rulers of Bundelkhand in difficult times, using their bravery as a weapon, whether it was the problem of dacoits and robbers, the nuisance of a mad violent animal, or responding to the challenge of an enemy army.

The reason behind the village of Chhipri being named Chhipri is that this village is naturally hidden. While traveling on the gravel road through forests and hills, no trace of this village is visible from the outside until you actually enter it. The village is nestled between a dense forest in the front and hills in the back; hence, 'Chhipri' (hidden). The only permanent source of water here was wells; later, in the year 1700, a small pond was constructed by the Jagirdar family, which is now in a very dilapidated condition. By constructing a 'stop dam' on a nearby stream in 1982, the then MLA Swami Prasad Pastore almost solved the water problem.

The current population of Chhipri is approximately twenty-five hundred. Mangal Singh Parmar, a 65-year-old resident of the village, states that in 1950, this population was only 400. Before that, all the surrounding villages were originally settled by the residents of Chhipri itself. In the present situation, the village of Chhipri is located near Nagar Panchayat Lidhaura, under Jatara Tehsil, in Tikamgarh district of M.P. The current population of this village is approximately 2,000. On the Jhansi-Tikamgarh bus route, about 40 km east of Tikamgarh, lies Lidhaura Tiraha (crossroad). From this crossroad, going 5 km towards Lidhaura, a gravel road goes inwards from the main road, which leads only to Chhipri, where this divine man was born in a Brahmin family.

In his previous birth, Ravishri loved children very much, and in this birth, he wanted to fully enjoy his childhood. It would not be wrong to say that this was his unfulfilled desire. Keeping this profound feeling in mind, please read this interesting account of the childhood of that boy who is a child only in form but mature in thoughts, that is, a child of mature thoughts. This boy is aware of his destination and also has the sad realization that after only a few years, when he grows up, this childhood will slip away from his hands.

Today, we certainly say that childhood was good, but since the mind is not mature, we have small tensions at that age...

As the poet says:

Even a crying child has sorrow,

Experience is also less in tender age.

But this was not the case with Ravishri; his mind was fully mature. His mature mind was always worried until he reached Rawatpura, i.e., around the age of 23, that no one should understand that he is a divine saint, a Paramhansa Yogi. But even while trying to hide it, his words betrayed him in many places that he himself is a divine man, but no one paid attention to those words at that time; otherwise, it was very possible that his life would have become a subject of research for psychology and parapsychology from childhood itself. And a social irony in our country is that people like the birth of Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Vivekananda, but in the neighbor's house. Our son should get a clerk's job, that's good; then he should have two or three children and give sufficient proof of being a man, end of story.