Bada Bagh
Bada Bagh, also called Barabagh (literally Big Garden) is a garden complex about 6 km north of Jaisalmer on the way to Ramgarh, in the state of Rajasthan in India. Overlooking a mango grove sits a set of royal cenotaphs, or chhatris, of Maharajas of Jaisalmer state, starting with Jait Singh III (d. 1528), built by the son of the Rawal jait singh III, maharawal Lunkaran singh. Later, with time 104, members of royal family graves and their chattries were built. He(maharawal lunkaran singh) also completed the construction of jait bandh, a dam project that was started by his father Rawal jait singh III, this dam stand useful till date for conservation of water. A descendant of Maharawal Jaisal Singh, the founder of the state and Maharaja of Jaisalmer State, Jait Singh III (died in 1528), commissioned a dam to create a water tank during his reign in the 16th century. This made the desert green in this area. After his death, on 21 September 1528, his son Lunkaran built a beautiful garden next to the lake and a chhatri (Hindi for cenotaph) for his father on a hill next to the lake. Later on, many more cenotaphs were constructed here for Lunkaran and other Bhattis. The last chhatri, meant for maharaja Jawahar Singh, dates from the 20th century and remains unfinished after Indian independence. Bada Bagh is situated on a small hill. The entry to Bada Bagh is from the bottom of the hill. The first row has a few cenotaphs. There are many more cenotaphs, which are accessible by climbing the hills. The cenotaphs are of different sizes and carved of sandstone. There are cenotaphs for rulers, queens, princes and other royal family members. Each ruler’s cenotaphs has a marble slab, with inscriptions about the ruler and an image of a man on a horse.
