Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the redeveloped Rani Kamalapati Railway Station on 15 November 2021.
The redeveloped Rani Kamalapati Railway station, named after brave and fearless Queen Kamalapati of the Gond kingdom, is the first world-class railway station in Madhya Pradesh. Redeveloped in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the station has been designed as a green building with modern world-class amenities that also consider ease of mobility for divyangjans. The station is also developed as a hub for integrated multi-modal transport.
During the event, Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation multiple initiatives of the Railways in Madhya Pradesh including Gauge Converted and Electrified Ujjain-Fatehabad Chandrawatiganj Broad Gauge section, the Third line in Bhopal-Barkhera section, Gauge Converted and Electrified Mathela-Nimar Kheri Broad Gauge section, and Electrified Guna-Gwalior section. Prime Minister will also flag off two new MEMU trains between Ujjain-Indore and Indore-Ujjain.
The station is renamed from Habibganj to Rani Kamalapati railway station.
Who was Rani Kamlapati?
Rani Kamlapati, the Gond queen of the region in the 18th century, was the widow of Ginnorgarh’s chief, Gond ruler Nizam Shah. Rani Kamlapati (or Kamlavati) was one of Nizam Shah’s seven wives and daughters of Chaudhari Kirpa-Ramchandra. Queen was well-known for her beauty and abilities and was often praised.
According to reports, she built the seven-story ‘Kamlapati Palace’, which presently serves as an ASI-protected monument and overlooks the Upper and Lower Lakes.
Rani Kamlapati Palace is a secular architecture of the 18th century built of Lakhauri bricks, cusped arches over crumpled pillars. The merlons are shaped as water lotuses honoring the name of the Queen.
According to the Gond tale, she avenged her husband’s death by killing Alam Shah, Nizam Shah’s nephew. Alam Shah had poisoned his uncle. According to the history of the palace, Queen Kamlapati died of suicide by jumping into the lake in 1723.
With more than a 1.2 crore population, the Gond community is one of the largest tribal groups in India. Linguistically, the Gonds belong to the Gondi Manda subgroup of the South-Central branch of the Dravidian language family.