The Sacrifice Place of Khejarli
Khejarli is a village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, India 26 km south east of the city of Jodhpur. The name of the town is derived from Khejri (Prosopis Cineraria) trees, which were abundance in the village.
In this 363 Bishnois, with Amrita Devi sacrificed their lives in 1730 AD, while protecting green khejri trees considered sacred by the community, by hugging to them, this incident is the first event of Chipko Movement in the history. It was a party of Giridhar Bhandari, a minister with Maharaja Abhay Singh, ruler of Marwar (Jodhpur) state who wanted to cut the sacred green Khejri trees to burn lime for the construction of his new palace. Since there was a lot of greenery in the Bishnoi villages even in the Thar Desert, the king ordered his men to get the woods from Khejri trees.
Amrita Devi (Beniwal) protested against King's men attempting to cut trees as it was prohibited in Bishnoi religion. The malevolent feudal party told her that if she wanted the trees to be spared, she should give them money as bribe. She refused to acknowledge this demand and told them that she would consider it as an act of ignominy and insult to her religious faith. She said that she would rather give away her life to save the green trees. It is at this stage she spoke the words: "Sar santey rukh rahe to bhi sasto jaan", if a tree is saved even at the cost of one's head, its worth it. Saying these words, she offered her head. The axes which were brought to cut the trees, servered her head from the body. Her three daughters Asu, Ratni and Bhagu were not daunted and offered their heads as well and met the same end. Soon old persons, young men, women including newly married ones and children were sacrificing themselves in a similar way. There was intense pandemonium. As soon as Maharaja learnt it, he ordered stopped of felling trees. By that time 363 Bishnois had already become martyrs.
Honouring the courage of the Bishnoi community, Maharaja Abhay Singh, apologised for the mistake committed by his officials and issued a royal decree engraved on copper plate.
The anniversary of the massacre is observed each year at village, which has now become an important tourist destination.
Read more about this topic: Guru Jambheshwar
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