Chapter 9
Maheshwar
1. Question Where were Neelesh, Raghu and Sunil going when they stopped at Bhola’s house?
Answer: Neelesh, Raghu and Sunil were on their way back home from school when they decided to stop and visit their friend Bhola at his house.
2. Question What did the boys see hanging on the wall at Bhola’s house?
Answer: At Bhola’s house the boys saw a beautiful picture hanging on the wall which showed a grand fort and a river.
3. Question Why did the boys become curious after seeing the picture?
Answer: The boys became curious because the picture looked very beautiful and they wanted to know which place was shown in it.
4. Question What place was shown in the picture hanging on Bhola’s wall?
Answer: The place shown in the picture was Maheshwar, which was the capital town of Rani Ahilya Bai of Indore.
5. Question Where is Maheshwar located?
Answer: Maheshwar is located in the Khargone district of the state of Madhya Pradesh.
6. Question How far is Maheshwar from Indore?
Answer: Maheshwar is about ninety-five kilometres away from the city of Indore.
7. Question For what reason is Maheshwar famous?
Answer: Maheshwar is famous for the grand fort that was built by Rani Ahilya Bai.
8. Question Who was Rani Ahilya Bai?
Answer: Rani Ahilya Bai was the queen of the Holkar dynasty and a great ruler who built the famous Maheshwar Fort.
9. Question In which century was the Maheshwar fort built?
Answer: The Maheshwar fort was built in the eighteenth century by Rani Ahilya Bai.
10. Question Where is the Maheshwar fort situated?
Answer: The Maheshwar fort is situated on the bank of the holy river Narmada.
11. Question What was Maheshwar known as in ancient history?
Answer: In ancient history Maheshwar was known by the name ‘Mahishmati’.
12. Question How did Bhola know so much about Maheshwar?
Answer: Bhola knew so much about Maheshwar because he had visited the place the previous year.
13. Question With whom did Bhola visit Maheshwar?
Answer: Bhola visited Maheshwar with his father during his trip to the place.
14. Question How did Bhola and his father travel to Maheshwar?
Answer: Bhola and his father travelled to Maheshwar by bus from Indore.
15. Question How long did it take Bhola to reach Maheshwar from Indore?
Answer: It took Bhola and his father about three hours to reach Maheshwar from Indore.
16. Question At what time did Bhola reach Maheshwar?
Answer: Bhola reached Maheshwar at around eleven o’clock in the morning.
17. Question What did Bhola do after reaching Maheshwar?
Answer: After reaching Maheshwar, Bhola first took a holy bath in the river Narmada and then went around to see the places.
18. Question Which place did Bhola visit first in Maheshwar?
Answer: Bhola started his visit with the famous Maheshwar Fort.
19. Question How did Bhola describe the Maheshwar Fort?
Answer: Bhola described the Maheshwar Fort as a majestic and very beautiful fort.
20. Question Why is the Maheshwar Fort also known as the fort complex?
Answer: The Maheshwar Fort is also known as the fort complex because there are many temples and ghats located near the mighty fort.
21. Question What material was used to build the Maheshwar Fort?
Answer: The Maheshwar Fort was built using red stones.
22. Question From where were the stones brought to build the fort?
Answer: The red stones used for building the fort were brought from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
23. Question Are there other forts similar to the Maheshwar Fort?
Answer: Yes, there are some other forts like the Maheshwar Fort, but it is considered one of the most beautiful forts in central India.
24. Question What are the other specialities of Maheshwar besides the fort?
Answer: Maheshwar is also famous for cotton and silk blended handloom sarees woven by local weavers.
25. Question What are the sarees made in Maheshwar called?
Answer: The sarees made in Maheshwar are known as Maheshwari sarees.
26. Question Who weaves the Maheshwari sarees?
Answer: The Maheshwari sarees are woven by the local weavers of Maheshwar.
27. Question Why did Raghu thank Bhola?
Answer: Raghu thanked Bhola because Bhola gave them detailed and interesting information about Maheshwar.
28. Question What plan did Raghu make after hearing about Maheshwar?
Answer: Raghu decided that he would visit Maheshwar during the coming summer vacations.
29. Question What did Neelesh think about Raghu’s idea?
Answer: Neelesh thought that Raghu’s idea of visiting Maheshwar during summer vacations was wonderful.
30. Question Why did the boys decide to go home after their conversation?
Answer: The boys decided to go home because they had already learned a lot of information about Maheshwar.
31. Question How did the boys feel after the discussion about Maheshwar?
Answer: After the discussion the boys felt happy because they had gained a lot of knowledge about the historical place.
32. Question Where is the Khooni Bhandara situated?
Answer: The Khooni Bhandara is situated in the town of Burhanpur.
33. Question Why is the Khooni Bhandara system considered unique?
Answer: The Khooni Bhandara system is considered unique because water flows through covered channels for about four kilometres without electricity or modern machines.
34. Question What does the whole Khooni Bhandara system include?
Answer: The whole system includes a pond, underground channels and several chambers.
35. Question How deep are the underground channels of this system?
Answer: The underground channels of this system are about four metres deep.
36. Question What material are the channels made of?
Answer: The channels are made of marble.
37. Question What are the chambers built after every hundred metres called?
Answer: The chambers built after every hundred metres are called ‘Kundi’.
38. Question How do people take water from the Kundi?
Answer: People take water from the Kundi using a bucket tied to a rope.
39. Question Why is the water of this system used for drinking?
Answer: The water is used for drinking because it is pure, cold and clean.
40. Question Who built the Khooni Bhandara system and when?
Answer: The Khooni Bhandara system was built in the seventeenth century by the Mughal rulers.
Answer by Mrinmoee
