ORCHHA, or URCHHA (also called

See also:

• TEHRI

Tehri or Tikamgarh)  , a native state of Central India, in the Bundelkhand agency . Orchha is the oldest and highest in rank of all the Bundela principalities, and was the only one not held in subjection by the peshwa . Area, 2080 sq. m.; pop . (1901) 321,634; estimated revenue, £47,000; no tribute . The maharaja, Sir Pratap Singh, G.S.C.I . (born in 18J4, succeeded in 1874), took a great personal interest in the development of his state, and himself designed most of the engineering and irrigation works that have been executed here within recent years . He bears the hereditary title of" First of the Princes of Bundelkhand." The state exports grain, ghi, and cotton cloth, but trade suffers from imperfect communications . The town of Orchha, the former capital, is on the river Betwa, not far from Jhansi . It possesses an imposing fort, dating mainly from the early 17th century . This contains a number of palaces and other buildings connected one with another . The most noteworthy are the Rajmandir, a massive square erection of which the exterior is almost absolutely plain; and the Jahangirmahal, of the same form but far more ornate, a singularly beautiful specimen of Hindu domestic architecture . Elsewhere about the town are fine temples and tombs, among which may be noticed the Chaturbhuj temple on its vast platform of stone .

The town of

Tehri or Tikamgarh, where the chief now resides, is about 40 M . S. of Orchha; pop . (1901) 14,050 . It contains the fort of Tikamgarh, by which name the town is generally called, to distinguish it from Tehri in the Himalayas .