Momal Rano I Legendary Folk Tale of Sindh I Couple's Rare Picture Bangle I Ruins of Moomal Ji Mari

#sindh #folklore #lovestories
Momal Rano I Legendary Folk Tale of Sindh I Couple's Rare Picture Bangle I Ruins of Moomal Ji Mari

Special Thanks:
Muhammad Rafi Raza, Historian, Archeologist, Sadiqabad
Muhammad Asad Shar, Media Journalist, Ghotki
Shams Shar, Media Journalist, Daharki
Piyaro Shivani, Mithi, Tharparkar ‪@cafethar9109‬
Music: Binu Kumar, Kerala, India
‪@SoundSFX‬ (Under License)

Moomal Ji Mari is an archaeological site in a village near Mirpur Mathelo in the Ghotki District of Sindh, Pakistan. It is believed to be house of Momal, daughter of Raja Nand Gujjar of Kak State who constructed a palace for her on the mound. This palace was built around 590 AD during the reign of Rai Sahasi II. in Rai dynasty of Sindh.

Some historians relate it to the love tale of Momal Rano of the Soomra dynasty of Sindh. As per story king of Amarkot, Hameer Soomoro, along with his ministers, Rano Mahendhra, Seenharro Dhamachanni and Daunro Bhatyanni, used to go for hunting in far flung areas. Once during a hunting spree, they were encountered by a person who came across them accidentally.

He was a prince from the area near Kashmir, who had heard the legend of Momal's beauty & charm and got so inspired that he pursued the adventure, but when he approached the area where Momal lived, he was not only overpowered by her enchanting beauty but also the tricks & schemes played by her female servants/sisters.

The story told by this prince was sufficient to intrigue those four friends. They extracted information from the prince about Momal's whereabouts and decided to pursue the same adventure.

Momal lived near Lodhruva, in the north-east of Umerkot. She lived with her seven (some historians say nine) sisters, the most famous of which being Somal and Natir in a palace called Kak Mahal. It was a magical palace with labyrinths, puzzles, fake ponds, illusions and much more. It was a legend that anyone who wanted to be a suitor for Momal would undergo several obstacles, and the one who succeeded in reaching the palace unharmed would possibly be accepted as her consort.

Momal enjoyed legendary beauty. Somal was famous for intelligence; while Natir was known as a schemer. They worked collectively to enchant the suitors and overpower them. They could not let the suitors experience an easy task of puzzles they designed for them. As the luck would have it, Rano Mendhro, who was famously intelligent and brave, was the only person to successfully reach the palace, utterly unharmed. Momal was fairly impressed and that led him to be accepted as her consort.

Rano and Momal kept meeting each other for long and their love story gained profundity of feelings from both sides. However, King Hameer felt jealous about Rano to have succeeded in overpowering the most beautiful woman in the world he personally knew. So he kept a check on Rano and asked him not to meet Momal. Rano being his minister had to abide by the orders of his King friend. But his passion about Momal did not let him stay peacefully away from her. So usually he left for Ludhruva on his camel in the evening after work and returned to Umerkot by the next morning. Whenever he did that, which he did pretty often, he tried to stealthily go and meet Momal, it was pretty long distance though. Somehow he was caught one day and the king imprisoned him. But for the old friendship sake the king released him with conditions not to meet Momal again. But this had not to happen. He continued the same pursuit.

Once Rano was unable to reach Kak, so Momal, out of passion, asked Somal to wear clothes like the ones Rano used to wear and slept by her side. The moment Rano arrived, he mistook Somal as Momal's lover and, in utter disgust, left the palace leaving behind his cane. As Momal woke up, she saw his cane and realized Rano had been to her room and seen her with Somal, rather mistaken Somal to be some man. Momal waited for his return but to no avail. At last she resorted to go out for Rano. Disguised as a man, she finally searched him and stayed in Umerkot for some time. Rano came to learn it was Momal so he tried to go away from her. She pleaded him to forgive for her mistake, which was basically not an intentional trick but an outburst of passionate feelings about Rano. He refused to forgive her. Out of desperation, she jumped in raging fire. When Rano came to learn this, he followed her in the same flames.

The story is a combination of both fact and fiction. The names of places related to the tale are real, both within the boundaries of the province of Sindh and Rajasthan. However, the ideas of magic, Kak, concerns as to how Rano was able to travel so fast from Umerkot to Lodhruva almost every day etc. make it a legend.

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