The legend that was Padmavati: Things to know about the Goddess Queen

She was from Sri Lanka

According to Malik Muhammad Jayasi's ‘Padmavat’, Queen Padmavati was the daughter of Gandharv Sen, the ruler of Singhal/Simhala-dvipa Kingdom. This kingdom fell in the region of Sri Lanka.

Hira-mani, Padmavati’s talking parrot

In ‘Padmavat’, Malik Muhammad Jayasi has mentioned about a talking parrot named Hira-mani. It is said that Queen Padmavati found her best friend in this talking parent and hence, her father ordered to get this parrot killed. Somehow the parrot managed to flee and was then acquired by a Brahim, who then sold this parrot to Raja Rawal Ratan Singh. This parrot spoke so much about the beauty of Queen Padmavati that Raja Rawal Ratan Singh fell in love with her, by going by her description.

She was the second wife of Raja Rawal Ratan Singh

Queen Padmavati was not the first wife of Raja Rawal Ratan Singh. He was already married to Nagmati when he went to Singhal kingdom, to win over Padmavati. History states that a swayamvar was held by Padmavati’s father to find a groom for her. Raja Rawal Ratan Singh defeated all the princes and kings that had arrived to be a part of his swayamvar and married Queen Padmavati.

Her condition to meet Alauddin Khilji

The Sultan of Mughal empire, Alauddin Khilji too was mesmerised by Queen Padmavati by merely listening to the stories of her exquisite beauty. He expressed a wish to meet her, but as the women of Chittor were not allowed to meet strangers, Queen Padmavati refused to meet Alauddin Khilji face-to-face. She kept a condition that she will only show him her reflection and hence, they met at a setting which had mirrors all over. By just having a glance at her reflection in the mirror, Alauddin Khilji fell in love with her.

She was the first one to jump in fire while performing jauhar

In this battle of love, a war broke out between Alauddin Khilji and Raja Rawal Ratan Singh. The latter lost the battle and then the ladies of Chittor performed Jauhar to save their pride and honour. It is said that Queen Padmavati was the first one to jump into the pool of fire followed by other ladies.