Heritage Gwalior - Founding Gwalior

Suraj Kund, Gwalior Fort - believed to be at the same spot where Rishi Gwalipa's pond existed.

There is a small village, about 15-20kms from the present day Gwalior, called Sihoniya. Around early 3rd century, a king named Suraj Sen lorded Sihoniya and around. One time Suraj Sen went for hunting and got lost in a thick forest. He tried to find his way out for a long time but could not, and became very thirsty. He then saw a hermit. The hermit called Suraj Sen towards him. Suraj Sen went to the hermit and humbly paid his reverence. The hermit pointed him to a nearby pond, where Suraj Sen quenched his thirst and also soaked himself in the cool and pure water. He then noticed that the water had cured him of a serious long term skin disease he was living with. Suraj Sen realized that the hermit was no ordinary man. Suraj Sen went to the hermit with extreme happiness, lied on his feet and expressed his deep gratitude towards him. The hermit’s name was Gwalipa. Gwalipa gave his blessings to Suraj Sen and directed him to develop this area as his new capital, make a fort and move to this place. He also asked him to change his last name from “Sen” to “Pal” and declared that his descendants will rule the land as long as they use the name “Pal”.

This little Shiva temple is next to the Suraj Kund.

From that day Suraj Sen became Suraj Pal. The place was named Gwalior after the hermit’s name Gwalipa. Thus “Gwalior” was founded and Suraj Pal started ruling from this new town. The hillock then named Gopachal was later fortified and the town grew on the eastern side of the fort. Suraj Pal, who is believed to be a “Kachhap” or “Kushwaha Chhatriya”, ruled Gwalior for a long time and was followed by 84 descendants over many peaceful centuries. The 84th descendant Budh Pal decided to drop the name “Pal” given by Gwalipa, and called his son Tej Kiran. Tej Kiran got married to a princess from Amber(Rajasthan) and started living in Jaipur. In his absence his sister’s son Ramdev Parihar (or Pratihar) started taking care of Gwalior, and later became the king. The Parihars ruled Gwalior for another 100 years.