English Edition Of Navalkant Sinha’s Book “The Unsung Hindu King Tikait Rai” In Lucknow

Lucknow, August 3 (TNA) The book release function of the English edition of “Naval Kant Sinha’s “The Unsung Hindu King Tikait Rai” was held in the state capital at the hotel Renaissance on Saturday. The book accounts for one of the most illustrious unsung heroes of Oudh - Raja Tikait Rai, the illustrious Prime Minister of Oudh Province under Nawab Asif-ud-Daula from 1791-1796.

In a short span of only 4-5 years, he built over 108 Shiv Temples to re-ignite the ‘waning embers of the Hindu faith’ and over a hundred wells to ensure a steady water supply. If the actual number of wells built by him were available, it would have been a Guinness World Record.

Whether it was the Hanuman Garhi temple in Shree Ram ji’s Ayodhya or the Tikait Rai Shiv Temple of Patthar Ghat in Bithoor, whether it is the Raja Bazaar, Tikaitganj, or Nakkhas Bazaar in Lucknow, or Tikaitganj, Tikaitnagar in Barabanki, or the ghats and temples in Dalmau, Raebare. The common factor in all these places is that they were either established or restored by a Hindu King whose full name was Maharajadhiraj Tikait Rai Nripendra Bahadur.

The pertinent question, many point out, is why has history overlooked a protagonist whose name still echoes in Lucknow, Barabanki, Raebareli, Hardoi, Kanpur, Kolkata and many more, in spite of several gazetteers recognising his contribution?

How can someone of his stature remain a footnote in History? Time for all of us to initiate discussions in Schools, Colleges Universities among top opinion makers who matter and also initiate Research projects on him in Universities.

Kudos to the author, Naval Kant Sinha, for initiating the English edition of the book, as well as for the benefit of English-speaking people in India and the rest of the world, says eminent Lucknowite and partner at the Universal Booksellers, Chander Prakash, who was the introducer of the book at the event.