Sawan Bhado
These two pillars form an ingenious Persian-designed cooling system, being perforated on the top in order to catch the wind, while their lower parts were connected to a reservoir of water. Lonely Planet
They are called Sawan Bhadon. The locals say that they stand for two brothers who meet everyday at midnight. And I hear this version as well. Bagh Raj, son of Bir Singh Deo, met a seer who was on a mouna vrath during a hunting expedition. The seer was quiet when the prince asked him about a particular kill he was chasing, but the prince misunderstood the silence and went in the wrong direction. After a long frustrating day, he ordered the seer to be killed. The just king in return ordered the death of the prince Deccan Herald
Adjacent to the Ram Raja Temple lies a row of fountains, which culminates in an eight pillared pavilion. A subterranean structure below the pavilion, the Tehkhana, was the summer retreat of the kings of Orchha. The tehkhana was cooled by a cleverly constructed Persian cooling unit, which was made up of two adjoining Dastagirs (wind-catching towers). The towers were named after the two spring months in the Indian calendar - Sawan Bhado.
The towers were perforated on the top, to allow them to catch the wind, while their lower part was connected to a reservoir of water. The towers, the aqueducts, and the underground reservoir of water were ingeniously connected to a Chandan Katora (fountain) in the pavilion above the retreat. The water from the underground reservoir was pushed up into the Chandan Katora, from where it rained on the roof of the retreat to cool the Tehkhana. This is perhaps the only example of the Persian system of cooling in India. M P Tourism
