8 March 1679 - The date on which 300 saffron clad warriors …

Khandela Raja Bahadur Singh, who became a rebel due to the anti-Hindu policies of Aurangzeb, and to destroy the temples of Shekhawati. Bahadur Singh to compete with such a large army, vacated Khandela for the purpose of conducting guerilla warfare and went Kot Sakrai /2

located in the inaccessible hills of Sakrai. People of Khandela also vacated Khandela and hid in nearby villages.

But some Shekhawat warriors did not like this as they knew that the royal army would not leave a single temple located in Shekhawati unbroken./3

so soon the teams of self-sacrificing Dharma-protectors Shekhawat heroes started reaching Khandela to protect the Dev temples.

Sujan Singh Shekhawat, the young thakur of Chhapoli, was coming back from his wedding when he heard about the imperial army from Shepherds./4

झिरमीर झिरमिर मेहा बरसे,मोरां छतरी छाई |
कुल में है तो आव सुजाण, फोज देवरे आई ||

if you are born in your glorious clan, then come, the army have come to destroy temple. /5

Sujjan Singh, upon hearing this, did not return to his town, but instead travelled to Khandela with his brothers and supporters to fight for the defense of temples,

sending his newlywed bride home with the promise of returning to her after the battle./6

Sujjan Singh and his troops, as well as other Shekhawat warriors, arrived in Khandela. There was now an army of 300 heroic souls willing to die for the sake of the temple's preservation.

When the Mughal army arrived to destroy the temple, they met into these warriors, /7

who were now led by Sujjan Singh. Darab Khan was astonished by the bravery of the rajput warriors.

He was also terrified since he had witnessed the rajputs fight and heard stories about their last Stands. He was well aware that these were the best hindu warriors./8

He told Sujjan Singh that they could merely smash portions of the temple and leave because he didn't want to kill such courageous troops

but Sujjan Singh replied that not a single brick of the temple would be damaged until he had his head over his body./9

ढेया सीस देवलियो ढेसी।
देवलियो ढेया सीस ढेसी।।

temple will only fall after the head is fallen
if temple will fall the head will fall.

With this, the struggle began. Rajput soldiers battled valiantly and wreaked havoc on their foes.
One lion was battling about ten hyenas./10

None of them attempted to flee or surrender.
With time, all but Sujjan Singh, perished, yet he fought alone against endless foes until he, too, was defeated, struck, & his head fell, but his body fought on,
his 1 promise completed, & now it was his turn to accomplish the 2nd /11

His body fighting without a head reached his horse, who carried him to his hamlet, where he met his wife; his second vow to return to his wife was also fulfilled now.
she became sati there with his body. /12

Although the Mugal army prevailed because to its larger size, they lost a large number of soldiers and morale and opted to withdraw from Khandela,

as they had heard that Bahadur Singh had assembled more Shekhawats and was planning to attack them./13

They were no longer in shape to fight another battle with the Rajputs.
Other temples of Shekhawati were spared as a result of the sacrifice and heroism of these 300 rajput soldiers.
End.