How Maharaja Surajmal Stadium Metro Station got its name?

Located in the West Delhi district of Delhi, Surajmal Stadium lies on the Green Line of the Delhi Metro. This elevated station was inaugurated on April 2, 2010.

Born in February 1707, Maharaja Suraj Mal or Sujan Singh was a Hindu Jat ruler of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. The Jat rule under him covered the present-day districts of Agra, Aligarh, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Etawa, Gurgaon, Hathras, Mainpuri, Mathura, Mewat, Meerut, Rewari and Rohtak. He had an army of 25,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry in addition to the troops stationed at his forts when he died on December 25, 1763.

Due to his “political sagacity, steady intellect and clear vision”, he was described as the Plato of the Jat tribe by a contemporary historian and as Jat Odyssey by a modern writer. Under Suraj Mal, the Jats overran the Mughal garrison at Agra. He was killed in an ambush by the Mughal Army on the night of December 25, 1763 near Hindon River, Shahadra, Delhi.

If you happen to visit Kusum Sarovar, a historical sandstone monument on the holy Govardhan Hill between Govardhan and Radha Kund in Mathura, you will find his large cenotaph there. His imposing chattri is flanked on either side by two smaller chattris of his two wives — Maharani Hansiya and Maharani Kishori. These memorial chattris were built by his son and successor Maharaja Jawahar Singh. The architecture and carving is in the pierced stone style and the ceiling adorned with paintings of the life of Krishna and Suraj Mal.