Rani Ranakdevi was an abandoned child whom a potter's family adopted and took care of as their own child. She grew up into a very beautiful woman. A team of bards noticed her and sang in praise of her beauty to the Solanki ruler ‘Siddhraj Jaisinh’ – a famous ruler of Ahilwad Patan who ruled from 1094 to 1143 AD. Fascinated by the stories of her beauty from the bards Siddhraj became obsessed with her and wanted to marry her.
Meanwhile, Ranakdevi got married to Raja Rakhengar, the ruler of Junagadh. When the knowledge of Ranakdevi's marriage came to Siddhraj, he was consumed by jealous rage and attacked Junagadh. The army of Junagadh defended the fort with all their might and the siege continued for twelve years. By then Ranakdevi had become the proud mother of two children.
Raja Rakhengar had two nephews – Desal and Visal. He looked after them as his own children. As they grew, they became ambitious and conspired against him. They led armed soldiers from the enemy's army in sacks, loaded them onto carts and reached the entrance of the fort. When the guards on duty questioned them, they acted as if they were offended and spoke about the immense difficulty with which they had procured food for the residents and scolded them for asking unnecessary questions. The two brothers then ordered them to open the gates of the fort. As the carts entered the fort, the defenses of the fort collapsed. Raja Rakhengar was caught, murdered and beheaded and Rani Ranakdevi was captured.
When Siddhraj Jaisinh was returning victorious, Desal and Visal requested him to declare them his new vassal and to coronate them. Siddhraj was in no mood to reward the two traitors who conspired against their own uncle. He told them coldly, 'You were not loyal to your own uncle, so how could I trust you?' He then ordered their execution.
The victorious caravan of Jaisinh reached Wadhavan, a nearby village, with Ranakdevi and the head of Rakhengar as the memento of their victory. Rani Ranakdevi was pleading to commit sati. At Wadhavan, Jaisinh had a nightmare and he decided to allow her. But he put the condition that no one would fire her pyre and told her, 'If you are as pious as you say, then ask God to light your pyre'.
She sat on the pyre with her husband’s head. Suddenly there was lightening in the sky that burnt the pyre. Today there is a temple dedicated to the sati in Wadhavan, Saurashtra. It is believed that a river Bhogavo, used to flow around that village that ran dry after her curse.
