Kangra fort :History in stones of the Dhauladar range

Reading Time: 7 minutes

It is stated, “The ruins of time build mansions in eternity.”- Willam Blake. And today, I was going to explore the ruins of an ancient fort in the Dhauladar range of the Himalayas- The Kangra Fort. This fortress is one of its kind mentioned in Alexander the Great’s war records. It is an architectural delight with inscriptions on its doorways and walls that tell of its numerous rulers through the centuries—a 32-kilometre drive down from Mcleodganj to this proud and silent fort that tells the loudest stories.

Overview of internal Kangra fort

It was a shining day, clear blue sky, chirping birds & floating clouds. The ride was smooth & we reached our destination, the Kangra Fort, which traces its origin to the prehistoricTrigarta Kingdom, mentioned in the Mahabharata. This fortress is one of the largest & oldest in the Himalayas, situated 20km from Dharamshala on Kangra town’s outskirts. It encompasses 463 acres & stands at 8th position among the most massive forts in India. I took the tickets from the counter at 150 per person and rented a guide for Rs 300 per the ASI guideline; however, you can also opt for an audio guide at the exact cost. Only I prefer human interaction; they have more folklore to share.

Way to Kangra fort

While walking down towards the fort’s entry gate, my guide said that Maharaja Susharma Chandra of the Katoch Dynasty built Kangra fort. He fought for Kauravas in the Mahabharta battle, and after defeat in the war, he did not turn back to Multan; instead came to Kangra with his army. He took over the Trigarta kingdom under his control and established a fort to protect his kingdom.

ruins of Kangra fort

The first question I asked my guide was what the Trigarta Kingdom is. He said there is a legend which says- a Rajput family was supposed to have been founded by Rajanaka Bhim Chand in 4300 B.C, who ruled over the Trigarta Kingdom. The saga continues when Goddess Ambika (another name for Devi Parvati) is battling a fierce demon. During this time, the fight was long & vigorous; a drop of her sweat fell on the earth and emerged – Bhumi Chand of Chandravansh. He served the Goddess to defeat the demon; hence, the blessing goddess gave him the Trigarta Kingdom between Sutlej, Beas & Ravi rivers. And Kangra valley is part of this area. Goddamn! I wish I have been gifted a kingdom as a boon.

 

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
courtyard of Kangra fort

As per my guide, Kangra fort had 21 treasure wells – each 4m deep & about 2.5 m in width, though most of them are in ruins. But locals believe that eight wells are still hidden inside the fort walls. As per the historical facts, the Sultan of Ghazni looted eight wells, while the British in the 1890s found five more wells.

Ruins of wealth Well

The garrison held more gold, silver, precious stones and pearls in its era than was ever collected in a Royal treasury. Though the Chief of Kangra was a big devotee of the Brijeshwari Temple, hence used to send treasures and precious jewels time after time to be presented to the large idol within the temple. But with ages, the stockpile attained such a level that camels could not bear it, vessels could not contain it, writers hand to record it, and the imagination of arithmeticians conceive it. Hence the fort has been subjected to many approaches. The most ruler wanted to acquire control over the Kangra fort as it’s said- “He who holds the Kangra fort holds the hills.”  

Steps towards fort

The entire fortress is guarded by a high rampart and 15 feet tall, massive black stone walls. The guide updated us on the river Banganga and Patal Ganga embracing each other at this majestic fort’s foot.

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Banganga and Patal Ganga

He kept saying there are a total of 11 gates & 23 bastions, where the entrance gate is known as the Ranjit Singh Gate, the second gate Jahangiri Darwaza followed by Ahni and Amiri Darwaza. The gate passages are 7m in length & wide enough, so a horse or two men(shoulder to shoulder)can pass. It was constructed to hold back/slow down the enemy army. Along the side, the walls are flat grounds that accommodated the Katoch army, which defended these gates from the vantage point.

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Ranjit Singh Gat
Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Jahangiri Darwaza

 Later comes the Darsani Darwaza, flanked by defaced statues of River Goddesses Ganga, and the Yamuna gave access to a courtyard entrance known as Mahlon ka Darwaza.

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Mahlon ka Darwaza.

CourtyardOur guide confirmed that the fort holds three temples- Ambika Devi Temple, Shitalamata Temple and Lakshmi Narayan Temple. I likewise saw a stone image of Lord Adinath installed in a small temple dedicated to Jaina Tirthankaras.

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Lakshmi Narayan Temple

On that point is a staircase between the temples of Shitalamata and Ambika Devi leads to the Sheesh Mahal. A small hall-like compartment is designed with a stone block and a polygonal watchtower at the border. The temples and some portion of the palace courtyard are still under the control of the Katochs family. They even come to extend their prayers to their deity, Goddess Ambika Devi, whose temple remains intact inside the fort.

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Way Sheesh Mahal
Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Circular compartment

 We climbed to the uppermost part of the fort when the guide said the Raja of Kashmir Shreshta first attacked this fort in 470 A.D. However, early records refer to Mahmud of Ghazni’s attack in 1009 AD as a foreign invasion of Kangra fort. The Persian ruler was captivated by the immense treasures of the Kangra fort. In 1337 Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, the Turkic Sultan of Delhi, was the next ruler to capture the Kangra fort. He was the first enemy ever to step foot in the fortress. Our guide said the Mugal army took 14 months to conquer the fortress. After Akbar made 52 unsuccessful attempts, in 1620, Jahangir finally captured the fort. 

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
Long shot of the fort

However, in 1789 Maharaja Sansar Chand recovered his ancestors’ ancient fort. And successfully established himself as a powerful ruler and gained control over the fortress. But Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha commander, came together against Sansar Chand, invaded Kangra & won the fort. The British finally took this garrison after the Sikh war of 1846. The defence did pass through the hands of many rulers, but it was never destroyed. Over a hundred years, what an army could not do, nature did- a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the Kangra fort’s foundations. 

Trip to Kangra fort and Masrur Rock cut temple
-_Portrait_of_Raja_Sansar_Chand_of_Kangra

Walking around the fort and enjoying the picturesque surroundings, a thought struck me” Few are born to construct a fort, palaces, and halls for emperors & kings but not to stay in them”. The Kangra Fort has a rich history, mesmerising location and beautiful architecture; I learned about its richness, wins, and defeats, but no one spoke about the architect who created this marvel. After taking some photos, I started for my next destination, Masrur, Masrur, which is a UNESCO heritage site. 

How to Reach:

Air:

The nearest air is Gaggal airport to Kangra fort, 14 km from Kangra valley. From the airport, you can book Cab for Kangra or Masrur.

Rail:

 Pathankot Cantt(Chakki) is the nearest broad gauge railway station at 87 km. The nearest narrow gauge railway station is Kangra mandir railway station from Kangra. You can hire a cab from the railway station or direct buses to Kangra. Further can to Masrur you can book a taxi, no direct busses. 

By Road. 

Overnight Volvo or HPDTC buses can be taken directly to the destination; 471 km is from Delhi to Kangra. However, some buses ply from Chandigarh, Dharamshala & Pathankot. You can also fire a cab or drive your vehicle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 thoughts on “Kangra fort :History in stones of the Dhauladar range

  1. It’s awesome in support of me to have a web site,
    which is good designed for my know-how. thanks admin

  2. I believe everything posted made a bunch of sense.
    But, think about this, suppose you added a little content?
    I ain’t saying your content isn’t good, however what if
    you added a title to possibly grab folk’s attention? I mean Kangra fort :A day
    trip to history in stone of the Dhauladar range – kafiraana is kinda boring.

    You ought to peek at Yahoo’s home page and see how they create news headlines to
    get viewers interested. You might add a video
    or a picture or two to grab people interested about what you’ve got to
    say. In my opinion, it would make your blog a little bit more interesting.

  3. Hello! I could have sworn I’ve visited your blog before but after going through some of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m certainly pleased I found it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Translate »
error: Content is protected !!