Nurpur is a small town in the Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, around
70 km from Dalhousie. Located at a height of 643 meters above sea level, Nurpur
was once the princely state of Pathania clans of Rajputs. The town is heaving
beautiful temples and a very old fort which is the grandeur of this town. This
place is so beautiful that even Mughal queen Noorjehan also fell in love with
the place.
History
The dynasty of
Nurpur was established by Jatpal alias Rana Bhet, a Taur Rajput from Delhi, who
settled at Pathankot and took possession of all the country in the foot of the
hills. Rajputs shifted their capital to the modern town of Nurpur (renamed
after Begum Nurjahan) towards the end of seventeenth century. A muslim
descendant of the Rajas of Nurpur Sayed Khan ruled over this territory till
1781.
Nurpur was
known as Dhameri until a visit from Noorjehan, the queen of Emperor Nuruddin
Salim Jahangir (1569-1627) of the Mughal Dynasty. The queen was so impressed by
the natural beauty of the town that she decided to construct her palace here.
This posed a problem for then local ruler Raja Jagat Singh Pathania, as he did
not want his freedom to be curtailed by the Mughal domination and politics. So,
he perpetrated the story that the climate of the place was not good and causes
a disease goiter, which was at that time very common among locals. Horrified,
the queen dropped the idea of constructing her palace, but the name of the town
was changed to Nurpur in 1622, by the Raja Jagat Singh Pathania to commemorate
this visit of Begum Nur Jahan who had instantly fallen in love with this place.
Inside Brij
Raj Swami Temple
The Brij Raj
Swami temple inside the Nurpur fort is a 16th century historical temple of Lord
Krishna and home to a much revered deity. It is the only temple in the world,
where Lord Krishna and Meera idols are worshipped. It is said that the statue
of Lord Krishna was worshipped by Meera, and when Raja of Nurpur went to
Chittorgarh he got this statue as a return gift from the Maharana of
Chittorgarh. Along with this, Raja also brought a Moulsary (a fruit-bearing
plant) sampling and it dried on way back and it was put to life through Puja
and chanting of mantras. This plant has now grown into a huge tree. It flowers,
but does not bear any fruit unlike such plants in Rajasthan.
