Himachal in Winter 8/ The town which was loved by Noor Jahan

We would have been denied of a wonderful town in Himachal Pradesh, had we not taken the decision of leaving Dalhousie before schedule. I was purely mersmerised by the beauty of the place.

We received a very warm welcome by the staffs and the manager of the Himachal Tourism Hotel in Nurpur, as soon as we reached there. They were all in readiness after receiving the information from Dalhousie hotel that we are moving out to Nurpur. While we were checking out from Dalhousie in the morning, the manager told us that we can go to Nurpur, as Dalhousie’s extra day booking will automatically get transferred to Nurpur.

The lunch was ready. After having the food, we went out to know the place.

It was not that Nurpur was unknown to me. Infact, while surfing the Himachal related websites, I came across Nurpur quite a few number of times. But I didn’t have the idea, that Nurpur is also a gem of a place in the state.

The first and foremost objective of Nurpur was to escape the bitter cold of Dalhousie. This objective was a grand success. Dalhousie’s manager assured us that since Nurpur is located at a much lesser altitude, only 2,000 feet above sea level, the chill would be much less. The temperature here at 2pm was 15 degrees. Just 24 hours ago, while we were roaming in Dalhousie’s Gandhi Chawk it was 2 degrees. Being located at the foothills, the roads here are largely plain.

The main place of attraction here in Nurpur is its fort.

Let’s talk a bit about the history of Nurpur. This town was ruled by the Pathania clan of the Rajputs. The town was established by King Jhet Pal in the eleventh century. But the town flourished in between 1580 and 1613, during the period of Raja Vasu. The Nurpur fort was built by Raja Vasu. But during that time, the town was known as Dhameri. So how did the name changed to Nurpur?

The name Nurpur came from the Mughal ruler Jahangir’s wife Noor Jahan. When Jahangir was at the helm in Delhi, Noor Jahan came to Dhameri. She was so mersmerised by the beauty of the place that she decided to stay permanently here. The Pathania rulers here were worried known Noor Jahan’s decision. They knew if Noor Jahan stays here, Dhameri would go into the hands of the Mughals. The rulers wanted to resist Mughal aggression here by any means. So in order to make Noor Jahan leave the town, they planned a very innovative idea. Even Noor Jahan was also not hurt with that idea.

The rulers told Noor Jahan, that there is a disease quietly spreading in Dhameri. So if she stays here for a longer period of time, it could hamper her beauty. Noor Jahan believed this and decided to leave the place. The rulers heaved a sigh of relief.

But in order to remember Noor Jahan, the name of this place was changed to Nurpur in 1622 by the then ruler Jagat Singh Pathania. Till 1947, Nurpur was a princely state.

The Nurpur fort is located on a vast plain land, at a hill top. After entering through the main gate of the fort, there is a massive open space. Large part of the fort is now in ruins. The 1905 Kangra Earthquake was a reason behind the fort turning into ruins.

Brijrajswami temple is the main point of attraction inside the fort. Before the temple was built the place used to be Deewan-I-Khaas. As a result the temple has an Islamic structure. Lord Krishna is the main deity in the temple. Jagat Singh Pathania brought the idol from Chittor of Rajasthan and placed it here.

The entire Nurpur valley can be seen from the fag end of the fort. On the right, we can see the mountains of Himachal, while it’s the Punjab plains on our left. A river is flowing by. It is known as Jawhar Khad, a tributary of Chakki River.

We spent a few hours here in the fort. To be frank, I have seen many larger forts that this one, but to me, this fort has a special beauty.

From the Nurpur fort, we headed to Nagini Mata temple. The temple is located at 6 kms from Nurpur, on the way to Kullu. There is a forest type feeling in and around the temple. Since its jungle all around, spotting Snakes here is quite normal. But the locals believe it’s not Snake but Goddess Nagin herself comes to visit her worshippers. The locals also believe that if someone with snake bite drinks the water of this temple, he or she gets completely cured. Well, though we felt it is very absurd, but we didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the locals by countering their point.

Read More: Himachal in Winter 7/ On Netaji’s Trail

The sun has set in the west. We have to head to the hotel now. Our tour is almost at the end. Tomorrow we will be heading towards Amritsar with the great memories of Himachal that we had in the past few days.

How to Reach

It is my request to spent a day here in Nurpur if your tour Kangra Valley. Reach Pathankot from Howrah or Delhi. The town is located at just 26 kms from Pathankot. Regular buses are available.

Where to Stay

Though there are quite a few private hotels here in Nurpur, the best place to stay here is the HPTDC run Hotel Nupur. Book the property online through the portal, hptdc.in.