People ask me what you prefer mountain or beaches.... Lakes or rivers.. summer or winter or rainy season.... Hill tops or plain fields...... I say forts and castles even though a storm is around the corner......

Exploring Himachal Pradesh...... Kangra valley......at Kangra fort......... With Dholadhar ranges in the backdrop and Banganga and Majhi rivers surrounding it.....

Kangra Fort, Kangra Overview....

Situated on the outskirts of the town of Kangra, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, the Kangra Fort is witness to thousands of years of grandeur, invasion, war, wealth and evolution. This mighty fort traces its origins to the ancient Trigarta Kingdom, which is mentioned in the Mahabharata epic. It is the largest fort in the Himalayas and probably the oldest dated fort in India. Occupying the lower valley of the Beas and its tributaries, it was one of the leading hill stations of Punjab and Himachal earlier. The Kangra Fort was built by the Katoch dynasty who was then a royal Rajput family of the state of Kangra. The fort is located just near the Kangra town and lies in the Old Kangra or Purana Kangra region which opens up to a beautiful valley. It is built right at the ‘Sangam i.e. the confluence of two rivers which are the Banganga and Majhi rivers.. It is said that the Kangra fort was built by Maharaja Susharma Chandra from the Katoch dynasty around 3500 years ago.The Maharaja Shushant Sharma fought in the Battle of Kurukshetra mentioned in the Mahabharata, alongside the Kauravas. After being defeated, he took Trigarta under his control and built the Kangra fort. "You must pass through the gate leg first. Never lead with your head because if there is an enemy on the other side, you might lose your head". This tip by Tikaraj Aishwarya Katoch (present scion of the Katoch dynasty) indicates at the heavy security in the fort maintained by the kings to protect the unimaginable treasures inside. There’s a saying - “He who holds the Kangra Fort, holds the hills”. It was believed that the fort is a treasure island! People say that Hindu and other rulers, used to send precious jewels, golds and silvers for the presiding deity at the fort temple as offerings, and the treasure kept piling up. Though the tales of these treasures are nothing but stories in this ruined fort now, there was a time when the sanctum sanctorum of the Kangra Fort held unimaginable riches which were offered to the large idol in the Brijeshwari temple inside the fort. Perhaps because of these treasures, this colossal fort has been attacked many times. Almost every ruler, be it an invader or a native ruler have tried to lay control over the Kangra fort.

According to the historical records, Raja of Kashmir Shreshta was the first king to attack the Kangra Fort in 470 A.D. Even Mahmud of Ghazni unleashed his forces on the fort in pursuit of its enchanting wealth around 1000 AD. It is believed that the fort has 21 treasure wells with each well being 4 m deep and 2.5 m wide in circumference. The ruler of Ghazni managed to loot 8 wells, while the British rulers looted five wells during the 1890s. It is said that the fort still retains 8 more wells full of treasures that are yet to be unearthed.

The Mughal Army led by Akbar made 52 failed attempts to capture this fort in the early 17th centuryHowever, Akbar’s son Jehangir successfully subdued the fort in 1620, forcing the submission of the Raja of Chamba, “the greatest of all the rajas in the region”.Mughal Emperor Jahangir with the help of Suraj Mal garrisoned with his troops. After Jahangir mercilessly captured the fort in1622, it was Raja Sansar Chand-II who finally succeeded in recovering the ancient fort of his ancestors from the Mughals in 1789. The Katoch Kings repeatedly looted Mughal controlled regions, weakening the Mughal control and with the decline of Mughal power, Raja Sansar Chand-II succeeded in recovering the ancient fort of his ancestors, in 1789. Maharaja Sansar Chand fought multiple battles with Gurkhas on one side and Sikh King Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the other.