Located atop a cliff and nestled in a serene surrounding on the bank of Baes at an altitude of 1851 m is a remarkable stone structure called Naggar Castle,Tehsil Manali, District: Kullu) in , Himachal Pradesh state. This Himalayan destination is 23 km from Manali It is a fine example of medieval mansion with beautiful wooden carving, built by Raja Sidh Singh around 1460 A.D in impressive Pahari architecture native to this region. It is a traditional design style in which alternating layers of wood and stone masonry are held to gether in place. What is unique is no mortar is used to put them together. This technique is also called Kath-Kuni (sanskrit origin; kath meaning wood, kuni meaning corner), prevalent in Himachal Pradesh, which is mostly mountainous region. From here one can view a vast expanse of greenery, and the snow clad peaks. Naggar was once the capital of Kaluta (as Kulu was called in olden times).
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| Naggar castle, Kullu dist. HP thenewshimachal.com |
Above image, Naggar, Himachal Pradesh. the castle is built in Pahagari architecture. Invariably, most of the structures are designed in this fashion matching the terrain which is prone to seismic events. Besides plenty of quality wood is available for construction work
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| Naggar Castle, Naggar, Kulu, HP tripadvisor.com |
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| Naggar castle, HP enwikipedia.org |
This place was the official seat of kings for centuries not very far away lay the ruins of Gardhak from where the ruler Raja Sidth sourced the stones for the building a mansion/palace from an abandoned palace (Gardhak) of Rana Bhonsal, a man of bad repute. Using lots of workers connecting both the banks of the river Beas, Raja Sidh had them physically carry the stone to Naggar and with meticulous planning, he constructed the stone mansion using local wood.
Being a sturdy structure with thick walls 42 inches wide, it is said it survived the 1905 earthquake, where much of the houses in the area were destroyed or heavily damaged. For unknown reasons, in 1660, the capital of Naggar was shifted to Sultanpur, now Kulu. In the later years during the early colonial period, the first Assistant Commissioner of Kullu, Major Hay became the owner of the Naggar castle. He sold it to the Punjab Government which served as a rest house and the court’s office.
With a view to improving the tourism in this region which is bestowed with nature's beauty in 1978 the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation converted the castle into a star heritage hotel, with several bed rooms and other facilities including a five-bed dormitory and a museum. On display here are items related to Himachal's ar and crafts, carpets, figures of devis and devtas in traditional attire paintings from a Russian painter, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naggar_Castle
https://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserReviews-g1069703-d3705849-r612637852-Naggar_Castle-Naggar_Manali_Tehsil_Kullu_District_Himachal_Pradesh.html
https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060730/spectum/main2.html
