Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh

Nurpur Kangra
City
Nurpur Kangra
Nurpur Kangra

Location in Distt. Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

Coordinates: 32°18′N 75°54′E / 32.3°N 75.9°E / 32.3; 75.9Coordinates: 32°18′N 75°54′E / 32.3°N 75.9°E / 32.3; 75.9
Country  India
State Himachal Pradesh
District Kangra
Elevation 643 m (2,110 ft)
Population (2005)
 • Total 9,066(17th)
Languages
 • Official Hindi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)

Nurpur is a city and a municipal council in Kangra district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It was formerly part of the Nurpur State ruled by the Pathania clan of Tomara Rajputs, since the 11th century AD. The capital of the kingdom was at Pathankot formerly known as Paithan, now in Punjab.

Geography

Nurpur is located at 32°18′N 75°54′E / 32.3°N 75.9°E / 32.3; 75.9.[1] It has an average elevation of 643 metres (2109 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001, according to the India census,[2] Nurpur had a population of 9045. Men constitute 52% of the population and women 48%. Nurpur has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 75%. In Nurpur, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

Main article: Nurpur State

Nurpur was founded in the 11th century by Raja Jhet Pal, who was the younger brother of the ruler of Delhi. It reached its peak during the reign of Raja Basu, from 1580 to 1613, who built an impressive fort that can still be seen today.

Earlier Nurpur was known with the name of Dhameri. This was changed when it was visited by Queen Nur Jehan, the wife of the Mughal emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir, who ruled between 1569–1627. According to the local legend, the queen was so impressed by beauty and richness of town that she decided to stay there for the rest of her life. This decision made the local administration worry since the Mughal empire at that time were expanding across India and the local leaders of Dhameri did not want their peaceful town to be a central point for Mughal domination and influenced by external politics. So, to deal with this without offending the queen and suffering the wrath of the Mughal empire, they devised a simple but effective plan. They advised the queen that staying in their town for a long period of time could spoil her great beauty, and that there is also a fictitious local disease in town that might afflict her. This terrified the queen so much that she hurriedly left. So in 1622, during the reign of Raja Jagat Singh Pathania, the name of the town was changed to Nurpur in honor of the Mughal queen who fell in love with the beauty of the place. Before 1947, Nurpur was a princely state ruled by the Pathania clan of Rajputs. The Pathania Clan (or Tomar / Tanwar clan of Chandravanshi Rajputs) had ruled here for more than eight centuries.

Places of interest

The Brij Raj Swami temple inside the Nurpur fort is a 16th-century historical temple of Lord Krishna and home to much revered deity of the local population and attracts tourists. It is the only temple in the world, where Lord Krishna and Meera idols are worshipped. It is said 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 was 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. Visitors can see RAAS LEELA in the form of paintings which adore the walls inside the temple.

The Mata Nagani Temple, located about 6 km from Nurpur town on Pathankot / Kullu highway, is also very famous. It is unique because water comes from below the temple where the idol of Nagni Maata is placed. People who get snake bite, come to Naagni Maata and simply drinking water and applying the Mitti, get cured completely. The amount of water which flows there is quite sufficient, and there are number of water mills installed for grinding grain. Also Nurpur is famous for its silk, and pashmina/woollen shawls. There are numerous showroom of silk and shawls in Nurpur {Himachal silk emp.,Bhuttico} where various qualities of silk/woollen products can be seen.

Dhauladhar Rage - snow-covered mountains can be seen from this place. Dharamsala a famous hill station is at an 1-/2 hours drive. Dharamsala has got a world class cricket stadium and International matches - One Day; T-20 etc. are played. Stadium has a magnificent view of snow covered Dhauladhar mountain behind it. Dalhousie another hill-station is around 3 hours drive from here.

Dibkeshwar Mahadev Mandir at Suliali - This place is a naturally made cave which is supposed to be a place where Lord shiva Lived once..Some myths are that this cave is made by Pandavas during their exile.This holy place of Mahadev is 15 K.M's from Nurpur.

Weather and best time to visit

NURPUR has good climate. Summer season is little hot but morning and everning are very pleasant with cool breeze from the snow clad Dhauladhar mountains. During monsoon there is good amount of rainfall because Dharamsala which receives second highest rainfall in India, is just nearby. Winter season is very cold because of chilly winds from the mountains. Whole year is the best time to visit Nurpur. The Temperature during the summers rises up to 40 °C for few days only. Monsoons arrive in by the end of July and remains till September. The tourists visit the place during October and November when the weather is pleasant.

How to reach

Air : Nearest Airport is at Gaggal, Dharamshala (DHM) (in Kangra) - 45 km away. Jammu (J&K) Airport- 129 km away; and Amritsar Airport -134 km away.

Rail : Nearest Railhead is at [Pathankot and Pathankot Cantt.]- 24 km away, which is well connected by important trains from all the major cities, going to Jammu/Katra. Nurpur is blessed with narrow gaze train service (Pathankot/Jogindernagar) known as kangra valley rail. Travelling in Kangra Valley narrow gaze train is very charming and mesmerising passing through small mountains/bridges/villages.

Road : Nurpur is well connected by road network from all sides and Pathankot/Kullu Manali highway passes through Nurpur.

Nurpur City Entertainment and spend time

Emax Theater near PWD Guest House screens latest Hindi and Punjabi Movies

References

  1. ↑ "Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Nurpur". Fallingrain.com. Retrieved 2012-07-02.
  2. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

Further reading

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