A Visit to Kamlah Fort and Baba Kamlahiya of Sarkaghat, Mandi, H.P.

This is Queen's Cave(Rani ki Gufaa), now utilized for safekeeping of the Goats and sheep of Baba Kamlahiya

Hi,

How to Reach Kamlah Fort.

It is at about 100 km distance from Mandi town via Kotli and Dharmpur. One can also come via Hamirpur or Kangra, but remember that you have to reach Dharmpur, as there is no other road connection to the place. 

 Nearest Railway is the narrow gauge at Joginder Nagar(around 50km) to Pathankot. Other option is the Una railway station.  Nearest airport is Gaggal Airport and others are at Bhuntar and Shimla.

Kamlah Fort, clicked on 16th April, 2014

Nearby towns

Kamlah fort is built in the lap of the Shivalik Hills, south to the Dhauladhars. The nearest small towns are  Dharampur and Sandhol, both in the Sarkaghat tehsil of mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. 



  

Just by co-incidence, I had to visit my sister's home at Bhartpur (Bharauri) located at a distance of about 15 km from Kamlah fort along the road to Dharmpur.

Kamlah in map

This was a fine day to take the opportunity to visit the Kamlah Fort and Kamlahia Baba Temple that is inside the fort itself.

How is the Road

I was told that the road to the Kamlah fort is not in good condition and buses run very few in numbers, so it was wiser option to ride my 100 cc, TVS Sport Star bike. The road is not in good condition and if you have some tougher ride such as Bullet, that would be better.

Mata Sakraini Temple, on the right side, on the way to Kamlah Fort, clicked on 16th April, 2014

Kamlah Fort, Sarkaghat, Mandi (H.P.) - clicked on 16-04-2014

Once you reach Chamba Naun, you may take the footsteps to travel a distance of about 1.5 km or you may choose vehicle on road which goes to the base of the fort. You will get help of any person which you meet on the way so, it is easy to reach the place.

• Brief History of the Kamlah Fort:

According to a Himachal Tourism website, construction of Kamlah garh(fort) got started under the ruler-ship of Raja(King) Hari Sen. From strategic point of view Sikandar-Dhar was best spot for constructing a fort so, this was completed by his son Suraj Sen  in 1625.

History of Kamlah Fort written in Hindi (clicked on 16th April, 2014)

As of 18th April 2014, fort still stands in somewhat poor condition at a height of about 4772 feet (1454 Meters). This remained in-vincible for many years until 1840, when it fell into the hands of Bentura, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's general. In 1846 control was restored back into the hands of the Mandi state kings.

Mughals also tried to conquer the fort before Maharaja Ranjit Singh but failed in their minds itself to plan an attack on such an invincible fort. Kings have their own history of attacks and reasons of attack but a story is told by the locals that when army of Ranjit Singh conquered the fort, Rani(Queen) who was kept hiding at Rani Gufa(Queen's Cave) inside the fort, jumped from a height before getting into the hands of enemies alive.

• What Stands now:

When you step up on a vertical path to reach the main entrance of the fort, you can imagine how difficult this was to conquer the fort. More than that it was difficult to build the fort, its hard to even imagine how they might have carried those heavy stones to the top.

Kamlah Fort's main entrance on 16-04-2014 , Sarkaghat, Mandi(H.P.)

Sikandar-Dhar is somewhat different than other mountains,this contains angular edges and  on some faces this is absolutely 90 degrees vertical. One can see that the fort is now degrading due to the weathering actions but I saw that work of repairing and cleaning was undergoing.

3rd main entrance of the Kamlah Fort, clicked on 16th April 2014

Paths are constructed with the Marble tiles which are offered as a gift to the Kamlah Baba by the worshipers. Queen's cave(Rani ki Gufa) is now utilized as a shelter to the goats offered by the people to the Kamlah Baba.

I inquired the goat keeper and got to know that goats are auctioned for sale. Cutting the animals in the name of God is now prohibited and I was happy to know that. On the top of mountain stands a simple temple of Kamlahiya Baba. Construction work was under its way to enlarge the temple to some what larger dimensions.

You will find some monkeys roaming around the temple and there are stories that they snatch if something interests them so, please beware. I was alone but, I was not carrying anything such as fruits and purse in hand which might interest them but, I was worried about my camera.

Locals go singing, chanting in groups from villages to worship the local deity, they are known as Jataru in local language of Madyali.

• Who is Baba Kamlahiya?

Ancient tale goes like this, two saints Baba Balak-nath and Baba Kamlahiya traveled to the holy state of Himachal Pradesh from Jammu and chose two different places for their meditation and worship.

Baba Kamlahiya at, Kamlah Fort, Sarkaghat, Mandi(H.P.) - clicked on 16-04-2014

Baba-Balaknath went to Deot-sidh near to Shah-talai in Kangra and Baba Kamlahiya started to live at this place.

On top of the mountain, below a tree, he used to meditate and worship and was offered milk by a local old lady. One day that lady delayed the offering which made him to wait, so, he asked the reason for the delay but, old lady got angry and yelled and cursed him.

Baba returned empty handed and never went back to ask for anything. They searched him but he was not found anywhere but one day, a shepherd noticed something un-usual happening.

Baba Kamlahiya Temple, as stood on 16th April, 2014

He saw that one of his sheep was spraying milk at the same place where Baba used to worship and meditate. Within short time his number of sheep and goats started to grow and his business boomed. People started believing that Baba has left his body but he was still present at the place under that tree.

They put a statue at the base of the tree and started to worship him.This belief gets reinforced with a numbers of stories of getting people's wishes fulfilled which they pray from this lord. Tree was old and dried so, they cut the tree and constructed a temple in which they enshrined him.

I shot this short video clip of Kamlah Garh(Fort).

Thanks for your kind visit!