Kangra Museum and Kangra Fort of the Katoch Dynasty

Some repair work on the ruined walls, Kangra Fort

Hi,
Yesterday, I posted the story of our visit to the Kangra Temple (Brajeshwari Temple), a historical temple in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. The story continues as follows:

 

Kangra Museum

We reached Kangra Museum at around 10:00 AM and were offered two cups of tea, one for Deepak and another for me.
Although, the price was higher (INR 30) than I had paid ever that much for a single cup of tea, it was a place(attendant told us), where the rates were decided by the royal people themselves. Being students we managed a little bargaining, 20 rupees a cup.

Kangra Museum - The royal antiques 

It is dedicated mainly to the oldest dynasty in the world, the Katoch dynasty. Well, the price was comparatively very small for taking the royal feeling for the time being, and also we enjoyed the view of the antiques and remains from the history of this warrior clan, who fought(According to the booklet offered at the museum itself) against lord Rama and against Pandavas in Ramayana and Mahabharata respectively.

Kangra Museum, Kangra, H,P,

Inside there, you can find a number of things related to their lifestyle and the war aids. From the swords to the armor, guns, and pistols, which they might have used during their last reigning days, our imagination can form the way these warriors fought the wars and the living they had been living.
  The museum also has photographs of the nearby cities and major buildings, of how they looked before the massive earthquake of 1905, and how they looked after it.
This also contains the photographs of the Kangra Fort and Sujanpur Fort, the ones before the earthquake and also those just after the earthquake.

Kangra Fort aka Nagar Kot:

An upward click, Kangra Fort, H.P.

 

Kangra Fort which now stands on the hill adjacent to the one on which the Museum stood, was repaired later to its current health, otherwise, it looked more miserable in the photograph which showed the devastation that the earthquake had caused.

Ranjit Gate, Kangra Fort

When we reached the welcome gate to the fort, people from the tourism department offered each entering person a 5 rupee entry ticket, containing the stamps of the Archaeological Survey of India(ASI), department.
They also offered us one very helpful thing, though it was optional but it became our guide as we entered the gate. This was an audio device, which contained a remote device, having buttons numbered from 1 to 15, each number when pressed would offer us information related to the different parts of this historical place.

A magnificent view, Kangra Fort, Himachal Pradesh

Let me give you an example, when we pressed 1, the device ran the audio file that gave us the information regarding the Ranjit Gate, the first gate of the fort. Similarly, various numbers ran the files containing information on the other important spots inside the fort.
It was a highly adventurous feeling to move from spot to spot and listen to the related history associated with each spot of the fort.

Back of Temple building, Kangra Fort, Himachal Pradesh

We found no rooms that would have served the purpose of living till we reached the top spot, where we could spot some ruined walls forming room-like structures, where the king with his royal families and the courtiers might have lived. The presence of the temples devoted to different Hindu Gods and Goddesses shows that they were religious people.

Ruins left after the 1905, Kangra Earthquake, Kangra Fort

If you need any more details, regarding the place, please leave a comment, because if I keep on writing the details of the place, the writing will not stop for long.

A click down below from where I stepped up.

Hawa Mahal, Kangra Fort, H.P.

I would also like to have any interesting information related to this historical place, that you might have enjoyed very much, or think is worth sharing here.

Thank you, please come and visit again!