Here comes first PHOTO JOURNEY by Akash Deep and this is about one of the least explored regions of Himachal Pradesh (India). This PHOTO JOURNEY is sharing a story around a old fort in Sujanpur Tira, which was constructed by Maharaja Abhay Chandra and now ruins can be seen. This fort is very well located on top of a hill with wonderful views of valleys around !
'The Fort of TIRA SUJANPUR was originally built by Maharaja Abhay Chandra (in 1750) as a Military Fort. In the reign of Maharaja Sansar Chandra (Golden Age of the Kangra Kingdom), this fort gained renoun through out India and was considered as one of the most beautiful Palaces in the Himalayas. In 1905 this Palacial Fort was damaged by an Earthquake. This Monument is a a Jewel in the History of the Kangra Kingdom.'
Sujanpur Tira is well-connected to all the major towns of Himachal Pradesh and of the country in all the directions through road network. It is just 25 kilometers away from Hamirpur, Palampur is 35 km from Sujanpur and about 120 km from Dharamshala. Today over 180 buses cross this town to connect various other cities, villages and towns besides regular taxis. The nearest railway station is Maranda (near Palampur) where narrow gauge runs up to Pathankot on one side and Jogindernagar to the other. On one side it is connected to Una-Nangal by road, the other side it is connected towards Kangra, Pathankot... To Mandi-Manali and Ladakh and one side to Shimla. Its geographical locations connect this town with almost every direction through web of tarred road network.
Palaces, Courts and Temples built by Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch still exist in Tira though have been destroyed by the passage of time and earthquakes etc. One can see many of the ruins there and can conceptualize how beautiful they must have been. Baradari ( the daily court) still stands and can be seen from the 'Chuagan' ground. He also built a huge water reservoir to take care of the needs of daily water for the entire Tira. A lot of work was done by M. S. Randhawa who fell in love with Sujanpurtira and tried to restore parts of the heritage. He also started collecting the invaluable Kangra paintings. Many of them are available in Chandigrah Museum...
Tira Sujanpur is also called Sujanpur Tira or Sujanpur Tihra located on the bank of River Beas. It is a beautiful town inhabited by Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch who was the King of Kangra and later shifted from Kangra to Sujanpur Tira after the war with Muslim kings who wanted to capture Kangra fort. Maharaja Sansar Chand constructed his palaces, temples and courts on the peak of hillock called Tira overlooking Sujanpur's famous Chaugan, hence the name of the town is Sujanpur Tira. In the middle of this beautiful town there is one square kilometer green ground popularly called in Pahari language 'Chaugan' (which remains green throughout the year). Now part of the ground is occupied by the Sanik School. The ground is a meeting place for most of the town people, ladies, men, children for evening walk and for playing all types of games. Most famous Holi fair also takes place on this ground which lasts almost 2–3 weeks during the month of March.
Check out following links to know more about Sujanpur Tira and it's interesting history -
Sujanpur is also famous for it's HOLI fair which is celebrated for 2-3 weeks in month of March every-year. It is celebrated at very large scale and with time, more colors of Bollywood are being added to the festival. Many Bollywood people come to this festival for evening performances.
More Photographs by Akash can be checked at - http://adtales.in/
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