Nurpur, India

Nurpur Kangra
City
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 a Kingdom 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, 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 a 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 the whole story of nurpur fort in the form of paintings inside the temple. The Nagni Maata 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 Naagni 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.

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 silk mills .there are various showroom of silk in Nurpur {himachal silk emp.,buttico} where different qualities of silk can be seen

Snow-covered mountains can be seen from this place which is the Dhauladhar Range. Dharamsala a famous hill station now also famous for hosting IPL Matches is located at an hour drive from here. Dalhousie another hill-station is around 3 hours drive from here.

Weather and best time to visit

NURPUR has warm climate for almost all the year round so it is welcoming to the tourists all through the year. Summer season is very hot and temperatures can go up rapidly in the peak season of the summer. The monsoon seasoncomes for the limited period the rainfall occurring during this time make the temperature of the Pathankot relatively lower and when the winter season comes, it is very cold more than other regions of the state. The best period to visit Pathankot and all these places is during October and November. The summer season falls from the months of March till June. The temperature during the summers raises up to 43 °C and the minimum temperature during summers is around 21 °C. The hottest month is the month of May. The monsoons arrive in by the end of July and remains till September. The temperature drops down to a certain limit with the arrival of rains. The humidity level is increased during the monsoons. The tourists visit the place during October and November when the weather becomes pleasant. During the months of December, January and February, the winter season falls. The temperature drops down to 1 °C when the winters are at its peak. The maximum temperature during winters is 26 °C.

How to reach

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

Rail : Nearest Railhead is at Pathankot- 24 km away, which is connected by all the major cities.Also Nurpur has its{kangra valley} railway station named as Nurpur ROAD

Road : Nurpur is well connected by roads from all sides. Once you reach Pathankot. Nurpur is not far away.

Nurpur City Entertainment and spend time

NURPUR has warm climate for almost all the year round so it is welcoming to the tourists all through the year. Summer season is very hot and temperatures can go up rapidly in the peak season of the summer. The monsoon season comes for the limited period the rainfall, So any time you have spend time in Nurpur the visit to E max Multiplex Cinema Nurpur for watching movie in new experience also in 3D

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

External links

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