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Throughout centuries, successive Rulers have built forts and palaces which have served as homes, workplaces and as seats of the Royal government.
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Within Kutlehar territory
There are numerous properties spread over Kutlehar, the main ones are :
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The Raipur Palace
The Raipur Palace is about two hundred years old and has over one hundred rooms. It is built in the traditional hill manner.
The area of the Palace compound consists of an entire hill and its base, with the private and official quarters of the Royal family at the top of the hill and the buildings for administration, staff, guesthouses, and two temples at the base of the hill.
The Palace has an interesting history, when it was being built, the structure would collapse as soon as the roof was laid, this was taken as a bad omen and the Raj-Purohit was sent for, after making calculations he said that a high ranking Brahmin would have to be sacrificed so that the building could be completed, word was sent out and many were willing to give up their life but none was high ranking enough.
After a long and infutile search, a courtier suggested to the Raja that the Raj-Purohit was the best candidate for the sacrifice, therefore it was decided that he would not be asked lest he refuse, the act that followed immortalized the Raj-Purohit and made sure that no future Raja lived in the Palace.
The next day as the Raj-Purohit climbed up the stairs there were hushed tones within the half built palace, great activity and then a sudden calm, the Raj-Purohit reached the door of the Palace and as custom ordained, took off his shoes and got down on his knees to touch the threshold of the door with his forehead, as his head touched the ground a soldier leapt from behind the door and with one swing of the sword, separated the body from the head.
The story that follows is legend. It is said that the severed head of the Raj-Purohit said “O Raja for the palace that you have slain me shall be built but whichever Raja lives here will never be happy and die young”
Since that day the Palace has only been used for formal occasions and to seek the forgiveness of the Raj-Purohit a small temple was built near the palace where the royal family still offers prayers before anything new is initiated.
The residence at Paroian and the Royal Orchard at Bihru continued to serve as the private residences of the royal family.
The late Shri Raja Saheb Shri Brijmohan Pal ji Saheb Bahadur was the only Raja to make the Raipur Palace his residence, he passed away young, thus reconfirming the belief that the palace is cursed. |
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The Forts
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There are numerous forts spread over the length and breath of Kutlehar, the earliest of which is the Babhor Fort from the tenth century, to the recent one’s which date from the 1800s.
Some of the well known ones are Babhor fort, Solahsinghi Fort, Kotwalbah Fort, Kutlehar Fort, Ramgarh Fort, Chowki Fort, amongst many others.
The Ramgarh Fort was the seat of the Royal Government of Kutlehar, during the reign of Swasti Shri Raja Saheb Shri Raja Narayan Pal ji Saheb Bahadur, who later shifted to the Charatgarh fort.
A new fort was built at regular intervals for the safety of the royal family and for the army. Some of these have been handed over to the government of India and some are still in the possession of the royal family.
The Thakurdwara
Numerous temples have been built by successive Raja’s, but the Thakurdwara has special meaning.
The late Shri Raja Saheb Shri Ram Pal ji Saheb Bahadur commissioned it and everyday of the year did his puja here at 4 in the morning before which he took a bath in the river to purify himself.
The Thakurdwara is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Some of the other well known religious places visited by hundreds of thousands of people are Pir Nigaha, Jogi Panga, Baba Balaknath and Dhyunser Mahadev.
Outside Kutlehar territory
The two main residences outside the Kutlehar territory are at Dharamshala and Chandigarh.
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| Kutlehar House, Dharamshala |
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Kutlehar House, named Hari Kothi, situated in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India is the summer retreat of the Royal Family and is periodically opened to the public.
Click for more information and pictures.
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| Kutlehar House, Chandigarh |
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Kutlehar House at Chandigarh was constructed when Prince Rupendra Pal was to study at Chandigarh.
Rani Kamal Dei ji along with a team of architects, designed the structure and the interiors have been done by Prince Rupendra.
The residence consists of three sitting rooms, a dinning room, a library, five bedrooms, a meditation room, office for the secretarial staff and rooms for the domestic staff.
The Royal Family also owns homes in Delhi and Shimla, these two places are often visited by the members of the royal family.
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