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The Ballad of Raja Malhi Prakash and Sirmour's History - Some Scrambled Thoughts

I was just walking through some documents I had saved over the years, when it struck me that there has been very little new research work or relook into the history of the hill states. One particular format has been the examination of oral ballads, very few of which seem to be available in popular culture today. However, that was certainly not the case in the British era, when much field work seems to have been done by scholars of Europe on the subject, as they panned across the state of the Lahore kingdom and their adjunct territories. Sirmour was a Small Princely state along the Yamuna river's course While their purpose may have been malevolent in nature, many interesting insights got captured over the course of their work, and replication or improvement on the same seems to be rather scarce, especially in the context of what the European scholars used to call the "Punjab Hill States". One such case was on Sirmour, where very little information can be found in the publi...

Shiva Remains Tall in Vallapura

Since Kathua is so infamous today, let us talk something about Basohli.

Basohli is part of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir state, and was a principality of its own that could be traced back to at least 930AD, when it was part of a war between Chamba, Durgara (Jammu) and Trigarta (Kangra). Old Chamba copper plates of the time refer to this place, as per Hutchison and Vogel, as Sumarta, with its capital located in Vallapura. Sumarta itself was probably the nucleus of the Balor/Basohli state, and its Rajputs, the Sumarias, were famous for their martial skills. However, in modern times, Basohli is remembered more for its distinct sub-school within the Pahari paintings.

The original capital of this state was a place called Vallapura. This Vallapura, now known as Billawar, lies in Kathua district, and still houses ruins of the early gone eras. One of the interesting places there, which probably has survived the ravages of time and invaders, is the Maha Bilvakeshwar temple. It is a stone temple that is still in use, and is also known by the name of Harihar temple. As Hutchison and Vogel describe it:

"The temple faces west, and consists of a mandapa...the latter containing a stone linga. Of the mandapa, only the north and the west wall are still standing."

Bases for only three of the pillars survived, and it is interesting to note that there is not much knowledge even now on the builder of this temple. Local legends believe that it was built by the Pandavas themselves, which seems to be a recurring theme across several hill states. Interestingly, it is also believed that Babur had inflicted considerable damage on the temple, though this is disputed.

Sharing some wonderful pictures I came across during the research on Mapio shot by Parbodh C Bali.




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