कांगड़े दा टीला ओ माता, गर्वे सिंघे घेरिया। अकबर कांगड़े चढ़ आया ओ मेरी माँ। सुत्ती ऐ की जाग दी तू, जाग अम्बे रानिये। गर्वे ने पाई लिया घेरा ओ मेरी माँ। A very famous bhajan from Kangra of Mata Bajreshwari Devi, remembered often across north-west India today, talks of the Kangre da Tilla or the Mound of Kangra, referring to the place where Bajreswari Devi is present. She is popularly also know as Kangra Mata, and the legend is that the place was set up by burying the kaan or ear of an asura who was killed by the Pandavas on the orders of the Devi. There are such bhajans for other major temples in the region as well, but as a history enthusiast, this one often draws my attention. The story of Kangra is as much the story of the civilizational wounds that the plains experienced; or perhaps it was worse, given how many times temple desecrations were made a conscious strategy. This song, at some level, seems to pass on the memory of one such gory experience that was witnessed by the peopl...
Raja Sansar Chand Katoch and his son Anirudh Chand Worshipping at the Gauri Shankar Temple in Sujanpur Tira (from Eva-Seitz Collection) Kangra was one of the most important and largest hill state in Northern India, and held the distinction of perhaps having one of the oldest continuous dynastic lineage without break. The original claim of the Katoch clan of Kangra has been that they were the original rulers of the ancient Trigarta, which extended into Punjab to include the Jalandhar Doab. Moreover, the clan claims to have participated all the way back into the Mahabharata war on the side of the Kauravas. While the Mahabharata clan may be difficult to verify, the antiquity has certainly been unquestionable. Archaeological field reports by Alexander Cunningham among other sources clearly find reference to an ancient kingdom of that extent, with remains of coins having been found in and around the Jalandhar Doab among other remains and excavations, that have been documented in archae...