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Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh

Ancient Palace Ramnagar

Ramnagar also served as the capital of old Bandarlta State. During theancient palace reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (AD 1819-39), it came under the rule of Sikh and Raja Suchet Singh, the brother of Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu who became its ruler in A.D. 1822. He built this fort overlooking the Mansadevi Nallah entered by a narrow wooden bridge over the moat. The fort is square on plan with polygonal bastions on four corners rising to three storeys. The parapet wall having Machicolations in three tiers all along is further strengthened by bastions in the middle of its back and lateral sides. On the main arched entrance inside are images of Ganesa, Durga and Hanuman. Around the central courtyard are magazines and cells. A moat about five metres deep runs all round the fort.

Ancient Palace, Leh

Leh Palace or Lhachen Palkhar is the most conspicuous building on theleh ridge of Tsemo hill above the old settlements and occupies a commanding position of Leh town below. The edifice is an architectural wonder and engineering feat of the second dynasty of Ladakhi rulers. According to oral tradition the site was chosen by the king Jamyang Namgyal. The construction of the Palace was completed around 1630 A.D during the reign of King Senge Namgyal. The main designer of the building was a Balti Muslim named Chandan Ali Singge also known as Shinkan Chandan. The structure was completed in a short span of three years time only. The whole palace is built in Tibetan architectural style with locally available material like stones, sun dried mud bricks, wood of poplar, juniper and willow procured from different villages in vicinity of Leh. The foundation of the palace rest over the contours of stable granite rock with perfectly raised corners and sloping gradient.

The most striking feature of the palace is the slanting wall with banded texture on stone masonry. The horizontal timber lacing is another impressive feature which prevents vertical cracks in the structure. The size of the window on the facade increases from a mere slit near the ground level to highly decorated overhanging balconies (rabsals).

The royal building comprise of nine levels. The two lower levels served as storage place and foundation of the structure. The palace is entered through an elaborately embellished wooden portico gate known as singe- sgo (the lion gate) at level two on eastern elevation. A flight of stone steps give access to upper levels. Level three is suppose to have rooms for cooks, helpers and servants. Another flight of steps from the corridors of this level leads to an open courtyard known as khatok chenmo, a platform of cultural and social events as well as to the shrine accommodating the stucco image of ushnishasitatapatra (gsdugs- dkar) at level four. From level sixth sun dried mud bricks have been used probably to reduce weight on lower levels.

The Palace was occupied till the time of Dogra invasion (1834-40) when the royal family shifted to Stok Palace, since then the Palace remained more or less abandoned, due to which the decay began. Both man made and natural factors played equal role. The Palace was in a ruined state when Archaeological Survey of India declared the edifice as a Monument of National Importance in the year 1982 and carried out restoration and conservation work gradually in a phased manner to consolidate the structure and revive the glory of the Palace.

Ancient site and remains, Burzahom

Burzahom is located in district Srinagar, 16 km ne of Srinagar by thesiteshortest route via Nasim, and 24 km via famous Shalimar garden built by Mughal ruler Jahangir. The site is located on the ancient lake bed, locally called karewa. It commands a panoramic view of hills on one hand and the lush green fields of the valley on the other. Famous Dal Lake lies hardly 2 km away from the site. As the forests abound in the close by hills, and the lakes as well as swampy areas in site's vicinity, the location of sites was ideal for food procuring by way of hunting, fishing, and fowling.

Ancient Temple of Martand

The temple was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida (circa AD 724-60), thetemple 2 most powerful and renowned monarch of the Karkota dynasty of Kashmir. The temple of Martand represents the very climax of the typical Kashmiri architecture style. This temple is dedicated to martand the sun-god. Martand temple is mentioned again by Kalhana in context to the rule of Harsha (AD 1089-1101), son of Kalasa. The king Harsha who had robbed the treasures and images from all the temples in the kingdom is stated to have respected only two chief divine images – 'The illustrious Ranasvamin in the city (nagaram i.e. capital) and Martanda among the images in townships (pattaneshu).

The last notice of Martand by Kalhana relates to his own time during the reign of Jayasimha (AD 1128-55). It is mentioned that there was a battle fought between the royal troops of Sanjapal and the forces of Trillaka and in this battle Sanjapal had become unconscious due to fall on hard ground and rescued by his two sons and placed within the quadrangle of the Martand temple.

Avantisvami Temple

The temple is situated on the right side of Jammu-Srinagar Nationalavantisvami Highway and it was built by king Avantivaraman in CE 855-83 dedicated to Vishnu. This temple comprises a colonnade peristyle, enclosing a paved spacious oblong courtyard in the centre of which is the main shrine, four subsidiary shrines at the corners, and a double chambered imposing gateway in the center of the western side. It is of panchaytana type of temple. To approach this shrine the entrance is in the middle of the west wall is flanked by a stairs is profusely ornamented with sculptured reliefs. The space between the main gate and the main shrine is decorated with a moulded pedestal base which appears to be mandapa with open sides containing within perhaps a garudadhavaja. The sanctum is triratha on plan externally, while the interior is square.

The superstructure of the sanctum has almost disappeared in fact the only fragments left on the site are of lowest courses of the walls in the northern side. The parapets on either side of the staircase leading to the sanctum carry the figures of Kamadeva, King Avantivarman, his queen and entourage. Almost all the cells have trefoil door openings. There are a large number of architectural members lying inside the temple, the most interesting of which are the representation of the facade with trefoil design and its superstructure on pillars, miniature temple flanked by a standing female, figures of Lakulisa.

Group of Temples

Kiramchi is a small village in Udhampur district of Jammu & Kashmirgroup of temples. It lies at a distance of 12 kms north of Udhampur on Udhampur-Lander road and 67 km from Jammu. The complex consists of five temples and two small shrines. This valley amidst green mountains is located at an elevation of 730 m above the mean sea level. Two rivulets namely Birunala (also known as Bhutesvari) and Kiramchi are draining in this area.

Source: Must See Indian Heritage

Last Modified : 7/1/2020



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