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Have you ever heard of a place on earth where, as
the legend speaks, honey bees flew a heavy stone slab to a castle for
worship? The place is Naggar, situated in the Beas valley in the
state of Himachal Pradesh. Legends live here like truth.
Naggar undoubtedly has
ubiquitous mystic appeal and spirituality endowed in the stately
deodars, deified mountains, razor-thin waterfalls and the divine snow
covered environs. Glaciers surround the upper Beas region from three
sides, the highest peaks being 21,760 ft and 23,050 ft. Chanderkhani
pass at 12,200 ft. leading to Malana valley is close by and here, in
summer, the vegetation grows upto a height of 10,000 ft.
The town is spread out
like a leaf of the peepul tree unfolded on the slope of Han peak,
13,500-14,500 ft. The leaf stem is held by Nicholas Roerich’s
erstwhile residence; the castle and the town are located in the leaf
palm; while a poor man’s log cottage holds the tapering leaf
point before it merges into the river Beas. Naggar town is still the
same as when painted by Roerich.
Since Naggar was the
capital of Kullu for about 1460 years, it is imperative that it
display a king’s lineage too. So, we have the story of Raja Sidh
Singh who built Naggar Castle, about 504 years ago.
Naggar Castle, now
converted to a hotel since 1978 is an imposing structure. It was
built by using a local stone, the layers of which are interposed by
long pieces of cut wood. It rises, to be topped by a grey slate roof.
Wooden brackets and carved windows are being restored to capture the
originality of the castle. The style of construction ensured a lot of
resilience in the structure, and it successfully withstood the mighty
and disastrous earthquake of 1905. The tale recounted by villagers of
its construction is interesting. It is said that the stone for
building the edifice was to be brought from the other side of River
Naggar. So right upto Baragarh Fort, a human chain of laborers stood,
passing the stones hand to hand. The stones, picked up from the ruins
of Gardhak, a fortified palace of Rana Bhosal, gave the king his
castle. The site commands a stupendous view of the valley and snow
laden peaks.
Inside this castle is a
small temple that could have passed unnoticed had it not been for the
powerful legend associated with it. It is believed that it was
decided to make Naggar the celestial seat of all the gods in the
world. The gods hence transformed themselves into honey bees endowed
with Herculean power and cut a specimen of Deo Tibba and flew it to
the present site of Jagti Patt temple—appropriately named. The
stone slab is actually 5 ft x 8 ft x 6 inches. It is the unshaken
belief of the locals that even now in times of calamity, all the
Kullu gods assemble here to mitigate the suffering of the people.
Some pieces of sculpture that have been recovered from Naggar are
lined up in the inner verandah of the palace. They speak volumes
about the creativity of the people.
Two temples, each
distinctive in style and dating to antiquity, are located close to
this castle. The grey sandstone Shiva temple of Gauri Shankar is at
the foot of the bazaar beside the castle. It was erected during the
11th-12th century. A wicket gate leads to this
stone structure, topped with an umbrella-like slate roof, perhaps
protecting the shikhara from vagaries of uncertain weather. A
trader’s pressing survival instinct has made him build a small
shop very close to the temple gate. The other temple a little higher
uphill, is the Tripura Sundari Devi temple. This is unusually built
like a pagoda and on the sloping twin tapering roofs, we have a
monkey and a lion, carved in wood at each corner. Beside this temple
are several crafted wood pieces displaying floral and geometric
designs. More temples, dedicated to Muralidhar Krishna above the
ridge, and the little Chatar Bhuj Temple of Vishnu also exist in the
town. Every morning and evening the temple bells toll a music of
compassion, peace and brotherhood, unrestrained. Vermilion paste
marks inside the temple and on the forehead of the devout, establish
a bond between God and man.
Nikolai Konstantinovich
Roerich, born in 1874 at St. Petersburg, emigrated to this beautiful
town and built an abode for himself and his family, high up on the
Naggar ridge. This house gives the impression of a towering nest
located up a tree. The town vibrates with the spirit of Roerich, his
indefatigable courage, sensitivity and emotion, love for the local
culture, passion to celebrate the beauty of nature and his god gifted
ability to paint. If the mountains of this region are known all over
the world, it is only through Roerich paintings—those done by
Nicholas and his son Svyatoslav Roerich. The archaeologist,
philosopher, writer, traveller, painter that N.K. Roerich was, he
started a world movement to protect cultural monuments. N.K. Roerich
died at Naggar in 1947. The mountains still pulsate with his unending
love for the place.
The Roerich house at
Naggar, is perhaps the best maintained building. It has a resplendent
view of the Dhauladhar mountains, on all three sides. Some of the
Roerich originals are housed here. The home of Roerich is preserved
as a museum, with all the rooms kept as they were last used. Inside,
you can see the beds, library, settees, writing tables, toiletries,
and samovars of the Roerich family.
A little above, through a
winding pathway is situated another Roerich building. The shadows of
deodar trees and the sun ray’s play hide and seek here. A
curious pattern emerges upon the ground which keeps fluctuating with
the wind. An interplay of shadow and light, the struggle, which is so
material and prominent in the world, is witnessed here. Perhaps, to
increase the light, Roerich conceived of a Himalayan Research
Institute, founded in 1928. It was named Urusvati, meaning “Light
of the Morning Star”. The purpose was to preserve the rapidly
vanishing Himalayan folklore and knowledge of medicine. It also
pioneered research in original art and the sciences. The Roerich
sons, George and Svytoslav, ran the institute. This institute now
houses a collection of paintings, embroidery, straw dolls, Russian
dolls, musical instruments, ceramic ware, whistles and jewellery
boxes, amongst a host of other articles.
The roaring sound of a
waterfall heard from a hill behind this house of culture, is a
constant reminder of Roerich’s untiring efforts and originality.
It seems as if the spirit of Nicholas Roerich still hovers near his
house at Naggar, sometimes blowing in the wind, sometimes running in
the current of a waterfall, always celebrating joyously the beauty of
the snowy mountains that he so lovingly painted.
The mystic appeal of
Naggar town and of the Roerich works merges before your eyes and
drifts in the mountain air. Like the fragrance of wild narcissus that
can be seen sprouting here amidst the carpet of wildflowers, it
scents the world.
Naggar is at an altitude
of 1760 m. New Delhi is 543 km away and the town is approachable from
Bhuntar airport in Kullu valley.
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