The Jammu Diaries - Bahu Fort, Bawe Wali Mata Temple

 From where we were, the Bahu Fort looks an imposing structure across the river and I decided to visit it. The auto guy Rinku took us there and parked right in front of the fort. The Bahu fort is named after king Bahulochan who built the fort.

Bahu Fort

Raja Jambulochan is considered the founder of Jambu or Jammu town, and he is considered to be of the Ikshwaku dynasty. He ascended the throne after his brother Bahulochan who built the fort for Goddess Mahakali who is the patron deity of Jammu. After Jambulochan the Raj, Dhar and Dev dynasties ruled over Jammu. 

A more panaromic view

Somewhere I read that the Parmar Rajputs built this fort but Bahulochan seems to have renovated it. The main thing about the fort is that it is a religious place with a temple of Kali inside called Bawe Wali Mata. It is considered a Shakti temple from the 8th century. We got off the auto and made our way into what looked like a market place that led to the fort and the temple.

Bagh-e-Bahu

The fort is rather small, not as imposing as it looked from far. The main attraction is the temple inside. One has to deposit mobiles and stuff before going in and we did that. Inside the fort there is a complex of temples - the main one being the Kali temple and other smaller shrines around it. 

More Bagh-e-Bahu

There was a langar going on and free food was being distributed. Lots of devotees and many tourists thronged the place. Far as the fort is concerned I am not sure there is much to see apart from the walls but the view from the walls would have been nice. However we were short of time and we made it out.

To the citizens of Jammu

An interesting cluster of temples

On the way back we stopped at the Bagh-e-Bahu, a garden next to the Bahu fort. Quite nice. Some school kids and some random people were walking around the park.

I also saw an interesting cluster of temples outside Bagh-e-Bahu. It seems to be the pattern here to have a cluster of shrines. No wonder its called 'City of Temples'.

The Jammu Diaries - Amar Mahal Palace

 The Amar Mahal Palace was commissioned by Raja Amar Singh in the 19th century and was designed by a French architect to resemble a French chateau. The royal family lived here, Maharaja Hari Singh was born here before they moved out. The queen Tara Devi lived in the palace until 1967. 

Amar Mahal Palace

The Amar Mahal Palace has now been converted into a museum and a cultural arts centre donated by Karan Singh to the Hari-Tara Charitable Trust.

Maraja Hari Singh, Maharani Tara Devi and Dr Karan Singh

Collection of books

The entry to the palace is magnificent with vast drive ways, a large beautifully landscaped orchard, and then well manicured gardens until we see the palace on the left, standing on the top of a hillock looking over the river Tawi. When we visited, the gardens were filled with school children playing, and it was such a lovely sight to see such nice places being opened to children - most times they are restricted from playing.

Royal clothes

Nataraja

The entry fees was 100 bucks for the ground floor and 150 bucks for both and despite me telling the guy to give me the 150 buck ticket he gave me a 100 buck one so we took it. At each room of the palace is a well trained guide who guides us through the interesting parts of the room.

View of the valley

The first room had pictures and scrolls with the history of the Dogra kings. There were also fine clothes worn by the ladies of yester years on display.

120 kg gold throne

In the second room there were many artifacts, a Nataraja, several books written by Dr Karan Singh, sculptures and so on. The upper floor apparently has a library with 25000 antique books.

Back view

We stepped out of that room on to the corridor from which one had a fabulous view of the river Tawi and the city on the other side. The lawns behind made for such a pretty setting that one can imagine the royals having tea in these lawns in those yesteryears.

Lawns overlooking the Tawi

Back view of the palace

The next room had some paintings and then the most interesting piece of work - a 120 kg gold throne. It is secured and has a guard obviously.

Further down were two rooms filled with paintings with Kashmiri themes. 

Jyo and Chattu in front of the palace

Maharaja Gulab Singh's statue

 

School children playing

Beside Amar Mahal there are newer constructions which are now let out as hotels and we could see that there was a wedding going on.

We walked out and saw a statue of Maharaja Gulab Singh in the park. We watched the kids play around for a bit and then left. Beautiful.  

The Jammu Diaries - Peerkho Caves

 The Peerkho caves named after Peer saint Siddha Ghareeb Nath, are also believed to be caves where the bear King Jambavanth, from the Ramayana fame, meditated. It's a 20-30 feet deep cave.

Way to Peerkho Caves

The auto guy drove us straight there despite us telling him that we should go there last so I guess we were meant to be there. We walked up to the temple and were immediately told by a guy sitting there to wash our hands. 

Gateway

We went and washed our hands and then we were told to fill a lota (a steel tumbler, several of which were kept in a basket) with water for the deities. We carried our lotas with water and the flowers he gave us and went in.

Going up to the caves

Out of the temple

The steps led us down into a cave which is about 4 feet high at its lowest so we had to bend in half and walk in. The first temple was of Lord Shiva and that is where we poured the water and placed the flowers. On the way out we found another small aperture and went into it and found a temple of Kali.

View from the temple - Tawi river

Another temple even below that - all narrow paths and low ceilings. No one there. Once can sit and meditate for as long as one wishes in those caves. Quite a beautiful experience. 

The Jammu Diaries - Mubarak Mandi Palace

 Though I did not actually visit the Mubarak Mandi palace, it is so imposing that I decided to dedicate a whole blog to it. Standing atop a hillock looking over the Tawi river and the Bahu fort on the other side, the Mubarak Mandi palace was built within the walled city of Jammu. Construction was started i 1824 by the Dogra dynasty and it remained the dynasty's main seat of power until Maharaja Hari Singh moved to Hari Niwas Palace.

The Mubarak Mandi palace

The palace, massive as it is, had multiple palace complexes, inside - Darbar Hall, Gol Ghar, Pink Palace, Sheesh Mahal among others. The palace was neglected once Maharaja Hari Singh moved away and it is said that he was particularly not attached to this palace as he had some unpleasant memories of it.

From my vantage

The Dogra dynasty was founded by Raja Dhruv Dev (1707-33) and then went to Maharaja Ranjit Singh who captured Jammu until it came back to Maharaja Gulab Singh of the Dogra dynasty who ruled from here.

Lost glory

More on this when I find it.

The Jammu Diaries - Long Walk to Mubarak Mandi Palace

 I set off for a walk and decided to trek the 6 kms to Mubarak Mandi Palace. The frist sight along the way was the Maharaja Hari Singh Garden which was a mere 10 minutes form the hotel. I went in and found some morning walkers - very few by other city standards. the garden is situated right next to the River Tawi and is a rather small place.

Statue of Maharaja Hari Singh

Sunrise over the Tawi river

I trekked up the road which gradually became  a steeper incline and came to an area where there was baking of buns and biscuits and stuff going on. 

Baker at work

Sunrise over a silhouette of the Bahu Fort 

I also passed the bridge that connects this part of the city with the other part across the Tawi (there are several all lit up by bright colours at night). The other side has the Bahu fort, Bagh-e-Bahu and the Mahakali temple.

Way to Peer Kho caves or Jamvanth caves

Further up I came to a hilly terrain from where the road to the Peerkho caves showed up. I passed it and went down the road and soon found the Mubarak Mandi Palace located high up on the hill. It is clearly in ruins, is massive and needs another day to check out. 

The majestic Mubarak Mandi Palace

A Beauty Parlour

Dry Cleaners - at work

It being more than 5-6 kms that I walked I decided to take a rickshaw back (they charge 100 bucks for any drop looks like) and went back to the hotel.  

The Jammu Diaries - Raghunath Temple

The Raghunath temple was about a km from our hotel and one fine morning I took off for a walk to explore the area and visit the temple. The entire area around the temple is called Raghunath market and its a busy bazaar where one can find dry fruits, clothes and all sorts of stuff that Jammu is famous for.

Raghunath temple at night

I entered the temple rather early in the morning and was quite pleasantly surprised to find not many people inside. Another cause for surprise is that it was a huge complex with several shrines and lots of place and gardens etc. The temple construction was started in 1835 by Maharaja Gulab Singh of the Dogra dynasty.

The temple complex during day

The presiding deity is Lord Rama. There are seven shrines and all around the main temple are corridors inside which there are smaller shrines. Overall there are some 300 idols of gods and goddesses inside the complex.

The main shrine

Mata Vaishno Devi shrine behind the main shrine

With no devotees around, the main pujari was free and he gave me a small introduction to the history of the temple and gave me prasad. I went out and explored the complex a little,. I found a beautiful Shiva temple to one side.

The main shrine

The complex also has a school and a library which has some 6000 manuscripts of ancient times.

Shiva temple

The Raghunath market

While reading up on the temple I read that in 2002 there were two terrorist attacks on the temple - in March and November - where terrorists indiscriminately fired and killed 20 devotees and injured 40. The temple is well guarded with security personnel now.

It was a beautiful experience and once again, one can sit here for hours in peace.  

The Jammu Diaries - Gurudwara Shri Guru Nanak Sahib

 The road from the Jammu airport to our hotel took us over a bridge across the river Tawi. I remember the train Jammu Tawi Express which in our childhood was one long connection to the distant land of Kashmir. Seeing the broad Tawi river was interesting. Apparently it had filled up almost to the level of the bridge in last March's floods.

Gurudwara Shri Guru Nanak Sahib, Jammu

But the highlight of day one was the Gurudwara right next to our hotel - a fantastic view form my window. It's a beautiful structure, so well maintained that every day I would see a person climb up and clean the golden domes. The Gurudwara is a symbol of Guru Nanak Dev ji's teachings and spiritual legacy.

Gurudwara at night

The entrance from within

Though we did not visit the Gurudwara on day 1, Chatterjee, Jyothi Shetty and me went there a day later. All are welcome in Gurudwaras irrespective of religion or creed. We left our footwear outside, tied the cloth on our head and walked into a beautiful, large hall. One can sit there for hours in peace and quiet leaning against the wall.

Find the man cleaning the domes - everyday

The complex

We ate some prasad and listened to a prayer and left the Gurudwara. Beautiful experience.