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Raksasa Lore in the Kulu Valley

As appeared in ‘Eastern Approaches: Essays on Asian Art and Archaeology’, edited by T. S. Maxwell. Delhi, 1992. Rākśasa Lore in the Kulu Valley by Gabriele Jettmar-Thakur The Western Himalaya is believed to be infested with evil spirits who constantly interfere with gods and men. The ancient Kulu state, situated on the banks of the river Beas, houses some 360 deities and is called ‘The Valley of the Gods’. There are probably as many Read more…

By Admin, ago

Basheshar Mahadev Temple of Bajaura, Kullu

Bajaura is a small town in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated on the right bank of river Beas about 14 km south of Kullu town. Several temples and a large fort once existed in Bajaura indicating it was an important centre of social, cultural and economic activity in the past. The ruins of the fort itself were still visible towards the end of the nineteenth century. It stood majestically on the Read more…

By Kulwant Singh Thakur, ago

Yoginis of the Upper Kullu Valley (1991)

A translation from French of an article by Helene Diserens (1920-2005) published 1991 in Bulletin d’Études Indiennes. The Yoginis of the Upper Kullu Valley (Himachal Pradesh) by Helene Diserens During my several visits to the upper Beas valley, I stumbled across a few little wooden temples (ranging in height from 1 to 1.30 m), most of which were devoid of images. These are temples of jognis — jogni is the local term for yogini Read more…

By Admin, ago

Journey to Kulu in the Himalayas (1897)

The following is a translation from German of a travelogue by Gustav Oppert published 1897 in Vol. LXXI, Issue 1, of the Globus magazine. Journey to Kulu in the Himalayas by Prof. Gustav Oppert (Illustrations after photographs by the author) During my many years of residence in India, I had often harboured the wish to visit northern India, but obstacles of various kinds had always stood in the way. Finally, at the end of Read more…

By Admin, ago

कुल्लू में लौग जागीर

प्रस्तुत लेख में विभिन्न प्रकाशित सामग्री से एकत्रित जानकारी के आधार पर कुल्लू की एक छोटी सी रियासत की स्थापना तथा विघटन का वर्णन है, जिसका एक बड़ा भू-भाग आज लौगा और लग-वैली के नाम से जाना जाता है। 1. पृष्ठभूमि सुकेत राज्य, ईस्वी सन् 1240 के आसपास सुकेत के राजा मंतर सेन की बिना पुत्र मृत्यु हो जाने के कारण शाही अधिकारियों द्वारा राजा के एक निकट संबंधी मियां मदन को उत्तराधिकारी चुना Read more…

By Kulwant Singh Thakur, ago

पहाड़ी में रचित साहित्य यात्रा और मूल्यांकन | हिमप्रस्थ आलेख (2020)

सूचना एवं जन-सम्पर्क विभाग, हिमाचल प्रदेश की मासिक पत्रिका हिमप्रस्थ, वर्ष 2019-20 के संयुक्तांक 11-12 (फरवरी-मार्च, 2020) में छपा सुदर्शन वशिष्ठ जी द्वारा लिखित एक आलेख। यूं तो किसी भी भाषा का निर्माण सदियों से चली आ रही परंपरा और संस्कारों से होता है। समय के अनंतर उसके साहित्य का निर्माण और फिर व्याकरण व भाषा विज्ञान बनता है। किंतु यह भी सत्य है कि भाषा का प्रयोग, प्रचलन व विकास राजतन्त्र की शक्ति Read more…

By Admin, ago

Invaluable, Indispensable… the Pahari-Hindi Shabdkosh

Enriching my mother tongue Kahluri (a Western Pahari language) would be a lifelong endeavour for me. If you are a Pahari speaker like me, one of the things that we have in common is the dearth of good, chaste and ‘ठेठ’ (typical) vocabulary. With our communities opening up more to the dominant ones as a result of globalization, we have actually reduced ‘Pahari’ from our daily lives. Our Pahari has been confined to simple Read more…

By Project Pahari, ago

Sculpture of Ganga from Jagatsukh, Kulu

A unique and fabulous sculpture of Ganga, the river goddess personified, was found in 1905 at the Sandhya Devi temple of Jagatsukh (Kulu) by archeologist Hirananda Shastri. In his paper ‘Historical Documents of Kulu,’ he mentioned the sculpture briefly, writing: “The only relics of the former prosperity of the [Jagatsukh] town are a few old sculptures placed in the shrine of Sandhya Devi, the best of which representing Ganga on her vehicle the makara, Read more…

By Kulwant Singh Thakur, ago

Historical Documents of Kulu

This is a reproduction of the paper “Historical Documents of Kulu” by Hiranand Shastri published in the Annual Report (1911) of Archaeological Survey of India for the year 1907-08. KULU is a sub-division of the Kangra district of the Panjab and comprises the Upper Bias Valley, Waziri Rupi, Saraj, Lahul and Spiti. It lies between 31° 20′ and 30° 55′ latitude and 76° 50′ and 78° 35″ longitude. On the north it is bounded Read more…

By Admin, ago

The Cleveland Surya & Its Kulu Connection

The magnificent image of Surya in the Cleveland Museum of Art depicts the sun god standing straight in samapada-sthanaka (समपाद-स्थानक) posture and wearing udicya-vesa (उदीच्य-वेश), or the northern dress, which includes a long tunic and high boots. He is holding lotuses in his hands. The exquisite and richly embroidered tunic is supported at the waist by an avyanga (अव्यङ्ग) or mekhala (मेखल) having a floral buckle and the boots feature beaded trims. The sun Read more…

By Kulwant Singh Thakur, ago

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