In Ladakhi, the word 'Ladakh' means a region of tall mountains. A saying in Ladakhi aptly describes the difficult terrain needed to be crossed to come here - Only a special friend or a sworn enemy will take pains to come here. Ladakh's history bears testimony to this.
Did you know that this difficult-to-access terrain boasts of one of world's tallest and India's oldest standing sky-scraper? That's the Leh Palace - with its 9 floors, 2 of them underground.
Ladakh's capital Leh is situated at a distance of 430 Km from Srinagar. Leh Palace is the most easily recognizable landmark here.
The dynasty that ruled here was called Namgyal - meaning victorious. The dynasty was started by one Tashi Namgyal in 14th century. His grandson Sengge Namgyal built this palace. There are lots of interesting aspects to its construction. e.g. It is built on the foundation of the mountain's granite stone. The lower part of the walls is of stones while the upper is made up of baked earth so that the structure remains light ta the top and doesn't fall off easily during an earthquake - a frequent enough occurrence in this region. Like Tajmahal, the legend goes that when the construction was over, the hands of people instrumental in building it were hacked off to prevent them from constructing a similar structure elsewhere. History tells us that it took 4 years for the construction to complete.
Floors 4 to 6 were being used for the day-to-day activities of the royal court. The upper floors might have been occupied by the royal family. Though some paintings can be seen here today, it cannot be said with certainty that they belong to the Namgyal era. The 5th floor houses royal temple where religious ceremonies are conducted to this day. Public functions used to take place on the roof of the 4th floor.
There was a time when Leh, and this palace, represented a powerful kingdom. Their rule extended right upto Kulu-Manali. It is said that Tibet's Potala Palace is inspired by the design of the Leh Palace. Ironically it is the Potala Palace, and not the Leh Palace, that gained worldwide fame.
So why was this palace abandoned? Though it is true that the Ladakhi rulers did engage in a lot of battles with the Mughals, the Mughals never came to this region either to rule or to spread Islam. They aren't responsible for its downfall.
Ladakh was never attacked from any part of India - except for one. The Dogara General Jorawar Singh was sent here in 1834 by the then king of Jammu and Kashmir - King Raj Singh. The temperature drops to -42 in winter here. Despite this he managed to bring his army through the
Zanskar ranges - that too with such swift speed that the Namgyal ruler was caught completely unawares and hence lost the battle. This attack happened because King Raj Singh had bought Kashmir and its surrounding region for 75 Lakhs (a sum that is astronomical even by today's standards!). He wanted to recoup the expense. If the Namgyal king had given money to Jorawar Singh, he might have withdrawn his troops. But he refused and paid the price. The Leh Palace sustained quite a lot of damage during the war and the royal family had to be shifted to the Stok Palace, which is situated a short distance away.
Jorawar Singh constructed a fort to keep tab on Leh. This fort, called Jorawar Fort, though made of earth, is so strongly built that it was in use even after his time. Now the Indian army looks after it. In fact, they have their stable at the same place where Jorawar Singh used to keep his horses. A well from that time can still be seen at this fort.
Emboldened by his conquering of Leh, Jorawar Singh attacked Lhasa with the intention of taking Tibet. But the British had their interest over there and warned Lhasa in advance and also supplied them with ammunition. Jorawar Singh lost his life on the battlefield.
After 1947, Ladakh became a part of India and the palace was abandoned.
Did you know that this difficult-to-access terrain boasts of one of world's tallest and India's oldest standing sky-scraper? That's the Leh Palace - with its 9 floors, 2 of them underground.
Ladakh's capital Leh is situated at a distance of 430 Km from Srinagar. Leh Palace is the most easily recognizable landmark here.
The dynasty that ruled here was called Namgyal - meaning victorious. The dynasty was started by one Tashi Namgyal in 14th century. His grandson Sengge Namgyal built this palace. There are lots of interesting aspects to its construction. e.g. It is built on the foundation of the mountain's granite stone. The lower part of the walls is of stones while the upper is made up of baked earth so that the structure remains light ta the top and doesn't fall off easily during an earthquake - a frequent enough occurrence in this region. Like Tajmahal, the legend goes that when the construction was over, the hands of people instrumental in building it were hacked off to prevent them from constructing a similar structure elsewhere. History tells us that it took 4 years for the construction to complete.
Floors 4 to 6 were being used for the day-to-day activities of the royal court. The upper floors might have been occupied by the royal family. Though some paintings can be seen here today, it cannot be said with certainty that they belong to the Namgyal era. The 5th floor houses royal temple where religious ceremonies are conducted to this day. Public functions used to take place on the roof of the 4th floor.
There was a time when Leh, and this palace, represented a powerful kingdom. Their rule extended right upto Kulu-Manali. It is said that Tibet's Potala Palace is inspired by the design of the Leh Palace. Ironically it is the Potala Palace, and not the Leh Palace, that gained worldwide fame.
So why was this palace abandoned? Though it is true that the Ladakhi rulers did engage in a lot of battles with the Mughals, the Mughals never came to this region either to rule or to spread Islam. They aren't responsible for its downfall.
Ladakh was never attacked from any part of India - except for one. The Dogara General Jorawar Singh was sent here in 1834 by the then king of Jammu and Kashmir - King Raj Singh. The temperature drops to -42 in winter here. Despite this he managed to bring his army through the
Zanskar ranges - that too with such swift speed that the Namgyal ruler was caught completely unawares and hence lost the battle. This attack happened because King Raj Singh had bought Kashmir and its surrounding region for 75 Lakhs (a sum that is astronomical even by today's standards!). He wanted to recoup the expense. If the Namgyal king had given money to Jorawar Singh, he might have withdrawn his troops. But he refused and paid the price. The Leh Palace sustained quite a lot of damage during the war and the royal family had to be shifted to the Stok Palace, which is situated a short distance away.
Jorawar Singh constructed a fort to keep tab on Leh. This fort, called Jorawar Fort, though made of earth, is so strongly built that it was in use even after his time. Now the Indian army looks after it. In fact, they have their stable at the same place where Jorawar Singh used to keep his horses. A well from that time can still be seen at this fort.
Emboldened by his conquering of Leh, Jorawar Singh attacked Lhasa with the intention of taking Tibet. But the British had their interest over there and warned Lhasa in advance and also supplied them with ammunition. Jorawar Singh lost his life on the battlefield.
After 1947, Ladakh became a part of India and the palace was abandoned.
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