Glory of temples, buildings, forts fading in Kangra’s Guler

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, July 29

The glory of centuries old temples, forts and buildings at Guler in Kangra district is fading. The beautiful engravings on the buildings and temples have been callously painted with limestone by the local management committees or panchayats. This has damaged the engravings.

A visit to the area revealed that the erstwhile Guler state of Himachal was being ignored due to apathy of the state government. Bilasa Devi temple in Bilaspur near Guler is a beautiful example of the old temple architecture of the area. The temple has engravings of Lord Shiva. It has an old “Bauli” (natural underground water source) that is surrounded by beautiful carvings on stones.

However, a portion of the temple has been destroyed. The old stone structure has been plastered with cement. Residents said the local management committee of the temple and panchayat had white-washed the temple to preserve it. However, Rakesh Kumar, who looks after the heritage buildings of Kangra district, said the limestone white-wash would erode the fragile engravings on the walls of the temple. Bilasa temple is in the name of the old queen of the Guler state, who created this water facility for the people. Sources here said the white-wash and other cement repairs of Bilasa Devi temple had been done under the MGNREGA scheme.

A visit to Haripur and Guler towns also revealed that the old fort of Guler had been damaged. The palace was connected to rivulets by tunnels. These tunnels were used by workers to carry water to the fort during summers. The structure has been destroyed. There are many temples, including the famous Masroor rock cut temple, which were part of the Guler state. Some temples got submerged in the Pong Dam lake. INTACH had submitted a proposal with the Union Ministry for Culture to restore the old temples submerged in the Pong Dam lake. However, the proposal did not materialise. Only the Masroor temple is being preserved by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).

The Arts and Languages Department is responsible for the preservation of the old buildings. However, the department is dependent on the ministry for funds. In the Guler area, the ancient temples are still under the control of the local panchayats or management committees. The state government was controlling only 28 temples. There are about 4,000 temples and most of them are being controlled by managements. The ASI has also taken over some temples.

Hoshiar Singh, Independent MLA from Dehra, said, “The area has been ignored in terms of development.”

Temples submerged in Pong Dam lake

There are many temples, including the famous Masroor rock cut temple, that were part of the Guler state. Some temples got submerged in the Pong Dam lake. INTACH had submitted a proposal with the Union Ministry for Culture to restore the old temples submerged in the Pong Dam lake. However, the proposal did not materialise. Only the Masroor temple is being preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India.