Kangra Fort is located on the outskirts of Kangra city in India and about 20 kms from Dharamshala city. This fort is spread over a large area through an outer circle about 4 km long. This fort was built by the royal Rajput family of the Katoch dynasty. It is the largest fort in the Himalayas and probably also the oldest in India. The fort has a total of 11 gates and 23 bastions. The courtyard of the temple is closed by Darshani Darwaza, the gate leading from here is called the palace door. This gate is 7 meters long and only wide enough to pass through two persons or a horse. The walls of this gate are about 15 feet high. It was constructed with the aim of stopping or slowing down the enemy army. It is believed that the fort of Kangra was built by Maharaja Susarma Chandra of the Katoch dynasty. Susarma Chandra fought for the Kauravas in the war of Mahabharata, and after the defeat of the Kauravas, instead of coming to his capital in Multan, he came to Kangra with his soldiers. At the same time, he took Trigarta under his control and built this fort to protect his kingdom. If history is to be believed: Mahmud Ghazni was the first enemy to step into the fort. His attack was so intense that the commanders of the fort: could not even close the gates of the fort. In 1619, the Mughal army laid siege to the fort for about 14 months, and finally, in 1620, Akbar's son Jahangir captured the fort. In 1789, Maharaja Sansar Chand emerged as a powerful ruler, and conquered almost all the neighboring territories, including Chamba, Kahlur, Mandi and Sirmaur. It is also said that there are 21 treasure wells in the Kangra Fort. Each well is 4 meters deep and around two and a half meters in circumference. There is a local belief that the fort still hides eight more treasure wells within its walls. For More Information Visit: www.indiahighlight.com/

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