Location and Information
Nurpur in Himachal
Nurpur is a city and a municipal council in Kangra district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It was formerly a Kingdom ruled by the Pathania clan of Tomara Rajputs, since the 11th century AD. The capital of the Kingdom was at Pathankot formerly known as Paithan, now in Punjab. Nurpur has an average altitude of 643 metres (2109 feet). Nurpur was founded in the 11th century by Raja Jhet Pal, who was the younger brother of the ruler of Delhi. It reached its peak during the reign of Raja Basu, from 1580 to 1613, who built an impressive fort that can still be seen today.
How Nurpur got its name
Earlier Nurpur was known with the name of Dhameri. This was changed when it was visited by Queen Nur Jehan, the wife of the Mughal emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir, who ruled between 1569–1627. According to the local legend, the queen was so impressed by beauty and richness of town that she decided to stay here for the rest of her life. This decision made the local administration worry since the Mughal empire at that time were expanding across India and the local leaders of Dhameri did not want their peaceful town to be a central point for Mughal domination and influenced by external politics. So, to deal with this without offending the queen and suffering the wrath of the Mughal empire, they devised a simple but effective plan. They advised the queen that staying in their town for a long period of time could spoil her great beauty, and that there is also a fictitious local disease in town that might afflict her. This terrified the queen so much that she hurriedly left. So in 1622 CE, the name of the town was changed to Nurpur in honor of the Mughal queen who fell in love with the beauty of the place. Before 1947, Nurpur was a princely state ruled by the Pathania clan of Rajputs. The Pathania Clan (or Tomar / Tanwar clan of Chandravanshi Rajputs) had ruled here for more than eight centuries
Access Route
- Delhi is 500 Km. from Nurpur
- Shimla is 280 Km. from Nurpur
- Manali is 287 Km. from Nurpur
- Dharamshala is 62 Km. from Nurpur
- Dalhousie is 56 Km. from Nurpur
- Chamba is 110 Km. from Nurpur
- The closest RAIL-head is Pathankot 20 km. away
- Airport in Kangra is at a distance of 50 km.
- Taxis and buses are easily available from these places
The gateway to the Himachal from Punjab, Una, Chandigarh etc., and surrounded by pine trees and refreshing winds, Nurpur is a fine resting spot for looking to spend quality times in Himachal Pradesh while exploring some beautiful un-explored tourist places around the place. Nurpur is a quiet town, with a sense of enchantment. There are a few short treks to local River and to upper Forest areas proving a much needed long stretch to relax the tired bodies from a long journey.
Nurpur Climate
NURPUR has moderate to warm climate along with refreshing winds from distant Dalhousie valley and Hathidhar hills for almost all the year round so it is welcoming to the tourists all through the year. Summer season is hot and average temprature varies between 30°C and 38°C during day time depending upon the different areas of Nurpur because of a unique variation in altitude of Nurpur area for it is located on foothills of Himalayas and temperature can go up and cross 40°C during afternoon hours is some rocky areas of Nurpur during peak season of summer. The full monsoon arrives in by the end of July and remains till September. The temperature drops down to a certain limit with the arrival of monsoon rains. The humidity level is increased during the monsoon. October and November months witness a moderate fall in average temprature and weather is steady for tourism related activities. During the months of December, January and February, the winter season prevails. The temperature can drop down to 1°C when the winter season is at its peak. The maximum temperature during winters is 26°C.
