User:Kotgarh/Kotgarh

Kotgarh is a famous enchanting ancient village on the left bank of river Satluj. The Kotgarh valley is the apple heartland of Himachal. It is at a distance of 82 kilometers from Shimla on the old Hindustan-Tibet road and 6,500 feet above the sea level.

Rudyard Kipling called it the ‘Mistress of the Northern Hills” and mention of Kotgarh could be found in one of his short story 'Lispeth'.

Geography

 Kotgarh is situated in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India, its geographical coordinates are 31° 19' 0" North, 77° 29' 0" East.

This valley is in the shape of an 'U' that adds to the exceptional beauty of the area. It offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Kullu valley and the snow clad Greater Himalayas. About 1800 m down flows the turbulent Satluj fed by the melting glaciers of the Greatet Himalayas. Its snaky and glistening appearance add enormous beauty to the view of the valley area. Kotgarh is on the northern spur of the Hattu range overlooking the Satluj.

History

Originally called Sandoch and later Gurukot, little is known about its past before the Gurkhas came to world sway over the region during the early 19th century. The Gurkha rule ended in 1815 when British forces defeated Gurkha armies and retained a few pockets of land in the hills. Kotgarh was one of them and it became a British territory wedged between autonomous hill states. The British government retained it as a military post and over the years it became a trading centre as well, probably the farthest in the north. But soon the cantonment was wound up and the buildings and property handed over to missionaries. The British government encouraged missionary work in Kotgarh to enhance its influence in the area.

St Mary’s Church was built in Kotgarh in 1873 and schools were opened in Kotgarh and the surrounding villages. Murry’s Handbook of Punjab, 1883, described Kotgarh as a "pretty little place with a post office, a pretty church and a missionary station". Little has changed since then. Unlike Shimla that grew from a tiny village to become the summer capital of British India, Kotgarh has remained almost frozen in time. The pretty wooden church with its old graveyard, the Gorton Mission School and other buildings that survive today hold lingering images of a bygone era.

Culture and People

Christianity in Kotgarh

On 22nd February 1910, at the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in Lahore, Bishop George Alfred Lefroy (1854-1922) inaugurated the Brotherhood of the Imitation of Jesus. Reverend Samuel Stokes (1882-1946), an American missionary, became the provisional Minister-General of this Franciscan Brotherhood. Reverend Frederick Western (1880-1951) of the Cambridge Mission to Delhi and Reverend C. F. Andrews (1871-1940) possessed loose personal associations with the Brotherhood. Its intent embraced service to the sick and education for the young. The Brotherhood was located at Kotgarh in Punjab. It had ties with the Church Missionary Society and the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. The Brotherhood collapsed in 1912 when Stokes left it to marry an Indian woman. The fourth phase of Chritistian religious and missionary activities had started to take on a dramatic turn.

Samuel Evans Stokes (Satyanand Stokes)

Kotgarh belt is famous for its world class quality apples and apricots. The apple cultivation of the place was initiated by Satyanand Stokes who was an American missionary.

Samuel Evans Stokes, an American Missionary landed in Kotgarh in 1904 as a young man of 22 to spread the message of Christ and also with the objective of helping the hill people. He worked at the leper home in the Shimla hills of Himachal Pradesh for two years. Then becoming disillusioned with the missionary way of life, he severed links with missionary organisations and became a sort of a hermit, giving up all material comforts and living for some time in a cave.

Samuel Evans Stokes was involved with the spreading of Christinatity however the beauty and the culture of Kotgarh had an effect on him and he converted to Hinduism and took a Hindu name Satyanand Stokes and made Barobag his abode. He found the climate and soil conclusive to apple cultivation (the apple production was at its peak in America) and in 1919 he planted trees on his 200 acres and they began bearing apples in 1925.The natives took to growing apples soon and today it has spread all over the Shimla hills. The Apple boom in Kotgarh improved the economy of the place.

He is the only American to have served in the All-India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress. He passed away on 14 May 1946, having spent more than 43 years of his life in the country which he had come to change but which changed him instead.

Tourism
Getting There

Driving Distance from Delhi: 10 Hours.

Route: Delhi - Ambala - Chandigarh - Kalka - Kandaghat - Shogi - Shimla - Theog - Narkanda - Kotgarh.

Time to visit: Throughout the year

Temp: Temperatures vary with the seasons. May to September have pleasant days (light woolens) and cold nights while April & October have pleasant days. The night temperature may dip to 5 degrees. During winters, there may be snowfall and temperatures dip sharply.

Places of interest

Tani - Jubbar Lake - Jarol: 5 Kms From Kotgarh. Famous for 'Nag Devta' temple. 'Nag Devta' is the guru of Chatur Mukh.

Mailan Deo Temple (Chatur Mukh) - Mailan: 2 Kms from Kotgarh. The Deo or Deota is the most powerful of the Gods in the Hills. He is the family God of the Kotkhai and the Khaneti chiefs and the Thakurs of Karangla. The devta’s temple is constructed in Shikhar style and is a marvel in architecture. The devta premises has a Bhagwati temple known as Mata Kedar and was brought 150 years ago from Kedarnath.

Hattu Peak: 15 Kms from Kotgarh. At 11,000 ft, this peak offers a panoramic view of the snowline. Hatu hillock provides beautiful and majestic views of the Himalayas and the surrounding pahari hamlets. It also has a small Kali temple. For almost six months in a year (winter and spring), Hatu is covered with a thick blanket of snow.

St.Mary's Church: Built in 1843; this church at Kotgarh is one of the oldest churches in India housed in the premises of the Gorton Mission School surrounded by orchards and a small graveyard at the back.

Parmjyotir Temple- Thanedhar: 4 Kms from Kotgarh. Built by Stokes in the Pahari style after his conversion (SUDHI) to Hinduism.