Jammu—The City of Temples

Cities’ Identity Through Architecture and Arts – Catalani et al. (Eds) © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-05409-7 Jammu—the city of temples Chander M. Seth INTACH, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India ABSTRACT: The city of Jammu is located on the banks of the river Tawi in a hilly moun- tainscape of the Himalayas. Jammu is an ancient city which was established by Raja (King) Jambulochan (1320–1290 BC) when he saw a wild goat and a lion drinking water together in one of the waterholes in the forest. He was so impressed with the coexistence of two rival spe- cies that he decided to set up a city at this site, where people of all faiths and religions could coexist peacefully and tolerate each other’s customs and traditions. Over a period of many centuries, several kings who ruled this part of the country constructed temples on the bank of the river and inside the city. More than 100 such temples adorn the city, which has given it a unique name and identity as the “City of Temples in India”. Jammu is also famous for its Bahu Fort, built by Raja Bahulochan and the royal Mubarakh Mandi Palace of the Dogra kings. These sites are designated as heritage buildings. Jammu is the winter capital in the Jammu and Kashmir State of India. Its present population is about one million. Inhabitants of this city are descendants of an ancient martial tribe of Dogras and their spoken language is Dogri. Dogri is one of the Pahari (hilly) languages that has influence of Persian, Pushto and Devanagri languages because Jammu is located at the cross-roads of the ancient Silk Route, trading with central and west Asia. All the temples of Jammu have unique architectural styles, describing the traditions and culture of its historical past. These temples are part and parcel of the daily life of its citizens and preserve the cultural heritage of the city. In the past, these temples were centres of social and religious activities. As Jammu is located in the driest part of the country, it has faced shortages of drinking water and so large ponds were constructed to collect rainwater. These ponds are unique sources of traditional knowledge for rain water harvesting and water conservation and are part of the city’s heritage. Jammu attracts between eight and ten million tourists every year. In this paper, the history of the city, its heritage and tourist value, including a description of the architecture of its temples, is discussed. Keywords: Jammu; Raja Jambulochan; City of Temples, Bahu Fort; Palace of Dogra Kings; heritage buildings; Vastu_Shastra; INTACH; Nagara style 1 INTRODUCTION The history of Jammu city can be traced from prehistoric times to the present day. Earlier literature and archaeological excavations have revealed that the city and its region have a history of about 5,600 years. Prehistoric sites at Manda, Akhnoor and other adjoining places provide evidence that Jammu city was a part of the Harappan civilisation (Sharma, 2007). Redware pottery, double spiral headed pins, bone arrow-heads, terracotta bangles and tri- angular terracotta cakes excavated from these sites, indicate the same culture and traditions in the Harappan cities. There is a well-documented historical record of Jammu rulers from 1600 BC to AD 1947, but with some missing links in-between (Sharma, 2007). After 1947, the State of Jammu and Kashmir became part of the Indian union, like all other princely states of India. At present, Jammu is part of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) State, located in the Western Himalaya. 263 CITAA17_Book.indb 263 2/19/2018 10:07:04 AM Figure 1. Map of Jammu and Kashmir State—India. 2 FOUNDER OF THE CITY Raja Maldev, fourth King of the Dev dynasty, ruled Jammu from AD 1361 to 1400 (Goswami, 2015) and is believed to be the founder of present day Jammu city. He was a very tall and powerful king of his times. Several legends and ballads in the Dogri language exist in local folk art and depict his bravery, administration and governance. Raja Maldev established his headquarters at Purani Mnadi in the centre of the city. From 1400 to 1733, ten descendants of Maldev ruled the territory of Jammu. The eleventh ruler of the Maldev dynasty was Raja Ranjit Dev, who ruled from 1733 to 1782. He was known as an apostle of justice, chivalry and administration. He was the most secular and religiously tolerant king. His period is remembered as an era of prosperity, peace and coexistence. In his time, Jammu was the largest state in northern India. 3 THE PERIOD OF THE DOGRA KINGS The Dogra Jamwal Kings ruled the state for a period of about 100 years from AD 1847 to 1947 (Charak, 1985). Maharaja Gulab Singh was the founder of Dogra rule and extended his boundaries to enclose the whole of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and Gilgit. It was during the Dogra period that several forts, palaces, temples, educational institutions, hospitals, museums and library buildings were constructed with unique architecture and art. Although this had influence of Mughal, Rajasthani, Kashmiri and British Baroque architecture, it retained the flavour of local Dogra art and architecture. Ganhar (1973) described the Dogras as, “deeply devoted to their land and especially their places of worship, around which they have woven a variegated tapestry of myth and legend.” Their rich folklores and achievements in artistic expression were inspired by their devotion to religion and have become part of the vocabu- lary of Dogra art and architecture. All the earlier rulers of Jammu from 1600 BC to AD 1947 contributed to the art and architecture of the region, giving it a distinctive place in the architectural landscape of the country. 264 CITAA17_Book.indb 264 2/19/2018 10:07:04 AM 4 EVOLUTION OF TOWN PLANNING IN JAMMU CITY The town planning of Jammu city started at the time of Raja Jambulochan (1320–1290 BC) and continued throughout the reigns of Raja Maldev (1361–1400), Maharaja Ranjit Dev (1733–1782) and the Dogra kings (1847–1947). From the outset, all rajas, maharajas and kings contributed to the city’s planning, layout and architecture in several layers and phases. In studying the planning of the city, it appears that the city’s art and architecture has evolved and developed over a period of time. It has been influenced by the art and architecture of mainland India, blended with local materials, traditions, culture and traditional knowledge of times, and also based on the ancient Indian science of architecture, “Vastu Shastra” (Vastu Shastra, Google, 2017). The city of Jammu was established by Raja Jambulochan, after whom the city derives its name, on a hilly slope of the Shiwalik mountain range (Figure 2a). The site was ideal from a defence point of view; on the south-eastern side flows the river Tawi, also called Suryaputri, and on the north side is the naturally fortified Ramnagar Shiwalik mountain range (Drew, 1875). The area was rich in forests, wildlife and sufficient water available from the river Tawi. The site had a typical tropical climate with hot summers and cool winters. On the southern side of city are the plains of the Punjab and on the northern side the undulating Shiwalik hills create a natural amphitheatre with a high-rise backdrop of the Trikuta hills. The layout of Jammu indicates that while planning the city, the natural drainage system of the hilly slopes, access to the river Tawi, creation of water bodies (locally called talabs), parks, temples/- shrines and the security of the city, was kept in view. The city was basically developed as a pedestrian city with small streets, locally called galis or kuchas connected at chaougans with mohallas and ahatas. The city had several kuchas named after prominent persons from those streets (Mangotra, 2013). Zonation of the city into mohallas was well planned and there are 11 main nallahs (city drains) which drain into the river Tawi on the eastern and southern slopes. Alongwith these nallahs, there were 11 dhakis (hilly stone/brick pedestrian paths) for the movement of the population from city to river and back. Dhaki of Peer Mitha, Saranja Dhaki and Naina de Dakhi are some that still exist today. On the eastern and northern sides, the city is enclosed by two wildlife sanctuaries, Ramnagar and Bahu. These protected areas help in water conservation and recharging of the river water, as well as contributing to the environment of the city. Palaces and forts were located at the com- manding heights of the city at the Manda hills and in earlier times were located in the centre of the city at Purani Mandi and later shifted to Mubarakh Mandi. A mandi is a place where Rajputs used to reside. There is no record available to show whether the city was developed as a planned city. However, one copy of the city map is available in the Dogra Art Museum in Jammu and the physical evidence of the city indicates that it was well planned architecturally Figure 2. (a) Old city of Jammu, (b) Jammu city master plan. 265 CITAA17_Book.indb 265 2/19/2018 10:07:05 AM Figure 3. Old city map 1880–1890 AD. and developed on the principles of Vastu Shastra. The original map printed on cloth in AD 1880, can be seen in the National Museum in Delhi (see Figure 3). Study of this map indicates that Jammu was a walled city, fortified on three sides, starting from the western side to the southern side and terminating on the eastern side (Chaudhary, 2007).

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