Pithoria Fort Ranchi : Pithoria Fort is located in Pithoria village near Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state. Pithoria Fort is very famous for a strange reason. Pithoria Fort, built by Raja Jagatpal Singh, is a subject of special interest for geologists and other scientists.
Although India is a country full of diversity and this diversity sometimes becomes strange, Pithoria Fort is also one such subject. The residents here consider this fort as a cursed fort. It is said that every year lightning falls on this fort. Why this happens is a wonder!
पिठौरिया किला रांची | Pithoria Kila Hindi
History – Pithoria Fort Ranchi
Pithoria Fort, located only 18 kilometers away from Ranchi city, the capital of Jharkhand, is a 200-year-old fort. The tribal dominated Chhota Nagpur area has had Munda and Nagvanshi influence. This area has been the main center of King Mundra Munda and Nagavanshis. Raja Jai Mandal Singh ruled here and after him his son Raja Jagat Singh took over the rule.
During the time of Raja Jai Mandal Singh and Raja Jagat Singh, this place was a well-known and prosperous area in terms of culture and trade. This fort was built by Raja Jagat Pal Singh. Raja Jagat Singh was a Shaivite (religious follower of Shiva sect) and he was also a great devotee of Shiva.
Raja Jagat Singh -Pithoria Fort Ranchi
Raja Jagatpal Singh owned land of 84 villages. The king worked for the welfare of the people and for their development. It is said that he used to work as a woodcutter and once he found a huge treasure in the forest, gradually due to its influence he became the landlord there and as more wealth and glory came, he became proud. And he also started doing many immoral activities.
Curse of Pithoria Fort
The story behind why Pithoria Fort is considered a cursed fort is related to the first movement of independence of India. It is said that Raja Jagat Singh did good works for his people. During the rebellion of 1831, the revolutionary movement started here under the leadership of two tribals named Sind Rai and Bind Rai. In those days the British were not able to suppress the rebellion taking place here. He was completely unaware of the geographical location of Pithoria area. At that time, the geographical situation here was such that despite their best efforts, the British were not able to take over. At that time, British officer Wilkinson had sent a message to Raja Jagat Pal Singh for help and also lured him for help, which Jagatpal Singh accepted and decided to help the British. In return for this help, British officer General William Bentinck had promised to give him a lifetime pension of Rs 313 per month.
Raja Jagat Singh repeated the same during the revolution of 1857. At that time, in order to stop the revolutionaries in the first freedom struggle, the Pithoria valley was cordoned off by the British but still the British were not able to establish their authority there. Raja Jagat Singh started giving information related to the revolutionaries to the British, due to which the people there became very angry with the king.
Jagat Singh had also given information to the British about the revolutionary Thakur Vishwanath Shahdev, who was also the main revolutionary king of Jharkhand at that time. Thakur Vishwanath Shahdev and his companion Surendra Nath Shahdev wanted to uproot the British rule, due to which Thakur Vishwanath Shahdev had reached Pithoria to teach a lesson to Raja Jagat Singh and attacked him.
It was because of the testimony of Jagat Singh that Thakur Vishwanath Shahdev was captured in 1858 and was hanged on the Kadamba tree in front of the school in Ranchi. Due to the testimony of Raja Jagat Singh, other revolutionaries were also given death sentence at that time. Due to which Vishwanath had cursed King Jagat Singh that due to supporting the British and betraying his country, the entire dynasty of Jagat Singh would be destroyed in the future and anyone taking his name would also die. This will not happen on earth and every year there will be thunderstorms on this fort. People believe that since then, every year there is a thunderstorm on this fort located in Pithoria due to which this fort has been ruined.
Science behind Thunderstorm on Pithoria Fort
If science is to be believed then scientists give something else for this reason. According to him, there are very tall trees at this place and a large amount of iron ore is found on this hill. Therefore, during the rainy season, the atmosphere here becomes a very easy medium to attract lightning, due to which thunderstorms occur mostly here during the rainy days.
Architecture – Pithoria Fort
Pithoria Fort built by Raja Jagat Singh Ji was spread over about 30 acres. A two-storey palace was built in this fort. The carvings of Pithoria Fort were very famous.
Mughal Architecture – Pithoria Fort
The construction work of Pithoria Fort was done according to the architecture of the Mughal period. Many arches and ponds etc. were constructed inside this fort. At that time this fort was known as a grand fort. The Shahi Sarovar of Pithoria Fort is very beautiful as well as very famous.
100 Rooms
Red colored bricks and stones were used in the construction of the fort. There were more than 100 rooms in Pithoria Fort. In this palace, a Shiva temple was built in the middle of the pond. There was also a river behind the fort, which has completely dried up today. People still come to worship in the Shiva temple built near the palace.
Artisans were called from Jodhpur and Agra to build Jagat Singh’s palace and to get the artwork and carvings done on the walls and arches of the fort. Pictures of rivers, wild animals, birds etc. were seen in the artwork done here. A well was also built within the palace premises. No one could guess the depth of this well.
In Pithoria Fort, palaces were built for the queens and huge ponds were built for their bathing. Besides, a Shiva temple was also built there for worship. It is said that this pond is still intact but the temple has become ruins.
Present – Pithoria Fort
At present Pithoria Fort remains only in the form of some ruins.
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