Temples and ruins of Kiarkoti
(A
village of prominence in old Koti State)
Kiarkoti is a small village situated
in Mashobra, district Shimla at 1620 m above sea level at coordinates 31°14' N
and 77°19' E. From Shimla this village can be approached either through
Mashobra, Sidhora then onto Mohanpur road, Manla Homes Resort at Manla, then 2
km from here to Kiar Koti or through Lakkar bazaar, Kamyana, Chedi and from
there about 5 km to Kiar Koti. One can also take a long haul by foot
through the Bharari thick cedar forest, taking short cut route to Cheri and
then to the ruins of Kiar Koti.
From via Mashobra it is
about 23 km and via Chedi it is about 17 km. Taking short cut from Bharari will
cut short to about 9 km but it is better to take a
guide along. Its actual name is Kiar, often also spelt as Kyar by
Britishers. Kiarkoti is a thinly populated village but there is a Senior
Secondary School here, meeting the educational requirement of the children of
the adjoining villages. The village has a post-office branch also.
Koti State :
Kiar got its suffix -koti from Koti
of which this village was a part. Koti was a State whose capital was at Mool
Koti. Mool is the prefix meaning the ‘origin.’ Koti was a feudatory state of
Keonthal since 1815. Moolkoti (Mulkoti) was the capital place where Raja
resided. Kiarkoti was an important part of Koti State. Koti State was bound on
the North and East by Bhajji, on the West by Patiala, Simla and Keonthal and on
the South by Keonthal. Its area was 44 sq miles and population in 1901 was 7959
only.
Within the boundaries of Koti lay
Sanjauli, the then village at the junction of the Hindustan-Tibet Road, with
the Simla Mall, the Mashobra ridge, as far as and including Naldehra, Mahasu,
Simla Water Works Catchment area, part of Kufri, some of the Kasumpti bungalows
and part of the Convent of Jesus and Mary.
History of Koti Ruling family :
The ruling family of Koti was a
branch of that of the Rajas of Kotlehar in Kangra. They are said to have been
originally Brahman.
Raja Chand, 25th Raja from
Raja Ram Pal of Kotlehr, Kangra made Mulkoti, a village close to Mul Bhajji, as
his capital and thus founded the State of Koti. Raja Gopi Chand, the tenth
Thakur from Raja Chand, earned much fame and his exploits are celebrated in a
long folk epic. He defeated Rana of Keonthal in a fierce fight between Mashobra
and Sanjauli and extended his area up to Asni river (Ashwani Khud) and
established a post at village Sairi. He also defeated Raja Dalip Singh of
Bhajji and Raja Tara Chand of Bilaspur and rendered their combined attacks
futile. Battle ensued in the vicinity of Naldehra and ended with the victory of
Raja Raja Gopi Chand of Koti.
In epical folk songs Raja Dalip Singh
of Bhajji’s commentary about Raja Gopi Chand runs thus :
Gopi Chand Thakur, howa makha Arjun Bhion,
Lhushi fuik re Deothi, Shali Laio sion.
(To me Gopi
Chand Thakur has become like Arjun and Bhimsen,
After
plundering and burning my capital
Deothi, he has maintained the boundary of
Bhajji and koti on the top of the peak Shalli)
The 9th Thakur from Gopi
Chand was Hari Chand, who assisted British in guarding Simla from a possible
attack by the Gurkhas stationed at jutogh in 1804. He gave shelter to
Europeans, who had left Simla for the security reasons of their families. For
these services Thakur Hari Chand was granted the title of Rana. After that
Europeans became frequent visitors at Mulkoti and Kiarkoti.
Ancient Temples at Kiarkoti :
There are some very old temples of
historical importance in and around Kiarkoti :--
Kalyanu Devta :
The most important and oldest of them
all is situated at a place which is abundant in Deodar (Cedar) trees and
appropriately called as Deodhar. All along the old Hindustan-Tibet Road, the
tree Deodars is called by the people as ‘Devidar’—the tree of the god—the idols
kept in these temples are Deo all through the Himalayan region. ‘Devidar’ and
finally ‘Deodar’ tree is considered as very sacred. There was a custom that old
trees with large girth were never felled down. Deodhar is about ½ km from
Kiarkoti uphill on a ridge towards North. It is a cool place compared to its
vicinity. There are only 4 or 5 households with population of less than 30. The
temple of Klainu Deo (Kalyanu Devta) stands in all majesty built in Pahari kathkuni
or kathkundi style characteristic of Shimla hill temples. Massive blocks of interlocking
sleepers of wood and raw stones are used which makes the structure earthquake
resistant and it has stood the test of time. Built on a square plinth, a raised
thick walled platform of stone is topped by an extended-equally-on-all-sides
square sacro-sanctum whose walls are entirely of wooden planks with no window
openings or verandah. The wooden roof tapers off in two directions held in
place by a central ridge at the top. The sloping roof is topped with grey
slates. The lower square walled platform contains a wooden staircase for
approaching the sacro-sanctum where mohras (masks of deo) and devtas are kept
for worship. Only priests in attendance may enter inside the temple.
In ‘Gazetteer of the Simla Hill
States 1910’ the following account of Klainu Deo is furnished by Pundit Tika
Ram Joshi, Rajguru of Keonthal and Koti States :
“The origin of
the word ‘Klainu’ is from ‘Kulu-fa-anu’ meaning brought from Kulu. In Kulu the
god is called ‘Jamnu’ from Sanskrit Jamadagni . It is apparent that the deity
is a saint called Dudadhari, from Sanskrit Dudahhari, meaning a vegetarian.
Being a saint he never accepts an animal sacrifice”.
There is an interesting story of
another devta ‘Dhandi Deo’ linked with this temple. Dhandi Deo is a local deity
whose temples are situated at villages Pagog and Kamhala. Both the villages
were part of the same Koti State. Dhandi and Gandhi were two brothers living in
Pagog village. Dhandi devoted much of his time to the worship of Klainu Deo, so
much so that he used to bring milk for Deo every day from Pagog to Deodhar, a
distance of about 13 km. He had to walk to and fro around 26 km daily. Klainu
Deo was very pleased with him that he accepted him as a deity after Dhandi’s
death. From then onwards Dhandi became Deo and his temples were erected at
Pagog and at Kamhala villages.
Commune Hall (Devrah) :
In the immediate vicinity of the
temple Klainu Devata at Deodhar, there is a big commune hall called ‘Devrah’
again made of stones and huge sleepers of Deodar wood in kathkuni style. The
pillars supporting this structure are carved out of massive wood sleepers. The
sloppy roof is in the same style as the temple of Klain Deo covered with grey
stone slates. The doors of ‘Devrah’ are opened only for the sittings of
Panchayat and only twice a year when nearby devtas also gather here to meet
Klainu Deo. At this time the hall is used as a night halt for devtas and their
attendants. Devtas of nearby villages
namely Kumhali, Shamlog and Bhattla etc come here in their respective palquins for
ritual meetings and dancing. Such meeting takes place twice on the days of
Prabodhini (when Vishnu awakens from his slumber) Shukla Ekadasi (Asadha Shukla
Ekadasi) and Devotthan/Devshayani (when Vishnu goes to sleep) Shukla Ekadasi
(Kartik Shukla Ekadasi). A huge crowd from surrounding areas is gathered to
witness the ritual celebrations and a fair is held at Deodhar.
Jagdamba Mata Temple :
At the back of Klainu Deo temple and
on one side of Devrah, there is another old temple of Jagdamba Mata. It is an
oblong single storey structure in wood, tiles and tin roof. The temple main
campus is flanked by two cement sculptures of a lion and a tiger (?) and on the
left hand side of the temple stands a real sized sculpture of Bhairon in a
cage. The temple does not look as an old one though. Pt Tara Datt Sharma, the
attendant priest of this temple told that this temple is being renovated
lately. He also told that in olden times Deodhar was a favourite visiting place
for British and Europeans.
It is an old temple dedicated to
Shiva.
Its entrance gate is a quite recent structure in local stone and unfinished
though the temple itself is well kept. It is a small structure in stone
plastered with lime and surkhi. The arches, pillars, false windows and domes
are also made with the same material. The repairs here and there are finished
with cement. The external walls of the inner sacro-sanctum are covered by
floral frescos and are surrounded on all the four sides by circumambulation
path meant for parikarma. The front square
pyramidal dome of the temple bears the frieze of a lion and a cow on it. The
posterior dome is spherical in shape capped by kalash.
Thakurdwara :
On the North Western side of the Shiv
temple stands a structure in local stone and mud that encloses a small Vishnu
temple called Thakurdwara. From outside it is difficult to guess that this
temple might be dedicated to Vishnu except from the fact that on the wooden
lintel of the outside door there is a small wooden idol of Lakshmi nailed onto
it.
Old ruins and remnants :
Towards South East of Shiva temple
remnants of old stone buildings can still be seen that once witnessed the
native Royalties’ and European’s leisure moments.
European style residential building :
There is also a European style
residential building also which is still occupied by the tenants. It is told
that the local MLA now owns it.
Roads :
Condition of road is pathetic. Plying
of bike and scooter is also not without risk through the narrow and kaccha
roads. However, soon the condition of roads leading to Kiarkoti will be
improved.
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