Travelling is a passion for me and in spite of my busy schedule, I always try to spend my weekend exploring new places. It was 25th of Dec,2016 when I myself, my wife Sonali and daughter Tasha visited one such lost kingdom of Nagvanshi rulers.
Story of Navratangarh has been glorious and at times brutal too. It has swallowed a large number of mysteries through its pseudopodia like arms. It was great to be at Navratangarh, the capital of Nagvansi rulers of Jharkhand who gave this province the name Chotanagpur. Navratangarh (Doisagarh) is located in Sisai block of Gumla district in Jharkhand; which is about 80km away from the capital city Ranchi. It is located at a distance of about 8km from NH 23. The condition of road from Sisai suburb to Navratangarh was miserable. But nothing could have prevented our spirit to reach there. The site has boundary walls. Some tribals were also there. One of them told the story of the place.
The legend is that, the King Durjay Sal after his release from Mughal captivity established this beautiful palace. He got inspired from the Mughal architecture and built a nine storey fort from which this place got its name “Navratangarh”; of which only three storeys are left at present. Other lackadaisical monuments are in ruins .
A water tank built by the king is still available and is used for various purposes. This place is surrounded by hills which provided a geographical protection to the kingdom. A team of Archaeological Survey of India has visited this place number of times but Navratangarh still remains unknown to the rest of the world. In my opinion taking care of a treasure of History should not only be a responsibility of Government but our fundamental duty too. In Jharkhand there are a few forts and palaces, hence this place has the potential to be a tourist place. We spend about three hours there and returned back to Gumla with many questions unanswered .A number of legends associated with this place await you.
From:
Abhijit Jha
Gumla, Jharkhand ( India)
Email: abhijit_jh@rediffmail.com