Pithoragarh’s ‘London Fort’: Leading ‘Heritage Tourism’ in Uttrakhand

It is these symbols of regional as well as ancient history that are the sinews of our future development which can only be neglected at our own peril. Better to save them at the earliest

By Colonel Satish Singh Lalotra

The last few decades that have lapsed after the reorganization of Indian states which saw many bigger states like UP, Bihar & MP breaking up into smaller entities in the form of Uttrakhand, Jharkhand & Chhattisgarh brought into its wake both plus and minuses for its denizens.

But a cursory glance when wrought upon these states showed that it was the majority of pluses which overshadowed the minuses, thus signifying the sagacity of decision of our policy makers to Balkanize the bigger states into smaller ones for better administration.

One such plus which has now been doing rounds in the hilly state of Uttrakhand has been the sudden surge in the concept of ‘Heritage tourism’ which has brought into its fold the four most neglected aspects of this frontier state into focus.

Firstly, the long forgotten relics of our ancient rulers in the form of forts, palaces that were strung all along the Himalayan heights of this state have been given a new lease of life by way of bringing them into the ambit of ‘Heritage tourism’by the department of Tourism thus saving them from their slow decay and death.

Secondly this novel idea has been a harbinger for the typical ‘Reverse migration’ of the local populace even in smaller measure attracted by the job opportunities this concept will usher in its wake.

Thirdly the idea has been a big hit to promote the almost forgotten sense of self-worth of these hilly people in their own so called ‘Naam, Namak & Nishan’ with these now historical icons beckoning the locals to have a rethink of USP of their own land.

Lastly this concept of’ Heritage tourism’ has to be seen from the prism of ‘Vibrant Village Programme’ or the VVP that was launched few years back by the central government in the border areas of our country.

Primarily to give a fillip to the local population to stick to their roots and provide traction to the country’s Geo-strategic needs of populating the frontier areas as a means of firmly imprinting Indian footprints in areas that were fast turning into ‘Ghost villages’; the time of this idea has never been so propitious as it has been now.

Perched at the eastern most fringes of this border state of Uttrakhand, Pithoragarh has been the typical Indian sentinel that has been keeping a discreet watch on both of its immediate neighbours –Nepal & China (Tibet).

With the novel idea of Heritage tourism now getting dovetailed into this larger Indian programme, the once famous ‘London fort’ of Pithoragarh has been brought in by the department of tourism, government of Uttarakhand to spearhead its efforts in propagating the concept based on four major pillars as explained by me in the preceding paragraphs of this article of mine.

With district headquarters of Pithoragarh as well as this famous fort just half an hour drive from the border areas of Nepal, the twins of easternmost part of Uttrakhand is ready to showcase its vibrancy to the tourism world.

The area of northernmost part of Uttrakhand in the 18th & early 19th century was under the sway of Gorkha rulers from Nepal and hence still has a substantial amount of historical baggage that links it across to the erstwhile Hindu Monarchy.

This fort was constructed in the year 1791 when Gorkhas ruled the roost and is perched strategically at a height commanding a bird’s eye view of the famous ‘Soar valley’.

The fort was named as ‘Boulikigarh’ by the Gorkhas that later on was changed to the present name of ‘London fort’ by the British after their victory over Nepal in the famous Anglo-Nepal war( 01 Nov 1814- 04 March 1816) and subsequent treaty of Sigauli in the year 1816 signed by the British East India company & the King of Nepal.

By virtue of having been posted at Pithoragarh way back in the early 1990s while still in service, I was lucky enough to visit this famous ‘London fort’, a relic of the Gorkhas.

And still after almost 30 years in 2019 I had the chance encounter with this fort while on my way to the Badrinath shrine having taken the Kumaon route.

A long hiatus of almost three decades was enough for me to place this fort in its right perspective in so far as its physical condition and caretaking was concerned.

It certainly is the right decision of the Uttrakhand administration to place this fort under the wings of’ Heritage tourism’, since it will revive its sunken position that had gone from bad to worse in the last thirty years when I first set my eyes on this relic of the past.

Sensing the advantage of height in a mountainous area, the Gorkhas selected a vantage position measuring about 14,000 square feet and built a strong fort circumferenced by a strong stone wall that was taking care of the entire fort of length 88.5 meters and 40 meters by breadth.

This impregnable stone wall with an impressive height of about 9 feet and 5.5 feet in width had 152 holes that used to support the long range muzzles /rifles which could very easily take on an advancing enemy and pulverize it no time.

The cementing cum construction of the fort cum wall was done by the ancient method known as the famous ‘Rammed earth technology’ which uses a peculiar method of construction technique that imparts a solid strength to the entire edifice starting from the foundation going right up till the last storey.

This peculiar construction technique was in vogue in the various parts of the world monuments that spanned right till Africa and European continent. Rammed earth technology was more suited to the fragile mountainous areas affected with lots of tremors and had the inbuilt resilience to withstand the resonance that resulted on account of these tremors.

It would be a source of knowledge for the readers of this article to know that almost all major monasteries spanning right from Ladakh till the famous Rumtek monastery in Sikkim and also the world renowned Tawang monastery including that of ‘Hemis Gompa’ now a UNESCO world heritage site are built on this time tested Rammed earth technology.

Immediately after independence in 1947 this famous Gorkha fort was used as a Tehsil headquarters of Pithoragarh Tehsil before it assumed an independent entity of a district in 1961 having bifurcated from Almorah district.

Though in the year 2014-15 it was declared as a heritage site, but it was only recently that a monumental decision was taken to catapult this place amongst the category of ‘Heritage tourism’ with a proposal to further convert it into a Heritage hotel’.

This was done with the sole aim of garnering more revenue as increased footfall of the tourists would have started ringing the cash registers of this iconic place thereby making the authorities plough more money into its upkeep and beautification.

The state government of Uttrakhand has taken a cue from their counterparts in Rajasthan tourism board who have gone full throttle in getting converted their royal palaces cum Havelis into the world famous Heritage hotels.

At present this fort is being looked after by the state government owned KMVN (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam) an organization on which devolves around the responsibility of even looking after the pilgrims cum tourists for the world famous KM Yatra & Adi Kailashyatra.

The state government envisages the following in this iconic fort to make a turnaround of its fortunes –

o To build world class elegant rooms and conference halls on the lines of heritage forts that are much in vogue in Rajasthan.

o To make and serve local Kumaoni food that would be so delectable that it becomes the prime USP of this fort amongst the visiting people to this hilly fort.

o Make a tourist circuit encompassing this fort along with the forest cum mountainous trails for the visiting dignitaries.

o Equip all the rooms with the latest technical gizmos which will go a long way to make the tourist’s stay etched in their psyche forever.

Be that as it may, this novel idea of the state government to change the entire landscape governing the upkeep and maintenance of ancient but iconic forts and palaces by placing them under the ambit of ‘Heritage tourism’ is a sure shot recipe for other Himalayan states to follow suit.

Though the Modi dispensation last year started with lots of fanfare the much publicized VVP (Vibrant Village Programme) centering around catapulting places of importance in these border areas, yet it seems lots of ground needs to be covered to match in equal measure the Chinese attempts of covering their border areas under their peculiar programme of ‘Civil-military fusion’.

I, in my own little way in conjunction with my old friend Mr CK Nayak ( ex-member of prestigious Press council of India) have started contributing in our joint venture going by the name—‘Himalayan News Chronicle’ a monthly magazine that solely focuses on Himalayan states, their people, culture, livelihoods etc.

It is high time that a sense of belonging is branded in the psyches of our border people in their ancestral history that not only will act as a beacon of hope for a moribund society who are headed to the plains of India, but will also attract foreign tourists to partake in our rich culture from which most of us are blissfully ignorant.

No wonder it is these symbols of regional as well as ancient history that are the sinews of our future development which can only be neglected at our own peril. Better to save them at the earliest.

(Author is a retired army officer and a regular scribe of Rising Kashmir; he can be approached on his email—slalotra4729@gmail.com)