Qila Mubarak Nabha Home > Punjab > Attractions > Forts > Qila Mubarak Nabha

Qila Mubarak Nabha

Nabha is a popular place known to have a large number of Sikh palaces, gardens and forts. Together they reflect an astounding Sikh culture and history. Qila Mubarak is a 300-year-old fort of Nabha, which attracts large number of tourists all year around. Tourists here usually come from neighboring places of Faridkot, Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Tourists from far away regions come here to unfold the history of the fort.

Qila Mubarak is an important and busy place of the city because it has various offices of the government including courts of the region. The fort is located in the heart of the city of Nabha making it easily accessible for tourists. Qila Mubarak also houses relics of Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, which makes it a place of religious importance for Sikh tourists. The relics of the guru were locked in the fort in 2008 under the supervision of State Department of Culture, Archaeology and Museums. The relics include a manuscript, comb, hair, cloak, three swords and a turban, which is regarded holy by the Sikh people. Both history lovers and spiritual souls love to throng the place for solace, knowledge and recreation.

History

Like all other forts even Qila Mubarak is enveloped in the history and culture of Sikhs. It was Baba Ala Singh who laid the foundation of Qila Mubarak as a mud fortress in 1763. Later, Baba Ala Singh became famous as the founder of Patiala Dynasty. After many years, a mud fortress was reconstructed with baked bricks giving it a firm and concrete structure.

Maharaja Amar Singh built the Qila Androon, which is the interior section of the fort. He built 13 royal chambers under Qila Androon, which were examples of splendor and grandeur of the Patiala Dynasty. The fort is also a storehouse of many rich ancient scriptures and religious texts of Sikhism.

Architecture

Qila Mubarak has a very unique architectural style, which replicates Rajasthani and Mughal architecture. It is a huge fort encompassing 10 courtyards where each courtyard has unique characteristics. The courtyards are unique in terms of their character, size and breadth in the north and south axis of the fort where some courtyards are broad while others are just slits in the massive fort.

There is an interconnected building in the fort called “Androon”. There are many clusters of the room around the courtyard where each room is identified through a name called prison, treasury, Sheesh Mahal, Topkhana, etc. There are other rooms in the fort, which are intricately decorated with frescoes, gilt and mirror.

The entire concept of synthesizing Mughal and Rajasthani architecture is unique to the fort and one of its characteristic features. Within the complex of the fort there are built-in-toilets, marble fireplaces and gothic arches beautifully and exclusively perched under a Mughal-Rajasthani crown. Every year during Heritage Festival, the fort is stunningly lighted to give it the look of a celestial body in the darkness. There is an influx of a large number of tourists during Heritage Festival to explore the beauty of this fort.

Best Time to Visit

Nabha has pleasing weather conditions throughout the year. Tourists come to Nabha to spend a fulfilling holiday mostly during winters, as the weather is cool and inviting. Tourists love to stroll around Qila Mubarak during winter mornings to enjoy the serenity of this beautiful place. Tourists also love to engage in a lot of sightseeing activities during winters without any heat pangs. During autumn months tourists specially come to the place to enjoy outdoor activities or to just enjoy tranquilizing walk along Qila Mubarak.

How to Reach

Nabha is famous for its well-connected and well-maintained parking spaces and roads, making it an easily accessible destination for major cities of India. Tourists can chose various means of transport depending on the budget and convenience.

  • By Air: The fastest way to reach Nabha by air is to take a flight from Delhi to Chandigarh and then travel by road to Nabha.
  • By Road: The road distance between Nabha and the capital city of India is around 256 km. There are large numbers of private car and bus services available for escorting tourists to Nabha.
  • By Railway: There are various trains running from metropolitan cities of India to Nabha. It takes only 5 hours to reach Nabha from Delhi by train. Travelling by train is one of the cheapest ways to reach Nabha.

Related Image

Related Topics

Attractions

The history of Punjab is very rich in its culture and the state is also beautiful while one travels through various cities in ....

Archaelogical Sites

An archaeological site may be defined as a group of sites or places where the evidence of past activities are kept preserved ....

Forts

Punjab is a place that has lots of places that ...

Fairs & Festivals

Punjabi's are great fun-filled and love ...