THE JUDGE'S COURT is a Country Manor located in the medieval hamlet of Pragpur, at an elevation of 2000 ft. in the Kangra Valley of the North Indian State of Himachal Pradesh. The property is classified as "Heritage"and this in a way makes it India's first classified Heritage Country Manor with an ambience reminiscent of the turn of the 20th Century.
It has two portions : -
- An ancestral cottage which is over 300 years old
- The Country Manor built by Bhandari Ram for his son, Justice Sir Jai
Lal.
Accommodation
The Judge's Court's elegant accommodation comprises of 10 Double Rooms 3 of which are suites inclusive of the cottage in the ancestral courtyard. The rooms go by such names as Kipling, Hardinge, Kangra, Dhauladhar, Hermitage etc. and are elegantly furnished.
The owning Kuthiala Sood family that runs it has been part of Heritage Village Pragpur since the time it was founded.
Activities
Angling -
The picturesque Kangra valley has several spots that offer mahaseer river carp. The reservoir of the Maharana Pratap sagar right up to the town of Dehra has good spots. Nadaun along the river Beas has some good beats, besides Chamba Pattan near Garli (accessible from Nadaun or Jwalamukhi), Amtar (2 km from Nadaun), Harsi Pattan (30 km from Tira Sujanpur) and Lambagaon (15 km from Tira Sujanpur).
Water and River Sports -
The Maharana Pratap Sagar reservoir in Kangra with its 42 km length and 2 km breadth, offers a variety of activities in close collaboration with the Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports. Year long activities include swimming, water-skiing, surfing, kayaking, rowing, canoeing and sailing. Three levels of courses are conducted - beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Facilities at Judge's Court comprise :
* 10 rooms * Telephone in rooms * Running hot and cold water * Continental and Indian cuisine * Conference facilities * Major credit cards accepted * Angling * Horse riding and wild life sanctuary * Milk supply from own dairy * Fruit and vegetables from own orchards
How To Reach The Judge's Court
Air : Gagal Airport (Kangra) 45 Km's. Open also to Private Planes.
Rail upto :
Una - An overnight Train, Himachal Express departs from Delhi at 2320 Hrs. and reaches Una at 0800 Hrs. The road journey from Una to The Judge's Court is 60 KM's and takes One and a half Hrs. The return is also by the same train which leaves Una at 2050 Hrs. reaching Delhi at 0600 Hrs.
Hoshiarpur - Distance by road to The Judge's Court is 60 KM's
Pathankot - There is a convenient overnight Train, Jammu Mail, departing Delhi at 2100 Hrs. for Pathankot arriving there at 0730 Hrs. It connects to a narrow gauge train of the Kangra Valley Railway System departing Pathankot at 0840 Hrs, which reaches Guler Station at 1140 Hrs, travelling through lovely countryside giving a panoramic view of the Valley of the Gods as Kangra is known. Guler is 30KM's from The Judge's Court.
Jallandhar and Amritsar - The Shan-E-Punjab departs from New Delhi at 7:00 Hrs. reaching Jallandhar at 11:50 Hrs. which is 95 KM's distance by road. The Shatabdi Train departing from New Delhi at 7:30 Hrs. and reaching Jullandhar at noon also serves this sector.
Road : From Chandigarh where there are national air and rail links, including the Shatabdi train from New Delhi, the distance is 175 KM's. This is an easy four hours drive through the historic landscape of Punjab.
Taxis are available at all stations. The distance from Amritsar is 170 Km. On 72 Hours advance information The Judge's Court can provide pick-up.
About Pragpur
The Kangra Valley, where Heritage Village Pragpur is located is panoramic and replete with history. It is the home of the famous Kangra school of painting and probably the world's - most certainly India's - oldest ruling lineage comes from here. The area of Pragpur was part of the Principality of Jaswan whose chief, in the late 16th or early 17th Century charged a band of learned men, led by a Kuthiala Sood, to find a suitable place to commemorate Princess 'Prag' of his royal lineage. Prag in Sanskrit translates to pollen. In a way it aptly describes the area of Pragpur which in spring is afire with blossoms. The core area of PRAGPUR is a notified "Heritage Village". This makes it perhaps the only village in India with such a distinction. The Soods are a special community laying claim to being Agnivanshis - born of a sacred fire - with references to them in ancient Hindu texts like the Rig Veda. At the time when Simla was the summer capital of the British Raj the Soods from around Pragpur owned more than half of it, and still continues to be the dominant community. The site chosen for Pragpur lies in the shade of the Dhauladhar mountains - the white ranges - and is said to be so located as to receive the astral benefic influence of prayers that have been offered for thousands of years at three nearby ancient SHAKTI (Primordial Energy) Temples of Bajreswari (Kangra), Jwalamukhi and Chintpurni.
Founded about 3 centuries ago Pragpur has held onto the essence of an earlier era - unchanged shops, cobbled streets, ornamental village tank, mud plastered and slate roofed houses.
By a notification dated 9thDecember 1997 the State Government has classified Pragpur as a "Heritage Zone."
Village Tourism
Heritage Village Pragpur is ideal for Village land nature Tourism and is being promoted as an example of communityinvolvement in tourism. The Indian National Trust for art and cultural Heritage jointly with the government of Himachal Pradesh is developing and preserving Heritage Village Pragpur.
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