Kumarsain Palace reduced to ashes

Shimla: Centuries old historic Kumarsain Wooden Palace was reduced to ashes yesterday midnight at Kumarsain town of Shimla district. Fortunately, no loss of life was reported but the flames engulfed the wooden building and some adjoining shops.

Police officials claimed short circuit as the cause of this devastating fire. The fire burnt an old temple of a local deity and an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) which the palace was housing. It was the same ITI section from where the fire sparked as per reports.

There has been a loss of over 1.5 crore.

However, a compensation of five thousand rupees have been awarded to seven families who were residing in the palace as tenants, said Tehsildar Netra Singh Jaswal.

Source: The Indian Express

Join the Conversation

16 Comments

  1. says: Rakesh Rangra

    Historical mahal of kumarsain was the sign of ancient time. how the people live and how to move the government by king. the historical build became ashes at 25 december2007. The main cause is short circuit. after this incident in kumarsain not anything available to attract the people to this area. Due this incident the trade of local people decrease. i have done ITI in this mahal in trade IT+ESM . my name is rakesh rangra. i belong to distt mandi(H.P).

  2. KUMARSAIN IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL AND PEACEFUL PLACE IN DISTRICT SHIMLA. I SPENT TWO YEARS OF OUR LIFE IN KUMARSAIN. I LIKE THIS PLACE VERY MUCH. I NEVER FORGET THIS PLACE IN WHOLE LIFE. THE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS SIMPLE PEOPLE ATTRACT THE OTHER DISTRICT PEOPLE. THE PEOLE OF KUMARSAIN ARE VERY SIMPLE AND HONEST PERSON. THEY HELP LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE. I NEVER FORGOT THESE PEOPLE. I LIVED IN THE HOME OF NAND BABA. HE IS VERY GOOD PERSON. HIS SPEAKING METHOD IS VERY SIMPLE. THE WAY TALKING TO ATTRACT THE OTHER PEOPLE.
    ONE BAD INCIDENT THE BURN OF THE KUMARSAIN MAHAL. THIS IS HUGE LOSS OF THE KUMARSAIN MAHAL AND TEMPLE OF KOTESWAR MAHADEV

  3. says: Shamsher

    i was the student of D.A.V public school Kumarsain which was in that particular mahal it is veryhard to believe that our historic building has been damaged or dashed in to ashes i had spend 12 years in that mahal. Whenever i came there i miss that palace…………………

  4. says: Kamal Bhardwaj

    Hi, Kumarsain is a very beautiful town. This is my birth place. Heera Mahal of k/sain was the historical building. There was a lord who make this 200 years ago. But now its burned. There is a temple of KOTESHWER MAHADEV Between of the building. The memory of the HEERA MAHAL allways still in my mind. KAMAL from : Batawara k/sain

  5. says: swati sharma

    heera mahal was not only a building,that was the history and was really remarkable.naw mahal ground is looking horrible really horrible. it seems like ground is also weeping and want to share that tragedY. KASH HAR CHEEZ PAR DHYAN DIA HOTA TO MAHAL HAMARE PAS AUR SAATH HOTA.And even loss of HEERA MAHAL is somewhere affecting CHAR SALA MELA

  6. says: Rahul chauhan

    The problem lies in teh negligence of Govt. towards these historical Palaces .It baffles me why even basic care of taken towards the maintainace of this Beautiful palace.it was always more prone to such incident as it was enitirely made up of wood ,still authorities just have an apathy for it ,and the common people are the real sufferer .IT IS JUST SHAME.

  7. says: rupesh

    The heera mahal of kumarsain was not only a historic monument but also a symbol of dignified kumarsain princely state. This mahal was a feather in the cap to the beauti of kumarsain It is sad that we lost this this precious building. Beyond this we lost the political existance of kumarsain legistative seat in the same time. It is regretted that not even a single person of kumarsain regented or reacted. Iam afraid we shall loose our identity with out even reacting to it. Iam a son of the soil so i feel like this. any body who disagrees to my view PTO.

  8. says: UTKARSH BHARDWAJ

    I was the student of D.A.V kumarsain which was in that historic palace.
    It was very difficult to believe that our historic building has been reduced to ashes. It was the dignity of kumarsain & kumarsain people.due to this we had lost our status. we had lost our proud. kumarsain is my birth place & I am very unhappy that I can not see that palace…….again.

  9. This time i was the student of govt sr.sec.school kumarsain.this was the time of crismiss night at12.30samething.i was sleeping.i lived in mogchand bilding.this bulding near the mehal.hera mehal was the beauti of kumarsain.all peple like it.some peple thought this wark doing iti center.but this was all of koteshwer maya..

  10. says: Bheem sukh

    Hi iam bheem iam student of iti kumarsain 2006 to 2008 hira mahal is beauti of k/sain but it is no more in world

  11. says: sunakshi thakur

    i am basicaly from kumarsain shanand granddaughter of shree HARDYAL SINGH THAKUR.
    I am presently in 11th standard and was bieng to mahal when i was a very small kid. that mahal, HEERA MAHAL, belonged to my grandfather’s greatgrandfather RANA HEERA SINGH father of RANA VIDYADHAR SINGH. i have heard the story from my father,uncle,grandfather and my dadibua(grandfather’s sister). they told me how they use to play and disturb all the members of mahal, they said that how they use to stand on the balkuni of the mahal and used to see mela.

    today i also feel like crying when i hear the story and i can feel their emotions stucked towards the mahal.
    we miss our mahal whenever we go to our village.today photographs have become only the medium of the memories of the mahal. everything is there but our mahal is nowhere.:”,(

    jai heera mahal, jai koteshwar mahadev!!!

  12. says: Swati Sharma Rai

    I still remember that day. I was in 11th standard and was living in Kangra with family. Papa got a call early in the morning, and was in a state of shock. I was studying in my room but was listening to papa. After sometime I was called by papa and he told us about this. I can still remember his face, red and moist eyes. Then he started narrating his experiences of HEERA MEHAL .

    Though the Mehal belongs to the Raja and their family but everyone in Kumarsain had a connect with the Meha, just different people with different stories !!! Later when we went to hometown during vacation and saw a huge plain ground at the place of Mehal .. Trust me that pinched me hard and deep down in my heart and I still can’t imagine how ppl saw that Mehal burning and reduced to ashes …

    That big gate I remember we used to cross to go to our maternal home…. And that curved ladders … Heera Mehal will always be there in memories … It still makes me feel its absence …

  13. says: paramvir singh

    I remember coming to this lovely place in 2006 and learning about its glorious past heritage. But I want to share with you all a story that the demise and destruction of this riyasat may be attributable to certain other mysterious forces at play. As per local ancient legend there was curse of nearby Lord Mananeshwar Devta (Presiding diety for area between Narkanda and Bahuch) on Kumarsain’s Raja due to the misbehaviour and attempt to kill the Gurs of Devta Mananeshwar Devta ji many years ago(prior to Gorkha wars I believe) Apparently the Raja of Kumarsain had tried to imprison and eliminate (treacherously) the Gur and offended by this the Lord Manaeshwar Devta ji’s Gur had cursed the raja and the entire lineage for destruction. This is what is widely believed by most locals of this Deity. Please do share with me any feedback on this folklore.

    But it is indeed a sad sad sight to see the empty plain grounds where once stood the majestic Heera Mahal. It was a loss to the entire country of such a rich culture and tradition!!

Leave a comment
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.