It Took Me Seven Years to Reach Here - Kutlehar Fort, Solasingi Fort, Una Himachal Pradesh

Google is an amazing thing. It tells us things which we cannot know otherwise.

My latest conquest of mine is a result of curiosity developed in me by Google baba.

I was finally able to arrive at Kutlehar Fort near Una, Himachal Pradesh. This fort is better known or more famous as Solasingi Fort.

But why it took me seven years to reach this place is in itself an interesting story. Please hold on with me.

Somewhere in 2017, when I was working in an immigration company WWICS, and while on a break and at my wife accomodation at Shri Anandpur Sahib, I was searching happishly for a place that is near to our location and makes for an interesting historic place.

Our location in this situation was Shri Keshgarh Sahib, Shri Anandpur Sahib.

I fingered the historic places near me in the google chrome search on my mobile phone and it showed me a place called Kutlehar Fort somewhere around 40 - 50 kms from where I was.

At that time we only had a motorcycle, Bajaj Platina and we could make a round trip easily on this.

It was summertime and I convinced my wife that it is an interesting place to be at. My wife is as adventurous as I am, but since we were not finding any good reviews on Google about Kutlehar Fort, we were a little skeptical if this would make it worth the effort of going there.

We accumulated the courage and ignited the journey in the direction.

Back then, I guess there was rarely anyone who was aware of this place, except for the local people living in the ten kilometer range. After nearly an hour's ride, we arrived at a main crossing of Una, Himachal Pradesh.

It is not that the Bajaj Platina took that much time, it is just that I am a slow comfort rider.

Standing at the crossing, Google Baba was not leading anywhere, for it was pointing in a direction which was not exactly a path.

It was broken and dilapidated. I must mention that Google maps were not as strong that time as they are now. Above all, there were almost no bloggers or vloggers who could help us out in this situation.

To confirm if it is the right path, we asked a couple of local people here as to where this place is, Kutlehar Fort.

To our amazement and utter dismay, we only received blank faces in response to questions we asked.

One person even said that there is no such place here. By now, we were also convinced that there is no such place and even if it is there it is not worth going to.

After receiving nearly four to five blank responses to our question - where is this Kutlehar Fort, we were left with no other option but to return back.

In the Indian setup, people were not aware of writing and talking about local places to visit on the internet, so back in 2017 if you would search some prominent place to visit near you, there were not many clear cut answers.

The good part of the majority of our expeditions, me and my wife, was that we enjoyed every moment. 

Even in this case where we are not able to achieve our aim, it does not mean that we did not enjoy it.

On the way back we stopped at multiple locations, had a chola kulcha and a banta, the local fresh lime soda.

Back in 2017, the Nangal flyover construction had started and it was kind of difficult to pass through that area.

While we had a detailed discussion on what could have gone wrong in finding this fort in Una, when we were returning back, by the time we reached back home this failed expedition was out of our mind.

We made several guesses on what might have gone wrong, for example, the name Kutlehar is another name for some other fort, and most likely it is the Kangra Fort that was quite famous and everyone knew about it.

This episode of ours was soon forgotten and got dumped in the daily chores of our life.

Fast forward to present day, the independence day of India 2024, me and my wife decided that we will take some time out and go someplace nearby.

Few days back before we made this decision, one of my colleagues suggested to me that we should go to Masroor Rock Cut Temple or a place called Bathu Ki Ladi.

These two places are close to Chandigarh and make for a good short trip for those who love to visit historic places.

On 25th August, we set out at 9 in the morning. On a Sunday morning, this was quite an achievement for us, for on most occasions we had been lying in bed.

Our plan was to check out one of these sites, Bathu Ki Ladi or Masrur Rock Cut Temple. These two places were nearly four hours drive from our place, we were coming from Chandigarh.

Half an hour into the drive, my wife decided to have some suggestions from her office colleague who was a local of the Una area.

Her colleague suggested a number of options, among them we found Sadashiv Temple, Talmehra, Himachal Pradesh a good place to check out.

We had not heard of this place before and were told that this place is of immense importance.

There is a detailed history behind this and I am thankful to my wife's colleague that we got the privilege of visiting this place.

If you are near Una and want to visit a Hindu temple that is of historical importance then you should definitely go to Sadashiva Temple, Una and this place is not hard to find as was the case for the place that I am writing about.

Spending time at Sadashiv Temple gave us a lot of peace and calmed our mind and heart. Thankfully, rain clouds covered the sky while we were there, and we did not have a problem looking around at the temple.

They have a big covered terrace where you can sit, enjoy the view around you and enjoy the prasad.

After having the blessings from Sadashiv Mahadev Ji, we finally headed towards the Solasingi Fort.

Even though Google shows Kutlehar Fort, locally this fort is more famous as Solasingi Fort.

While we were steering, braking and accelerating towards this place, on the way we spotted a temple which looked quite old and historic.

Prachin Chaumukha Mahadev Mandir is the name of the temple. Being at this temple was feeling like being enlightened. This is a small temple, and only local people of the area were there.

Spotting the Solasingi Fort was a bit of a drill as there are no sign boards that can tell the location of the fort.

Since it was the rainy season, trees and shrubs had covered almost all the paths that there may be. 

From Sadashiv Temple to Takoli, than Talmhera, and then we reach a point from where we had to do trekking by foot.

There was no actual path, only a broken staircase that led us to that fort, but it was quite difficult to spot that staircase, as everything was covered by shrubs and bushes.

A local shop owner told us how to reach the Solasingi fort.

He detailed, walking up nearly 400 meters from his shop, we will see some big trees. We have to take this path, it is broken after climbing nearly 400 meters or so, there is a Pipal tree from there the staircase will be better and much clearer to spot.

Climbing the stairs for the first 400 meters was quite risky and daring for us, as because of the rain that had fallen a few hours back everything was slippery and firm footing was required to keep moving.

After climbing nearly for 15 minutes we spotted the Pipal tree, it was quite big and easy to spot. The path to Solasingi Fort, (Kutlehar Fort) was much better now, even though it was just a narrow trail and we did not know what was on either side of this trail as everything was covered in bush and trees.

On the way while climbing the staircase there was no one, and everything around us was green, wet and slippery. The only other voices, other than that of my wife talking behind me, was that of the birds and crickets.

This whole scenario made it kind of scary as well. While climbing up the stairs to Kutlehar Fort (Solasingi Fort), something was bothering my mind.

I was wondering if we will meet anyone as we reach the Solasingi Fort. Since the place is completely secluded, I was worried that the place might be flocked by druggists and alcoholics.

So, more than being conscious of snakes or insects around us, I was worried for such people if we came across them there at the fort.

Thankfully there was no one when we reached the fort.

The path after the Pipal Tree was more structured and kind of maintained as well. During nearly forty minutes of our climb, there had been a number of occasions when we thought that it would be better that we should return back.

Another big landmark is a big water tank that stores the water for the whole locality. This water tank is made of concrete and once you arrive there it means the Solasingi fort is just 10 minutes walk away.

The thought that the place is in a dilapidated condition so much that no one is willing to come here, then why are we risking so much.

Finally, we were inside the Solasingi Fort, i.e. Kutlehar Fort, and the journey that started nearly seven years back has been concluded now.

The place is completely left to its mercy and it was in its most pitiful condition asking for immediate renovation.

The view from this place is extremely fabulous. Solasingi Fort is at quite a height and one can see very far off from this place.

The ruler who made this fort must have had a really good time staying here. What surprises me is how people of that time used to cook and what they used to cook, because back then there must have been more trees, and wildlife compared to what it is now.

Once you reach the top there is no other way but to go down, and it was time for us to go down. This need was all the more important because it was dark and cloudy now, and if it started to rain then it would become quite difficult for us to go walk down those broken staircases.

Slowly, steadily with each firm footing we started to return back. Even though it looks easy, climbing down a hill is more difficult than climbing up. This risk increases when the path is slippery.

Another point worth noting here is that there is no place to park your vehicle. If you are coming by car then you will have to request a localite to allow you to park the car. This is what we did when we asked for direction from the local shopkeeper.

Mind you, the shopkeeper was quite welcoming and generous.

After nearly one and a half hour of journey we were able to accomplish this task. The local shopkeeper was surprised too as he had doubts if we would be able to spot the place to climb and then climb it to reach the Solasingi Fort, Kutlehar Fort.

I showed him the photographs which I took after reaching there to make him believe that we had reached the Solasingi Fort.

To those who are coming to this place for the first time, and are crazy enough to climb and reach it, there is not much to be worried about.

While talking to the shopkeeper, after our return from the Solasingi fort, he said that he used to climb up there nearly twice every day, as they had to cut grass and feed for their cattle.

So even though the place looks scary and kind of haunted, it is not really.