Narsinghgarh is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

, near Rajgarh city in Rajgarh district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

History

The town is over 300 years old having been founded in 1681 by Dewan Parasram. After partition Rawat Paras Ramji named his state after Bhagwan Shri Narsingh (incarnation of God Vishnu), who was his deity and aradhya Dev. Thereafter, he founded the town of Narsinghgarh and transferred his capital there and constructed the temple of his aradhya Dev Shri Narsingh Bhagwan. He built a tank known as Paras Ram Sagar The town's lake still bears the name of the founder. The Royal family was well connected directly and indirectly in relationship with all the important

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

Royal families of India. The State of Narsinghgarh was carved out of the State of Rajgarh by Paras Ramji, the younger brother of the then Ruler of Rajgarh, Rawat Mohan Singhji in 1681 A.D *Rawat Paras Ramji (1681–95) *Rawat Dalel Singhji (1695) *Rawat Moti Singhji (1695–1751) *Rawat Khuman Singhji (1751–66) *Rawat Achal Singhji (1766–95) *Rawat Sobhagh Singhji (1795–1827) *Raja Hanwant Singhji (1827–73) *Raja Pratap Singhji (1873–90) *Raja Mehtab Singhji (1890–95) *Raja Arjun Singhji (1895–1924) *Maharaja Vikram Singhji (1924–57) *Maharaja Bhanu Prakash Singhji (1957-2019)

Fort

The fort and palace at Narsinghgarh was the official residence of the rulers of

Narsinghgarh State Narsinghgarh State is a former princely state of the British Raj in India. It formed an enclave within Rajgarh State and was placed administratively under the Bhopal Agency subdivision of the Central India Agency. The state covered an area of ...

till Maharaja Bhanu Prakash Singhji shifted to the Bhanu Niwas Palace in the town in 1962. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan the rulers of Narsinghgarh were the only rulers who lived in the fort. The fort was built nearly 300 years ago in the Rajpur, Mughal and Malwa style. The entire complex covers an area of 45.323 acres and a built in area of more than 177000 sq. feet. It has 304 rooms, 4 halls, 12 chowks and 64 varandas. It is situated nearly 350 feet above the town on the hood of a snake-like hill and the approach to the Fort by vehicles is through its tail. This fort is the third biggest in the former State of Madhya Bharat, now part of Madhya Pradesh State, after the Forts of Mandu & Gwalior. The fort's pool was made in 19th century.

Geography

Narsinghgarh is located on

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also sy ...

Plateau at . It has an average elevation of 483

metre The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pre ...

s (1584 feet). The town is 72 km from the

Raja Bhoj Airport Raja Bhoj Airport is the primary airport serving Bhopal, capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Named after the 10th century Paramara king Raja Bhoj, it is the second busiest airport in Madhya Pradesh after Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Air ...

and is reached by a good road. Town is surrounded by Vindhyanchal Mountain Range and has three lakes. It is situated between Kota & Bhopal on the Jaipur-Jabalpur National Highway No.12 and is 82 km. from Bhopal, 265 Kilometers from Kota and 200 Kilometers from

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. The main railway stations are

Bhopal Junction Bhopal Junction railway station (station code: BPL) is a major railway junction of India and main railway station of Bhopal, the capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This station also serves as a connecting point for various ...

on the main Delhi-Chennai line and Biaora nearly 33 km on the Maksi-Gwalior branch line. The town of Vidisha is 84 km. east of Narsinghgarh. There is a new railway line proposed from Bhopal to Kota via Bairagarh, Shyampur, Narsinghgarh, Biaora, Rajgarh, Khilchipur,

Jhalawar Jhalawar () is a city, municipal council and headquarter in Jhalawar district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located in the southeastern part of the state. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the ad ...

, Ramganj Mandi etc. Close to Narsinghgarh is a state wildlife sanctuary with a big lake and a good rest house. Area of Narsinghgarh - 1368 km² total 306 villages.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, Narsinghgarh had a population of 27,657. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Narsinghgarh has an average literacy rate of 66%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 73%, and female literacy is 57%. In Narsinghgarh, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Art and music

The Rulers of Narsinghgarh were patrons of arts and music. The Malwa School of Arts as known today had its origin in the Narsinghgarh School of Arts in 18th and 19th Century. One of its artists was Madhav Das, whose collections of paintings were known as "Rag Ragini". The temples of Kunwarani ji and Chapawatji built by the Ranis of Narsinghgarh on the banks of Paras Ram Sagar depicted the paintings of Krishna Leela. From Narsinghgarh it was carried to Mandu and thus later on called the Malwa School of Arts. The college of Narsinghgarh is affiliated with Khairagarh University.

Tourist attractions

Narsinghgarh's main tourist attractions are Bada Mahadev Mandir, Chota Mahadev Mandir, Gupteshwar Mahadev Mandir, Nadiya Pani, Kodu Pani, raghunathji mandir, Narsinghgarh Fort, Badi Hanuman Gadi, shri jagannath mandir, Choti Hanuman Gadi , Jamaat Mandir and the jal Mandir.There is also Swarn Jain temple, dedicated to Mallinath Swamy along with Jain Dadawadi, it is made up of marble with detailed mirror and gold work, a visual treat for the visitors. There is also one wildlife sanctuary near Narsinghgarh, which is called "Paradise of Peacock"(chiddi kho). Also within short distance there is Shyam Ji shakha mandir, famous for its history and beauty. Narsinghgarh mahotsav is celebrated in winter every year. Nearby Narsinghgarh is Kotra village having wonderful Shamji temple along with Karotia - A narrow cave like structure on the Satpura ranges.

References

{{Bhopal Division Cities and towns in Rajgarh district Cities in Malwa