Arki Fort

Arki palace is located in Arki, India, a town in Himachal Pradesh.

The Arki palace was built between 1695 - 1700 by Rana Prithvi Singh, a descendent of Rana Sabha Chand. The Fort was captured by the Gurkhas in 1806. Rana Jagat Singh, the ruler of Baghal had to take refuge in Nalagarh. During this period from 1806 - 1815, the Gurkha General Amar Singh Thapa used Arki as his stronghold to make further advances into Himachal Pradesh as far as Kangra. Arki was the capital of the princely hill state of Baghal, which was founded by Rana Ajai Dev, a Panwar Rajput. The state was founded around 1643 and Arki was declared as its capital by Rana Sabha Chand in 1650. www.arki.co.in

Wall paintings
The Diwan Khana of the palace has very nice paintings in Kangra painting style. The paintings depict incidents from mythology, religion, history and culture etc.They include Kamdev’s arrows on Shiva, Kalia-Mardan which represent mythology whereas the paintings of Sikh-Mughal battles represent events of history.A painting of ships at Tellicherry Harbour is very attractive and it appears as if the painter has been to the South.The colours of these paintings are maroon, yellow and saffron. These paintings are expected to be nearly 200 years old during the reign of King Kishan Singh, but the colours are still maintained. However, these paintings are getting faded now and require immediate attention to preserve this rich but relatively neglected cultural heritage. www.arki.co.in

Accommodation and rest houses
There are few private hotel in Arki besides one PWD rest house and one forest dapartment rest house.