As in 1st part I have already told you My bikers club Cross Route Int planned a tour to Azad Jammu & Kashmir on 5th Feb for Kashmir day. They decided to hit the road on 4th Feb at 2:00 PM. for Mirpur Azad Jammu & Kashmir. I want to visit Three forts Rohtas Fort, Mangla Fort and Ramkot Fort in addition an old Hindu Temple. So i started my journey 9:00 AM from Lahore towards Rohtas Fort 5 hours before them Now it is second Part about Mangla Fort and about Sook kalan temple۔
All Pictures are taken by my Cellphone
For 1st Part click here
Mangla Fort
Mangla Fort is Now a prohibited area, General public is not allowed inside due to security reasons it is a small fortress Now the place is occupied by WAPDA and there are also a small museum of Mangla dam which shows the construction of Mangla dam,
From the top of fort magnificent views of Mangla lake, Mangla Bridge and Mangla dam can enjoy.There are also a small museum in Fort where describes about the Mangla dam.
Mangla is a historical place on the name of Mangal Devi.Ancient stories describe that Mangal Devi, who gave her “Dershan”(Shows her face) every Tuesday (Mangal) only, was the daughter of Raja Porus.
From this point Alexander the Great crossed river Jhelum (Old name Hydaspes) in 326 B.C.,
and fought his historical battle with the forces of Raja Porus at the place Khari, 10 miles away from Mangla.
The left bank side of Mangla is situated a within the territorial limits of district Mirpur Azad Jammu & Kashmir
Jhelum city is situated 25 km from Mangla. Jhelum city is on the name of favorite horse of Alexander the Great “The Jhelum” which died and was buried there.Mangla Fort should be be declared as
"International Historical Heritage Site.
Sook kalan temple
It is a hidden Hindu Temple. It is very old temple of Gujrat outside the city stands in the fields looking very beautiful there are no details of its history now remains only one room inside the room their are some old paintings a few people knows about it so almost no tourist comes to visit it.