| The
present town of Bilaspur is a new one. The old town Bilaspur with its beauty, dignity and
tradition and quite a few ancient temples including those of Shri Ranguath Ji and Shri
Gopal Ji and hallowed with Vyas Guha ( cave), the hermitage of the sage Ved Vyas Deva had
to be sub- merged by the waters of the Satluj river because of the completion of the
Bhakra Dam. The ancient temples had to go under
the waters of the present lake of Gobindsagar, a large and attractive lake where water is
collected and then canalized for human needs. Along with the human and animal population
the deities were rehabilitated in a temple in the new Bilaspur town near the site of the
Dam. This was a, tragedy that could not be avoided.
Obviously the old Bilaspur town had its many charms and had
attracted a number of European travelers including George Forster, William Moorcroft,
Baron Charles Hugel, G. T. Vigne, Edward Thornton and M. C. Forbes, Bilaspur has
been known from ancient times for the temple of Shri Naina Devi located on the top of a
hill. |
