Himachal
Places to visit
Nicholas Roerich Art gallery & museum, naggar: A Brief History & guide
Here is a complete and helpful travel guide to the Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery, Naggar, in Kullu-Manali of Himachal Pradesh. In this article, you will know everything about the Roerich Art Gallery and Museum, its brief past, why Roerichs made Naggar village and the Himalayas their home and ran their cult-like network of followers from here…
Roerich Art Gallery & Museum Guide
1. Who was Nicholas Roerich?
The temple is famous primarily because it’s one of the few Shiva temples situated on a mountain top and that too at around 2300 meters. There is a huge ground, one of the few ones in the entire Kullu valley, which surrounds the temple.
Some called Nicholas Roerich a spy. Others a charlatan and an occultist. A guru, who ran a cult of followers that included top celebrities, scientists, writers, poets and politicians and led them into believing in the existence of Shambhala — a mythical spiritual kingdom in the Himalayas. A delusional man, who saw himself as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. And a believer in the return of Maitreya, the future Buddha.
But in truth, Roerich was an artist, a great painter, an explorer and a peacenik. He painted the Himalayas like no one else did. He saw in the mountains, what no one else could — the symbols of spiritual transcendence.
2. Love for the Himalayas
Born on October 9, 1874 in St Petersburg, Russia, Nicholas Roerich’s long cherished dream was to be in the Himalayas. While growing up at the family estate of Isvara near Petersburg, Roerich had fallen in love with a painted image of Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world in Sikkim, India.
Roerich had fled to Finland in 1918 in the wake of the Russian Revolution and later spent few years in London where he established Agni Yoga and became a friend of writers and poets including HG Wells and Rabindranath Tagore. An established artist by this time, Nicholas Roerich with his wife Helena and two sons — George and Svetoslav — moved to the USA in 1920.
Drawn by the Himalayas and the Indian mysticism, Roerichs sailed off for India on November 17, 1923 and by late December had reached Darjeeling. In Darjeeling, Roerichs started living in Talai-Pho-Brang, the house where 13th Dalai Lama had once stayed.
It was during his days in Darjeeling that Roerich was ordained as a Buddhist lama and received the spiritual name Reta Rigden.
3. Search for Shambhala
On March 6, 1925, Roerichs began their Central Asia journey. They trekked for 34 months covering 8000 miles of the world’s most rugged terrain, in search of Shambhala, the mythical spiritual kingdom. They started off from Srinagar, crossed Zoji La Pass to enter Ladakh and Khardung La Pass to reach Turkestan. From Turkestan, the Roerichs reached Moscow and then headed for Altai mountains and Mangolia and then crossed Gobi desert to reach Tibet. The Roerichs believed that Belukha mountain in the Altai Mountains was an entrance to Shambhala. The Roerichs were not allowed to enter Lhasa and reached Sikkim on May 16, 1928. They were back in Darjeeling on May 27, 1928.
Though they did not find Shambhala but their Central Asia expedition is considered one of the greatest exploration feats that inspired author James Hilton to create fictitious Shangri-la in his 1933 bestseller Lost Horizon.
4. Roerichs settle down in Naggar
After finishing the Central Asia expedition in 1928, Roerich did not wish to return to the USA and wanted to settle down in the Himalayas. Roerich also wanted to set up a research institute in the mountains. So, the family started exploring the Western Himalayas of Kullu and during their visit spotted a house on a hill in Naggar village. The entire family immediately liked it.
The 18-room villa and the Hall Estate in which it was situated belonged to Raja of Mandi Joginder Sen, who had kept its selling price to be Rs 1 lakh. In December 1928, Roerich approached the Raja of Mandi and the deal was finalised for Rs 93,000. The property papers were signed in January, 1929. Roerich was to make the payment in three instalments of Rs 20,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 53,000.
Interestingly, the Hall Estate was originally developed by Colonel Rennick, a Britisher, who had come to Kullu in the 1870s, and had managed to buy big chunks of land in the valley. Col Rennick who had bought land in Naggar also and built the villa he used to call the Hall and the entire property later came to be known as the Hall Estate.
Rennick had sold the Hall Estate to Raja of Mandi in 1921 before leaving for London.
The Roerichs moved to Naggar after paying the first two instalments in March, 1929. A gur or medium was invited from the village to bless the house.
However, the British government, which suspected Roerich to be a secret agent and didn’t want him to live here, refused to allow the registration of the Hall estate property. After much persuasion by the Roerichs, the British government finally relented and the Hall estate was allowed to be registered in the April of 1931.
5. Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute
Besides painting some of his best works on Himalayas from Naggar and surrounding mountains, Nicholas Roerich also started working on Urusvati or the ‘morning light’ — a Himalayan research institute to study discoveries made during their travels. Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s Vishwa Bharati university, Roerich and George wanted to set up a research institute for studies in different fields including botany, linguistics, archaeology, and medicine etc. Roerich managed to bring botanist Jagdish Chandra Bose on Urusvati’s board of directors and also roped in Charles Lanman, a Harvard Professor, as its vice-president.
The Urusvati was opened in 1931. Despite being affiliated to world’s top research institutes and with some of the best scientists and personalities working for it, the Urusvati failed to deliver. By 1933, Urusvati’s viability had run its course and many of its supporters started backing away after losing interest. A year later by 1934, Urusvati was an almost defunct institute.
6. Naggar days
In the 1930s, the Roerichs spent their time between Naggar and America. In Naggar, Roerich painted some of his best works on Himalayas and in America, he worked on his world peace initiatives and the museum in New York. In 1935, the Roerich Pact, a peace treaty signed by the USA and 21 other nations earned him world praises and nomination for Nobel Peace Prize. Even Albert Einstein publicly voiced his approval for the pact, calling Roerich a genius.
The peace pact had become possible after Roerich managed to get close to President Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) through his follower and Vice-President of the United States Henry Wallace. Wallace was under Roerich’s spell and used to address him as ‘Dear Guru.’ After Roerich and Wallace fell through, Roerich’s wife Helena wrote a series of letters to FDR from Naggar in 1934 and 1935, still considered most unusual chapter in the history of US presidential correspondence.
Interestingly, Helena, who was nicknamed Urusvati, had earned herself the reputation of being a medium with an ability to see the future, in the inner circle of Roerichs. Even Roerich himself had claimed many times that his spiritual masters, the “Mahatmas” in the Himalayas, communicated telepathically with him through his wife Helena.
7. Devika Rani and Nehru
In the last phase of his life, especially from the 1940s onwards, Roerich spent most of his time in Naggar. The family had settled down to a routine life of waking up early each morning and spending the days painting, writing, studying and researching. Sometimes, the family would go on a drive in their green Dodge.
It was around this time that Roerich’s younger son Svetoslav started courting actress Devika Rani, ‘the first lady of the Indian screen.’ Devika also happened to be the grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore, a friend of Nicholas Roerich.
Devika used to visit Naggar with Svetoslav and the credit for popularising the Kullu shawls also goes to her. The couple got married in 1945, further cementing the bond between the two families.
In the summer of 1942, at which time Nicholas Roerich had started supporting India’s freedom movement, the Roerichs hosted future Prime Ministers Jawahar Lal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi, who was 24 then. During their seven-day stay at the Roerich estate, Svetoslav also did a sketch of Nehru.
8. Death in the mountains
Nicholas Roerich’s ailing health had continued to decline in 1947. Along with heart disease, which was diagnosed in 1939, he also suffered from prostate cancer. In July, surgeries were done to remove the cancer but in vain. On December 13, 1947, Nicholas Roerich breathed his last. He was 73.
Roerich was cremated in his Naggar estate and some of his ashes were buried at vantage points in the mountains.
9. Roerich Art Gallery and Museum
Today, the Roerich estate is an art centre and a museum. The rooms on the ground floor of the Roerich residence have been converted into an art gallery that exhibit Himalayan series paintings by Nicholas Roerich and Svetoslav Roerich. The art gallery was created in the 1960s by Svetoslav Roerich. On the first floor, all the rooms are locked and visitors are not allowed inside. However, you can walk on the wooden corridors and enjoy a breathtaking view of the snow-capped mountains and villages including Naggar from here. There is also a locked garage on the ground floor with Nicholas Roerich’s vintage Dodge inside.
Similarly, the wooden structure that once housed the Urusvati institute has also been converted into a museum that displays various objects and instruments used in the university along with many paintings. There are also two wooden palanquins in the museum which were once used by Helena and Devika Rani.
There is a beautiful garden in the front of the art gallery and a staircase from here leads to the Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani memorial museum, which displays paintings, sketches and interesting memorabilia. Outside, there are also two sculptures of Svetoslav and Devika.
10. Roerich’s Samadhi
Further down below is the samadhi of Nicholas Roerich where he was cremated. A slab of rock was placed on the spot with these words inscribed: “The body of Maharishi Nikolai Roerich, a great friend of India, was cremated here on 30th Magh, 2004th year of the Vikram era, corresponding to the 15th December 1947. Om Ram.”
Inscribed on the other side of the stone are these apt words: “This fragment of a mountain cliff was brought here from far away.”
11. Where is Roerich Art Gallery and Museum located and how to reach here?
The art gallery is situated in the Roerich Estate, which is around 2 kms from Naggar village. Naggar is located on the left bank of Beas river and at a distance of around 20 kms from Manali and around 22 kms from Kullu town.
The nearest airport is in Bhuntar town, which is around 10 kms from Kullu. From Chandigarh, you can take the national highway and reach Naggar in around 6 hours.
12. What is the entry fee and what are the visiting hours?
The entry fee for the art gallery and the museum is Rs 50 per person for Indian visitors and Rs 200 per person for foreign visitors. You can visit the gallery throughout the year between 10 am to 6 pm from April till October and from 10 am to 5 am from November to March.
The gallery and museum remain open on all days of the year except on the Independence Day (August 15), Republic Day (January 26), Gandhi Jayanti (October 2), Christmas (December 25), Holi and Diwali.
13. What else I can do in Naggar?
There is so much you can do in Naggar. Along with the Roerich estate, you can also visit the Naggar Castle and the Tripura Sundari temple. Naggar castle is among the top attractions of Naggar and has a very intriguing history including the fact that it was sold by the Kullu Raja for a gun. The Jana village and Jana waterfall are also nearby.
If you are staying in Naggar then you can also do the scenic Naggar-Bijli Mahadev trek.
The temple of Bijli Mahadev or the ‘God of Lightning’ is situated on a mountain top at an altitude of 2300 meters and gives breathtaking views of the mountain ranges and of Bhuntar town below. Read the complete guide on Bijli Mahadev here.
14. Where to stay in Naggar?
There are some excellent places to stay in Naggar. Here is our hand-picked recommended list of hotels/guesthouses/homestays in Naggar:
Naggar Castle
The former residence of Kullu royals, built with wood-and-stone in local Kath-Kuni style of architecture, built Naggar Castle is undoubtedly the top choice of travellers due to its magnificent history, breathing views and comfortable accommodation.
Soham’s Chateau De Naggar
Enjoy a memorable stay at this lavish property located in Naggar. The rooms are cosy and excellent with breathtaking views. The hotel has its own restaurant.
Tsukimi homestay
Want to stay in a homely environment? Then nothing is better than this homestay in Naggar. The homestay had all the amenities you are looking for including parking and wifi.
Art Village
If you are looking for solitude, then this is the place for you. Built in traditional Kath-Kuni architectural style, this property offers luxury suites and greater views of the Himalayas.
The Naggar Trails
Located in the heart of Naggar, this property offers spacious rooms with excellent views of the village and the Himalayas.
Tag’s Stay
Located near the Naggar castle, it’s a small but beautiful property. The rooms are spacious and service is good.
Chandelok
Located in Naggar, this guesthouse is a critics choice due to excellent views, cosy accommodation and excellent service. Bike and car rentals also available.
FabExpress Shammi Inn, Jagatsukh
This 3-star hotel is located in Jagatsukh, near both Naggar and Manali on the Manali-Naggar road. The rooms are spacious and offer marvellous views of the mountains. Parking, wifi etc is available.
Roerich Art Gallery & Museum Video
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