Kullu & Mandi · Western Himalaya & Trans-Himalaya

People

Name	Years	Field	Known for
Ajbar Sen	Reigned in the early sixteenth century	Ruler	Founded Mandi town on the left bank of the Beas in 1526 and moved the seat of the Suket-derived line there. The Bhutnath temple belongs to the same moment, which is why the town's oldest stonework and its street plan are the same project.
Suraj Sen	Reigned in the mid-seventeenth century	Ruler	Installed Madho Rai as the presiding deity of Mandi and, by tradition, made the state over to the deity and ruled as its regent. It is the clearest statement anywhere in the region of the arrangement that governs it — the deity holds the sovereignty, the human holds the office.
Jagat Singh	Reigned c. 1637–1672	Ruler	Brought the Raghunath image to Kullu from Ayodhya and installed it as the ruling deity of the valley in expiation for a wrong, taking the position of its servant. Kullu Dussehra, in which every village devta attends on Raghunath, is a direct consequence of that act.
Sidh Singh	Fifteenth century	Ruler and builder	Credited with building Naggar Castle, the largest surviving kath-kuni structure in the region and the Kullu seat for roughly two centuries.
Nicholas Roerich	1874–1947	Painter and writer	Settled at Naggar in the Kullu valley in the late 1920s after his Central Asian expeditions and painted the Himalaya from there until his death. His house and gallery remain, and the estate is a working cultural centre.
Svetoslav Roerich	1904–1993	Painter	Nicholas Roerich's son, who continued the family's Indian work and whose association kept the Naggar estate in use as an art institution rather than letting it become a memorial.
Lal Chand Prarthi	1916–1980	Poet and public life	Wrote in Kullvi and Hindi and worked, from within Himachal's public life, to give Kullu Dussehra and the region's folk forms a standing beyond the valley.
Padmasambhava	Eighth century, by tradition	Buddhist tradition	Tibetan Buddhist tradition holds that he departed for Tibet from Rewalsar, which is why a Mandi lake carries the name Tso Pema and draws pilgrims from across the Tibetan Buddhist world to a Himachali hill town.

People from Kullu & Mandi who shaped its history, arts, science, sport and public life. (8)