Kulvir Gupta
This collage of the grandeur of Mirpur speaks volumes about the architectural marvel as it existed before 25 Nov 1947. Most of the temples were built during the Dogra Rule – 1846 to 1947, mostly from 1857 to 1885 i.e. when Maharaja Ranbir Singh ji ruled the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
There is an interesting story about the construction of Shri Karan Singh Hospital, Mirpur. Maharaja Hari Singh ji, on his return from military duty during WW -II visited Mirpur in 1944-45, a delegation of the prominent citizens of the town called upon him and requested him to sanction a hospital for Mirpur as people from the district had to travel to neighboring
Punjab for their medical needs as Jammu was far away there was no proper road linking Mirpur with Jammu. Maharaja Sahib listened to them patiently but expressed his constraints that owing to the war it was not possible for him to spare funds for the project immediately. Knowing that Mirpur was a very prosperous town he offered them to contribute to the construction of the Hospital and assured them that whatever amount
was raised by the people he would contribute an equal amount from his treasury. Lo, Raja Raghubir Singh got up first of all and announced that he would contribute Rupees one Lac for the project, without a pause other members of the e delegation vied with each other to add their bit. Maharaja Sahib was very happy and stood by his commitment and ordered
the construction of Shri Karan Singh Hospital. There being no dearth of funds the Hospital was inaugurated sometime in 1946. Dr Fazal-ur-Rehman was the first Superintendent and Surgeon of the hospital.
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