According to one local legend, brave Indian Raja Jambu Lochan went hunting and noticed a lion and a goat on the bank of the Tawi River. They were standing near each other drinking water as if one of them weren’t a predator, and another its designated prey. At this moment the wise Raja decided that this riverbank is a place of harmony and equality. Later, he built his royal palace here and founded a beautiful city that he named in his honor Jambu Nagar. The elder brother of the Raja, Bahu Lochan couldn’t stand idly by and presented the new city with a powerful fort to protect its citizens and wonderful gardens to delight them. It happened in the 14th century BC so hardly anything survived to our day. Even the city lost a part of its name and is now called Jammu.

The first Bahu Fort is only presented by a few rocks that were laid in the base of the construction of a new fort in 1585. But this fortress was also reconstructed several times until in the 19th century the Raja of the then ruling Dogra dynasty restored it completely. Thick stone walls, eight watchtowers, and spacious high gates that huge Indian elephants could enter easily. The first floor of the fortress was decorated with countless arches with floral patterns, and its dungeon hosted prisoners’ cells and mazes of secret passageways and ways out in the city.

In the 19th century, the governors of Jammu were followers of Sikhism, a religion that was founded in India in the 15th century. It is currently the 9th religion in the world in the number of its adherents. That is why the majestic stone fort was not only a defense structure but a religious center with a temple inside. The Hindu shrine is devoted to the goddess Kali, the patroness of the city.