Shimla Walks. Around Andretta. ART & CULTURE | Norah Richards, the "Nani of Punjabi Theatre", Gurcharan Singh, Sobha Singh, B.C. Sanyal, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Freda Bedi, ( mother of Kabir, the actor ) and Mansimran Singh are some of the names synonymous with the Andretta art and culture environment. Norah Richard's House - Norah Richards, a dramatist and environmentalist lived in Andretta from the mid 30's, through the time of partition until her death in 1971. She was a formidable and resourceful Irish woman, passionate about Shakespeare, who built an adobe house here in the English style & created the Andretta Artists Colony on land given to her in recognition of her artistic contribution to the Punjab ( as Himachal Pradesh still was in those days).
She taught Punjabi students how to perform plays in a small outdoor theatre outside her home. Norah Centre for the Arts - Higher up towards the Shivalik Hills is the Norah Centre for the Arts. B.C. Norah Richards' House : A unique architecture in Andretta. The village of Andretta would not have shot into prominence, had it not been for british born Norah Richards. Norah came to India in the year 1911 along with her husband Philip Richards, the latter taking up a position as an English professor at the Dyal Singh College in Lahore. After her husband’s death in 1920, Mrs. Richards returned to England only to come back in five years to settle in the Kangra Valley. Norah Richard’s house in Andretta Soon she became the focal point of Andretta and the artistic talent from all over the country began to congregate at Andretta. Inside Norah Richard’s house People still fondly refer to her as the great grandmother of Punjabi theatre.
NORAH RICHARDS AND HER RETREAT AT ANDRETTA PALAMPUR. The village of Andretta would not have shot into prominence, had Norah Richards not favored it as her choice of abode. Andretta. with a close sylvan background, nestles like an oasis of beauty in the open Kangra Valley with snow-capped ranges of the Dhauladhar around it. The village may be said to be gifted in so far as its solitude is concerned but the solitude does not bear the brunt of doomed silence; it is a lively manifestation of a Yogi in meditation. The surroundings are mystic. succinctly captivating the mood of the visitor in such a steadfast way that the imprint left on his mind is permanent. The reminiscences whenever these strike one's mind are vitalizing; when one is off the land, he is not off its maidenly beauty.
An artist or a man, who is sensitive to things of beauty will take no longer to come under the solemn spell of this land -quiet and dreamy. Born n British, Norah Richards came to India in 1911 with her husband Mr. Norah Richards passed away on March 3, 1971.