Formerly known as Alhilal (land of the crescent moon) ,Taragarh Palace, was built in the early 1930s as a summer resorts. It was bought by the royal family of Jammu & Kashmir in 1951 for the dowager Maharani who lived there for several years. It is now run as a hotel by the present royal family.

In 1931, the 27 year old Nawab of Bahawalpur built large European-style summer residence for himself up in the cool Himalayan jungle of Kangra district . He laid out lush gardens, built a glass pleasure pavilion and a mosque and christened his country palace Al Hilal ( The Crescent Moon ).