Paonta Sahib is an industrial town of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is located in the south of

Sirmaur district Sirmaur is the southernmost district of Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It is largely mountainous and rural, with 90% of its population living in villages. Some of its towns include the capital Nahan, Tuheri, Bhawan, Shamra, UchaTik ...

, on National Highway 72 ( New NH 7). Paonta Sahib is an important place of worship for

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

s, hosting a large

Gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

named

Gurudwara Paonta Sahib ''Gurudwara Paonta Sahib'', is a noted ''Gurudwara'' in Paonta Sahib, District of Sirmaur district, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. This Gurdwara was built in memory of Guru Gobind Singh ji, the tenth guru of sikhs. The Gurdwara enjoys a high his ...

, on the banks of the river

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

. The river is the boundary between the states of

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

History

The town was founded by Sikh Guru Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The

has linkages to the tenth Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the Sikh leader

Banda Singh Bahadur Banda Singh Bahadur (born Lachman Dev) (27 October 1670 – 9 June 1716), was a Sikh warrior and a commander of Khalsa army. At age 15, he left home to become an Asceticism, ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a ...

. Its original name was Paontika. In

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

language, ''Paon'' means "feet" and ''tika'' means "became stable". It is believed that Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his horse stopped at this place, and he decided to stay here. He lived here for four and a half years, having never stayed so long at any other place in his entire life. He wrote many Sikh religious books during the stay and moved to

Anandpur Sahib Anandpur Sahib, sometimes referred to simply as Anandpur (lit. "city of bliss"), is a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge of Shivalik Hills, in the Indian state of Punjab. Located near the Sutlej River, the city is one of the most s ...

to establish the

Khalsa Panth Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,Kha ...

. The Gurudwara houses a museum containing antiques and weapons used by Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Paonta Sahib is the birthplace of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji, the eldest son of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. PaontaSahib

Geography

Paonta Sahib is located at . It has an average elevation of 389 metres (1,276 feet). It is on the bank of the river Yamuna, the river being the boundary between the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It is situated near the towns of

Nahan Nahan is a town in Himachal Pradesh in India and is the headquarters of the Sirmaur District It was the capital of the former Sirmur princely state.Nahan is also known as the Town of ponds. Geography Nahan is located at . It has a ...

in Himachal Pradesh,

Yamunanagar Yamunanagar (), is a city and a municipal corporation in Yamunanagar district in the Indian state of Haryana. This town is known for the cluster of plywood units and paper industries. It provides timber to larger industries. The older town is ...

in Haryana,

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

Western Uttar Pradesh Western Uttar Pradesh is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and those where Khariboli, Braj and Kannauji are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cul ...

and

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

in Uttarakhand. It is on the western extreme of the

Doon Valley The Doon Valley is an unusually wide, long valley within the Sivalik Hills and the Lesser Himalayas, in the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Within the valley lies the city of Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand s ...

, which is at a distance of about 44 km from Dehradun.

Kalesar National Park Kalesar National Park () and adjacent Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary ( are protected areas in Yamunanagar district of Haryana state in India, from Chandigarh. Kalesar National Park was established in 2003. Kalesar National Park and Kalesar Wildl ...

is 12 km from Paonta Sahib. Colonel Sher Jung National Park is around 7 km from the main town. Some luxury hotels to stay in Paonta Sahib are Hotel Guru Surbhi, Hotel Yamuna, and Hotel Paonta Valley, Hotel Rockwood and Resort, Hotel Grand Riviera, Hotel Royal Hilton, Hotel Silver Oak are few.

Climate

Paonta Sahib has a

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

climate characterised by a seasonal rhythm, hot summers, slightly cold winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature (1 °C to 40 °C). In winters, frost sometimes occurs during December and January. It also receives occasional winter rains from the western disturbance. Average temperatures: * Summer: Temperatures may rise to a maximum of 44 °C. The temperature generally remains 35 °C to 40 °C. * Autumn: The temperature may go to a maximum of 36 °C. The temperature usually remains between 16 °C and 27 °C in autumn. The lowest temperature may go to 13 °C. * Winter: Temperatures are cool and sometimes chilly. Average temperature in winters (November to February) remains at (max.) 2 °C to 7 °C and (min.) 0 °C to 5 °C. * Spring: The climate remains quite pleasant. The temperature remains (max.) 16 °C to 25 °C and (min.) 9 °C to 18 °C.

Demographics

As of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Paonta Sahib had a population of 1,58,268 (urban 25,172/ rural 1,33,096). Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Paonta Sahib has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than National average of 74.04% (2011 figure).: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 72%. In Paonta Sahib, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Paonta Sahib is a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

which has 13 wards. This council looks after the development of the city, maintenance of roads, streets, cleanliness etc. The election takes place every five years to elect ward members and a chairman.

Industries

Major industries are cement (

Cement Corporation of India Cement Corporation of India Limited (CCI) is the only cement manufacturing Public Sector Undertaking of Government of India. The company was incorporated as a wholly government-owned corporation on 18 January 1965, with the objective of settin ...

Rajban Rajban is a small town near Paonta Sahib in the Sirmaur district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. RajBan, as the name suggests in Hindi, to be the 'Ban' (Vann or Jungle/ Forest) of Raja. Rajban is home to one of the oldest cement fact ...

), power generation - renewable energy ( Power Group ), aviation ( Air Himalayas ), pharmaceutical (

Sun Pharmaceutical Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (d/b/a Sun Pharma) is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, that manufactures and sells pharmaceutical formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in more th ...

Mankind Pharma Limited Mankind Pharma is an Indian pharmaceutical and healthcare products company, headquartered in Delhi. The company has products in therapeutic areas ranging from antibiotics, to gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, dermal, and erectile dysfunction m ...

), textiles, and chemicals. Apart from these, Asia's biggest limestone marketJustification for Locating the Project , NIC
/ref> is located at Sataun. Apart, Pharma Industry includes Tirupati Medicare Limited, Tirupati Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., Tirupati Wellness Pvt. Ltd. and Pontika Aerotech Limited, all 4 are part of 'The Tirupati Group' in Paonta Sahib on Nahan Road.

References

Cities and towns in Sirmaur district Sikh places

External links

* *{{cite web, url=https://hpsirmaur.nic.in/, title=District Sirmaur, Government of Himachal Pradesh - Dev Bhoomi, website=Hpsirmaur.nic.in, access-date=22 April 2019