Rajpura () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Patiala district Patiala district is one of the twenty three districts in the state of Punjab in north-west India. Patiala district lies between 38 47’ and 39 41’ north latitude, 115 58’ and 116 54' east longitude, in the southeast part of the state. I ...

in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, India, situated along the border of the Indian state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

. It is located 26 KM Patiala city, towards East from District Head Quarter. It is Tehsil Head Quarter. Rajpura is the largest tehsil of the district.

Geography

Rajpura is located at . It has an average elevation of 259 metres (849 feet). Rajpura is situated nearly 38 km south west of

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

, the capital city of Punjab. Besides being an important industrial town of Punjab, it also has historical importance. Rajpura is surrounded by a number of major cities like

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

(22 km west),

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

(20 km south) and

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

(83 km north). Rajpura acts as middle point between

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

National Highway 44 The following highways are numbered 44. Australia * Great Western Highway, Parramatta Road (Sydney) * Captain Cook Highway - Queensland State Route 44 (Regional) * Greensborough Highway Canada * Alberta Highway 44 * Manitoba Highway 44 * On ...

as these cities are 225 km away from Rajpura in opposite directions.

Demographics

In the 2011 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Rajpura Municipal Council had a population of 391,011 including 206,801 (52.89%) males and 184,210 (47.11%) females giving a Sex Ratio of 891. There were 457,82 children aged 0–6 i.e. 10.7% of the total population. There was a literacy rate of 86.42% (males 89.83%, females 82.70%) much higher than the state average of 75.84%.

History

The name of Rajpura appears in the history as Emperor

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

. his name when translated means "The Lion King", and founder of the Suri dynasty built a "Sarai" (Inn) in Rajpura for his army when ever he passed through Rajpura. This Sarai was built during the Suri Dynasty, between 1540 and 1545. The Sarai expanded rapidly from the 19th century and is briefly the first largest Administrative Sub-division in Patiala district. This Sarai houses the officers of Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

Municipal Council

As the city continued to prosper during the 19th century, Rajpura became a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

includes 252 villages under its municipal limits and is the largest tehsil of the district. Rajpura has north India's only orphanage center "SOS".

Divisions

Traditionally, Rajpura can be divided into three divisions: One is Rajpura Township, the second is Old Rajpura and third is Focal Point.

Constituency

Rajpura is constituency No. 111 of

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directl ...

. It is comes under the

Patiala (Lok Sabha constituency) Patiala Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 13 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Punjab state in northern India. Assembly segments This constituency comprises nine Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) segments. These are: Members ...

. As per the voter list of 2019, there are 173947 electorates and 189 polling stations. The term of the Legislative assembly is five years.

Industry

Rajpura is an industrial town. There are number of large-scale industries like

Hindustan Unilever Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a consumer goods company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a subsidiary of Unilever, a British company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products, water purifi ...

HUL (formerly known as HLL). and a large number of small-scale industries. In small-scale industries, Rajpura is a hub of

steel works A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finis ...

and machines industry.

Power Plant

Nabha Power Limited, which runs a 1400 MW (2x700) supercritical thermal power plant at Rajpura, owned and operated by Larsen & Toubro.

Warehousing and logistics hub

Rajpura has been known for its quality furniture and several well-known brands have their manufacturing plants located here. Being one of the largest industrial hubs of Punjab, Rajpura is crucial location from supply chain & logistics perspective. Rajpura is gradually emerging as warehousing and logistics hub of Punjab.

Education

Notable schools, colleges, universities and institutes in Rajpura include:

Schools

* Holy Angels School

Colleges

* Aryans College of Law *

Chitkara University, Punjab Chitkara University is a private university located in Rajpura, Punjab, India. It offers undergraduate programs, post-graduate program and doctoral programs in fields of engineering, management, pharmacy, health sciences, nursing, hospitality ...

* Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology

Places of interest

Temple

The temple is dedicated to

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, is located in nalas village. Here the self-born

Lingam A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

of Lord Shiv is present, this is why it is called Swayambhu. Since the 15th century temple has been home to

Sadhu ''Sadhu'' ( sa, साधु, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female)), also spelled ''saddhu'', is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. Th ...

's. There is an 65 ft-tall sculpture of Lord Shiva at the entrance of the temple and the height of the temple is above 100 ft-long. Every year it's decorated beautifully for the

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...

Festival.

Transport

Road

Rajpura is situated at the junction of National Highway No. 1 which runs from

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Attari Attari, also spelled Atari, is a village of Amritsar district in the Punjab state of India, 3 km from the Indo-Pakistani border at Wagah. It is situated 25 km west of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, and is the last Indian station on ...

and National Highway 64 which runs from

Dabwali Mandi Dabwali is a municipal committee town, near Sirsa City in Sirsa district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is located on the border of Haryana and Punjab. It is at a distance of 60 km from district headquarter Sirsa and 40 km ...

, making Rajpura a good distribution centre. Rajpura is regarded as 'Gateway of Punjab' as all road and rail transport needs to touch Rajpura for the routes going to other major cities of Punjab as well as Jammu & Kashmir.

Rail

is the first Railway Junction in Punjab while coming from Delhi side. The rail lines are diverted from here to 2 major lines catering to Punjab. One is to Amritsar and Jammu & Kashmir; and the other towards Patiala, Bathinda and Rajasthan.

Air

The nearest major airport is

Chandigarh Airport Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport is a civil enclave customs airport serving the city of Chandigarh. The airport is located in the village of Jhiurheri, Mohali, Punjab. The airport caters to six domestic airlines and connects Chandig ...

(IXC / VICG). This airport has domestic flights from Chandigarh and is 28.13 km from the center of Rajpura via NH 7 and NH 205A.