Rupnagar (; formerly known as Ropar) is a city and 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 ...

Rupnagar district Rupnagar district is one of twenty-two districts in the state of Punjab, India. The city of Rupnagar is said to have been founded by a Raja called Rokeshar, who ruled during the 11th century and named it after his son Rup Sen. It is also the ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

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 ...

. Rupnagar is a newly created fifth Divisional Headquarters of Punjab comprising Rupnagar, Mohali, and its adjoining districts. It is also one of the bigger sites belonging to the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

. Rupnagar is nearly to the northwest 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 nearest

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

and the capital of Punjab). It is bordered by

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 ...

to the north and

Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district is one of twenty-three districts of state of Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It is located in Doaba region. It consists of three Subdivisions of India, subdivisions, Nawanshahr, Banga, India, Banga, and Balachau ...

to its west. There are many historical and religious places in Rupnagar, including gurdwaras such as Gurudwara Bhatha Sahib, Gurdwara Bhubour Sahib, Gurdwara Solkhian and Gurudwara Tibbi Sahib.

History

Etymology

The ancient town of Rupnagar is said to have been named by a

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

called Rokeshar, who ruled during the 11th century and named it after his son Rup Sen.

Indus Valley civilization

Rupnagar is one of the Indus Valley sites along the

Ghaggar-Hakra The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar in India, before the Ottu barrage, and as the Hakra in Pakistan, downstream of the barrage, ending i ...

beds. There is an Archaeological Museum in the city which was opened in the year 1998 for general public. The museum exhibits the archaeological remains of excavated site in the city, the first Harappan site of Independent India. These excavations reveal a cultural sequence from Harappan to medieval times. Some of the important exhibits include antiquities of Harappan times, gold coins of Chandragupta and copper and bronze implements.

Historical Background

S. Hari Singh Rais of Sialba conquered Ropar in 1763 A.D. and established his state. His son Charat Singh made Ropar capital of the state.

Geography

Rupnagar is located at . It has an average elevation of . The town lies on the bank of

Satluj River The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the In ...

and the Shivalik hill range spreads along the opposite bank of the river.

Climate

The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

of Rupnagar is characterized by general dryness (except in the south west

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 ...

season), a hot summer and a cold winter. The year may be divided into four

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

s. The period from about middle of November to February is the cold season. This is followed by the summer season from March to about the end of June. The south-west

season commences late in June and continues up to about middle of September. The period from mid September to the middle of November constitutes the post-monsoon or transition season. The

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

ranges from a minimum of in winter to in summer. May and June are generally the hottest months and December and January are the coldest months. Relative

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

ity is high, averaging about 70% during monsoon. The average annual

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

in the district is 1030mm. About 78% of the annual rainfall is received during June through September.

Rupnagar wetland

The city has one of the three important wetlands of the

State known as Rupnagar Wetland or

Ropar Wetland Ropar Wetland, also named Ropar Lake, is a man-made freshwater riverine and Lake, lacustrine wetland. The area has at least 9 mammal, 154 bird (migratory and local), 35 fish, 9 arthropod, 11 rotifer, 9 crustacean and 10 protozoan species, making ...

.It was declared as a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Sutlej River The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

. The area has a large number of birds, mammals and vegetation. It has at least 9

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

ian, 154

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

, 35

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, 9

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

, 11

rotifer The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...

and 10

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

n species. This important ecological zone is located in the Shivalik foothills of the Lower Himalayas and was created in 1952 on the Sutlej River, in the

state of India, by building a head regulator. The total area of the wetland is . The wetland is surrounded by Shivalik hills to the northwest and by plains to the south and southeast.

Transport

Rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport Rail transport and related matters Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

Rupnagar railway station Rupnagar railway station is a railway station in Rupnagar district, Punjab, India, Punjab. Its code is RPAR. It is fall under Northern Railway zone's Ambala railway division. It serves Rupnagar city. The station consists of 1 platform. Propo ...

falls in the

Northern Railway zone The Northern Railway (NR) is one of the 19 Railway zones of India and the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Baroda House in New Delhi. History Officially notified as a new railway zone on 14 April 1952, ...

of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. It is connected to

by a single line railway track. It is also connected to

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 ...

via

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

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 ...

Morinda ''Morinda'' is a genus of flowering plants in the madder family, Rubiaceae. The generic name is derived from the Latin words ''morus'' "mulberry", from the appearance of the fruits, and ''indica'', meaning "of India". Description Distributed i ...

Una (HP) Una and UNA may refer to: Places * 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character * Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers * Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India ** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constitue ...

and Nangal Dam.

Road

Rupnagar city has a road network to surrounding village and towns in district as well as to major cities including

Una Una and UNA may refer to: Places * 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character * Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers * Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India ** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constit ...

Baddi Baddi is an industrial town and Nagar parishad in the southwestern Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The town lies on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana states in the Shivalik Hills, around 35 kilometres west of Solan town. ...

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 ...

. Rupnagar is connected by the National Highway system to the following nearby cities, by the following highway routes: * NH205-IN

NH 205 National Highway 205 commonly referred to as NH 205, is a highway in India. The highway passes through the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Route The highway starts at Kharar, SAS Nagar, Kharar near Chandigarh. It passes through R ...

that connects

Kurali Kurali is a city of district S.A.S. Nagar (Mohali) and a municipal council in Greater Mohali area, Mohali district in the Indian state of Punjab. Geography Kurali is 28 km away from the Punjab state capital Chandigarh, situated on Natio ...

Kiratpur Sahib Kiratpur also known as Kiratpur Sahib is a town in Rupnagar district, Punjab, India. The town is the location of the Gurdwara Patal Puri where many Sikhs take ashes of their deceased. Kiratpur Sahib Town Kiratpur Sahib (31.1820758°n 76.563 ...

via Rupnagar * NH103A-IN

NH 103A connects

Hoshiarpur Hoshiarpur () is a city and a Municipal corporations in India, municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the ...

to Rupnagar. * NH344A-IN

NH 344A links Rupnagar to

Phagwara Phagwara is a city and municipal corporation in Kapurthala district in Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It lies on National Highway 44 (India), National Highway 44 and located 40 kilometres from Kapurthala, the district headquarter, away from Chan ...

via

Nawanshahr Nawanshahr is a municipal council in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was previously a town that became a district in 1995. History Nawanshahr was founded by migrants from Rahon, a city located near the S ...

Balachaur Balachaur is a town in Balachaur Tehsil in the Nawanshahr district, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar District of Punjab, India, Punjab, India. History Raja Raj Dev, a Rajput, came to Balachaur along with his family to meditate. He was related to the ...

and

Banga Banga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Banga'' (album), a 2012 album by Patti Smith * A song by Ali Shaheed Muhammad from the 2004 album '' Shaheedullah and Stereotypes'' * The name of Pontius Pilate's dog in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel ' ...

via NH103A at Balachaur.

Demographics

As per 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 ...

, Rupnagar had a population of 56,038. Males constitute 52.8% of the population and females 47.2%. Rupnagar has an average literacy rate of 82.19%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 87.50%, and female literacy is 76.42%.

Companies

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that was incorporated in India in 1961 and remained an entity until 2014. The company went public in 1973. Ownership of Ranbaxy changed twice over the course of its ...

* Smart IT Ventures Private Limited * The Australian Academy

Education

Schools

Rupnagar has public as well as private schools which are affiliated to either Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) or Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) and follow the 10+2 plan of education.

Higher education

Rupnagar houses the

Indian Institute of Technology Ropar Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) is a public technical university located in Rupnagar, Punjab, India. It is one of the eight newer Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development ...

which is spread over 525 acres in the banks of Satulj, the

Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bhaddal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bhaddal is a private college located in Rupnagar district, Rupnagar, the newly created divisional headquarter of the state of Punjab, with academic and student facilities in an integrated technical campu ...

, and Government College, Ropar (affiliated to

Punjabi University, Patiala Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew Univers ...

).Ropar is an education hub for local villages. Colleges in Ropar offers great opportunities to students from nearby districts too.

Notable people

Himanshi Khurana Himanshi Khurana (born 27 November 1991) is an Indian model, actress and singer who works in Punjabi films. She appeared in the Punjabi movie ''Sadda Haq''. In 2019, she participated in the reality show ''Bigg Boss 13'' as a contestant. Ear ...

, Indian model *

Rattan Chand Rattan Chand is an Indian former senior bureaucrat who has served Government of India at various positions for more than 35 years. Apart from working at senior positions in Government of India he has also been a resource person to USAID, World ...

, Senior bureaucrat for the Government of India *

Manpreet Gony Manpreet Singh Gony (born 4 January 1984) is an Indian cricketer. He is a Fast bowling, right-arm medium pace bowler and right-hand middle order batsman. In June 2019, Gony announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, except for short-fo ...

, Indian Cricketer *

Kanshi Ram Kanshi Ram (15 March 1934 – 9 October 2006), also known as Bahujan Nayak or Manyavar or Saheb, was an Indian politician and social reformer who worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of the Bahujans, the backward or lower caste ...

, Indian politician *

Surjit Bindrakhia Surjit Bindrakhia (born Surjit Bains; 15 April 1962 – 17 November 2003) was a singer from Punjab, India. He was known for his unique voice and hekh, in which he sings a note continuously in one breath. His biggest hits include ''Meri Nath Dig ...

, Punjabi singer *

Rana K. P. Singh Rana Kanwar Pal Singh (born 16 October 1957) was an Indian politician from INC and a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He was the Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly from 2017-2022. Early life and education Early life Singh ...

, Indian politician

References

External links

*
Govt. Website on Rupnagar

Rupnagar BSNL telephone directory search

Archaeological Museum in Rupnagar (Archaeological Survey of India)

Location of Ropar in IVC map

{{Authority control Rupnagar, Archaeological sites in Punjab, India Cities and towns in Rupnagar district Indus Valley civilisation sites