Dehra Gopipur is a town, a Municipal Council, and a Tehsil headquarter in

Kangra district Kangra district is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district. History Kangra is known for having one of the oldest serving Royal Dynasty in the world, the Katoch of ...

in the state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The River Beas divides the town into Dera (or Dehra) & Gopipur. One can reach Dera by train up to Una (UHL) then by MDR 46 road and NH 503, nearest airports are

Bhuntar Airport Bhuntar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Kullu district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is just 11 km from Kullu town, and lies along National Highway 3. The Kullu-Manali Airport is located in Bhuntar. The next major settlement ...

and

Gaggal Airport Kangra-Gaggal Airport , officially known as Kangra Airport, is a domestic airport serving areas of Kangra including Dharamshala, the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is located at Gaggal, which is situated from the city, from ...

History

The town of Dehra is as recent as mid-15th century when foreign invaders used this place as a dera (camp) for their expedition to hill states. British made the evolving town as the tehsil in year 1868. The official name of the town during

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

was Dera.

Geography

Dehra Gopipur is located at . It has an average elevation of 503 metres (1,650 feet). River Beas also flows past Dera. Pong reservoir (Maharana Pratap reservoir) is also a nearby major structure.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Dehra Gopipur had a population of 4336. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dehra Gopipur has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82% and, female literacy is 76%. In Dehra Gopipur, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Places of interest

Bagulamukhi temple, devoted to the goddess Bagulamukhi. President of India Sh. Pranav Mukherjee has also paid his obedience in this temple. Pragpur, a small hamlet in the Dera Gopipur, has been listed as the Heritage village in India. It is known for its history as well as for an executive clan of 'Sood' (some write it as 'Sud') community. Three other hamlets, named Garli, Nagrota Bagwan and Chamba Pattan lie in close vicinity to Pragpur. Other nearby towns include Rancer Island in Nagrota Surian, Jawalamukhi (a famous temple and one of the most visited religious shrines of Hindus); Hamirpur (the commercial hub of Himachal Pradesh); Kangra (known for its forts, temples and rich cultural heritage); and

Nadaun Nadaun is a historical town and a nagar panchayat in the Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. Previously a part of the princely state of Kangra, it was granted as a jagir to Jodhbir Chand by Ranjit Singh. Nadaun is presently an inde ...

(a place still remembered for having a Sikh's Gurdwara which was built to commemorate

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; born Gobind Das; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh gurus, Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher. In 1675, at the age of nine he was formally installed as the leader of the ...

's victory in the

Battle of Nadaun The Battle of Nadaun, alternatively known as the Hussaini Yudh'','' was fought at Nadaun, between Raja Bhim Chand of Bilaspur (Kahlur) and the Mughals under Alif Khan. Bhim Chand was supported by Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Sikh Guru) and t ...

. Kaleshwar Temple: At a distance of around 15 km, this place has got great religious importance as pandavas stayed here during exile. Baisakhi fair is held on every 13 April. Pong river basin is a bird sanctuary included in Ramsar Wetlands list. Millions of Siberian birds visit it every year. Boating and water-sports is available in Dera and Chamba Pattan, Kaleshwar. Dera has great potential for water sports and tourism, but various governments had failed to develop it.

Pong Dam

As River Beas flows from the sub town it ends up in the

Pong Dam The Pong Dam, also known as the Beas Dam, is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Beas River in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, just upstream of Talwara. The purpose of the dam is water storage for irrigation and hydroelectric power generati ...

reservoir/lake, also known as

Maharana Pratap Sagar Maharana Pratap Sagar, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake, is a large reservoir in Fatehpur, Jawali and Dehra tehsil of Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. It was created in 1975, by building the highest earth ...

. This man made lake is 45 km long & 15–18 km wide. It attracts a lot of anglers come for fishing mahasher fish. Dehra Town is so beautiful and it could become one of the most famous place among the historical place and it can also develop itself through various channels of development like National level Fairs, crafting etc.

Notable people

* Ramesh Chand Dhawala (born 1951), politician

References

External links

Heritage Zone Garli Pragpur Kangra PongdamThe Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage was set up to Protect and Conserve India's vast Natural and Cultural Heritage

Kangra
''

'' Official website. Cities and towns in Kangra district Tehsils of Himachal Pradesh {{HimachalPradesh-geo-stub