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, borough cou ...

Rupnagar district Rupnagar district is one of twenty-three 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 t ...

in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. 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 from 2600 BCE ...

. Rupnagar is nearly to the northwest of

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

(the nearest

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

and the capital of Punjab). It is bordered by

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 ...

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. It is located in Doaba region. It consists of three subdivisions, Nawanshahr, Banga, and Balachaur. There are three legislative seats in the dis ...

to its west. There are many historical and religious places in Rupnagar, including gurdwaras such as Gurdwara 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 noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

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 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.

Geography

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

Satluj River The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of th ...

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

Climate

The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, 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 meteoro ...

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 Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

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 quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

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 depe ...

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

rainfall Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor 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. ...

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 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 ...

.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 River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of th ...

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

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

ian, 154

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

, 35

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, 9

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

, 11

rotifer The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic Coelom#Pseudocoelomates, pseudocoelomate animals. They were first describ ...

and 10

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

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

Rupnagar railway station falls in the

Northern Railway zone The Northern Railway (NR) is one of the 17 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 is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

. It is connected to

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

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

via

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

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 ...

, Una 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,

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

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. 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 near Chandigarh. It passes through Ropar and Kiratpur ...

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 Nati ...

Kiratpur Sahib Kiratpur, also known as Kiratpur Sahib, (lit. "city of glory") is a town, just 30 km from Rupnagar, Rupnagar city in Rupnagar district of Punjab, India, Punjab, India. The town is the location of the Gurdwara Patal Puri where many Sikhs take as ...

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 (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Phagawāṛā'') is a city and a municipal corporation in the Kapurthala district of Punjab, India, Punjab. It is located from the district headquarters of Kapurthala, from the national capital New Delhi, from St ...

via

Nawanshahr Nawanshahr () is a municipal council in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was previously a town; it later became a district in 1995. History Nawanshahr was founded by Nausher Khan, an Afghan, during the ...

Balachaur Balachaur is a town in Balachaur tehsil in the Nawanshahr district, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar District of Punjab, India, Punjab, India. History The royal family of Jaipur visited Balachaur with their family for meditation and named the tehsil ...

and Banga via NH103A at Balachaur.

Demographics

As per 2011 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 ...

, 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 ...

Web Works Ropar Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by D ...

Education

Schools

Rupnagar has public as well as private schools which are affiliated to either

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national-level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

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 The Indian Institute of Technology Ropar (abbreviated IIT Ropar or IIT-RPR) is a public technical university located in Rupnagar, Punjab, India. It is one of the eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) established in 2008 by the Ministry ...

which is spread over 525 acres in the banks of Satulj, the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bhaddal, and Government College, Ropar (affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala).Ropar is an education hub for local villages. Colleges in Ropar offers great opportunities to students from nearby districts too.

Notable people

* Himanshi Khurana, Indian model *

Rattan Chand Rattan Chand(born 10 May 1955) is an Indian Health Economist and 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 ...

, Senior bureaucrat for the Government of India *

Manpreet Gony Manpreet Singh Gony (born 4 January 1984) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a 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-format ...

, Indian Cricketer *

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

, Indian politician *

Surjit Bindrakhia Surjit Bindrakhia (born Surjit Bains; 15 April 1962 – 17 November 2003) was a singer from Punjab, India. He was recognized for his distinctive voice and hekh, a singing technique where a note is held continuously in one breath. His biggest ...

, Punjabi singer *

Rana K. P. Singh Rana Kanwar Pal Singh, popularly known as Rana K.P. (born 16 October 1957) is an Indian politician from INC, and was a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly thrice. He was the Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly from 2017 to 2022. Ea ...

, Indian politician

Villages

Assarpur Assarpur is a small village in the district of Ropar, Punjab region, 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; ...

* ehrampur Bet* ela

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