Rajpura is a town in Patiala district in the Indian state of Punjab.
Contents
- Geography
- Demographics
- History
- Industry
- Warehousing and logistics hub
- Rice shellers
- Education
- Schools
- Colleges
- Religion
- Hinduism
- Muslim
- Sikhism
- Climate
- See also
- References
Geography
Rajpura is located at 30.48°N 76.6°E. It has an average elevation of 259 metres (849 feet). Rajpura is situated nearly 38 km south west of Chandigarh, 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 Chandigarh(38 km east), Patiala (22 km west), Ambala (20 km south) and Ludhiana(83 km north). Rajpura acts as middle point between Amritsar and Delhion National Highway 44 as these cities are 225 km away from Rajpura in opposite directions.
Demographics
In the 2011 India census, Rajpura Municipal Council had a population of 92,301 including 48,340 males and 43,961 females giving a Sex Ratio of 909. There were 9,922 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 “The Lion King”, and founder of the Suri dynasty built a “Sarai” (Inn) in Rajpura for travellers and for his army when ever he passed through Rajpura. This Sarai was built during the Suri Dynasty, between 1540 and 1545. The more-than-450-year-old Sarai is almost in shambles now but still stands bold. This Sarai today houses the offices of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Tehsildar and Deputy superintendent of police. The Sarai needs urgent attention of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) so that this historical monument of Rajpura can be preserved as a mark in the history.
Rajpura as a tehsil includes 295 villages under its municipal limits and is biggest tehsil in Punjab. Rajpura has north India’s only orphanage center “SOS”.
Rajpura can be divided into three parts. One is Rajpura Township, the second is Old Rajpura and third is Focal Point.
Industry
Rajpura is an industrial town. There are number of large-scale industries like Hindustan Unilever HUL (formerly known as HLL).and a large number of small-scale industries. In small-scale industries, Rajpura is a hub of door closers, rice shellers, biomass briquette machinery, soap factories, household manufacturers, biscuit machines industry and steel works.
L&T has constructed 1400 MW (2×700 MW) Rajpura Thermal Power Plant near Village Nalas under power purchase agreement. The first unit, according to the power purchase agreement signed in January 2010, will be commissioned by January 2014 followed by the second in May that year. Also there are plans to further add 700 mW power capacity to the Rajpura Power Plant in Punjab making it 2100 mW project. This project marks the L&T’s entry into the Electricity generationsegment as a developer.
In 2005, a diamond jewellery manufacturing unit was started and is engaged in the manufacturing and supply of diamond studded gold jewellery and also kundan, polky and Mina, etc.– the only of its kind unit in this area.
All industrial units are bounded in a chain of association named “Rajpura Small Scale Industries Association”. The grain market of Rajpura is one of the largest grain markets of Asia, top at the list is grain market of Khanna, it acquires near about 150 acres of area and comprises more than 290 shops.
Warehousing and logistics hub
Rajpura is situated at the junction of National Highway No. 1 which runs from New Delhi to Attari in Punjab and National Highway 64 which runs from Chandigarh to Dabwali, 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. Rajpura Junction 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 J&K; and the other towards Patiala, Bathinda and Rajasthan.
Rajpura has been known for its quality furniture since 1976. People from nearby areas like Patiala, Chandigarh and Himachal come here for their furniture, which is also exported to different countries. Due to its proximity to Chandigarh, Patiala, Zirakpur and Ambala, as well as its well connected rail and road links, Rajpura is gradually emerging as warehousing and logistics hub of Punjab.
Rice shellers
Rajpura has a large rice shelling industry
Education
Notable schools, colleges, universities and institutes in Rajpura include:
Schools
- Holy Angels School
- Scholars Public School
Colleges
- Aryans College of Law
- Chitkara University, Punjab
- Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology
Religion
Religions in Rajpura region are as follows :
Hinduism
- Shri Durga Mandir, Rajpura Town
- Lord Trinetram Shamshan Bhoomi, Old Rajpura
- Shri Shanaleshwar Mahadev Swayambhu, Nalas
Muslim
- Naugaja Peer, Sirhind Road.
Sikhism
- Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Rajpura Town
Climate
Rajpura has the following average temperature and precipitation
| hideClimate data for Rajpura | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 19 (66) |
21 (69) |
26 (78) |
34 (94) |
38 (101) |
39 (103) |
34 (94) |
33 (91) |
33 (92) |
32 (89) |
26 (79) |
21 (69) |
30 (85) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2 (35) |
4 (40) |
13 (55) |
18 (65) |
23 (73) |
26 (79) |
26 (79) |
24 (76) |
23 (74) |
17 (63) |
11 (52) |
7 (45) |
16 (61) |
| Average precipitationmm (inches) | 20 (0.80) |
38 (1.50) |
30 (1.20) |
20 (0.80) |
20 (0.80) |
61 (2.40) |
229 (9.00) |
188 (7.40) |
86 (3.40) |
5.1 (0.20) |
13 (0.50) |
20 (0.80) |
730.1 (28.8) |
| Source: | |||||||||||||