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Chamba district

Coordinates: 32°33′16″N 76°07′26″E / 32.55444°N 76.12389°E / 32.55444; 76.12389
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Chamba district
District of Himachal Pradesh
Clockwise from top-left: Lakshana Devi Temple, Bharmour, meadow in Khajjiar, Saach pass, Manimahesh Lake, mountains near Dalhousie
Location in Himachal Pradesh
Location in Himachal Pradesh
Country India
State Himachal Pradesh
DivisionChamba
HeadquartersChamba
Tehsils7
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituencies1
 • Vidhan Sabha constituencies5
Area
 • Total
6,522 km2 (2,518 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
519,080
 • Density80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Websitehttp://hpchamba.nic.in/

Chamba district is the northwestern district of Himachal Pradesh, in India, with its headquarters in Chamba town. The towns of Dalhousie, Khajjhiar and Churah Valley are popular hill stations and vacation spots for the people from the plains of northern India.

Economy

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In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Chamba one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[1] It is one of the two districts in Himachal Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[1]

Demographics

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Population

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901130,244—    
1911138,943+0.65%
1921145,526+0.46%
1931150,591+0.34%
1941174,394+1.48%
1951174,537+0.01%
1961215,929+2.15%
1971251,203+1.52%
1981311,147+2.16%
1991393,286+2.37%
2001460,887+1.60%
2011519,080+1.20%
source:[2]

According to the 2011 census Chamba district has a population of 519,080,[3] roughly equal to the nation of Cape Verde.[4] This gives it a ranking of 544th in India (out of a total of 640).[3] The district has a population density of 80 inhabitants per square kilometre (210/sq mi) .[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 12.58%.[3] Chamba has a sex ratio of 989 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 73.19%. 6.96% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 21.52% and 26.10% of the population respectively.[3] The Gaddis, the largest Scheduled Tribe in Himachal Pradesh, mainly live in Chamba district.

Religion

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Religions in Chamba district (2011)[5]
Religion Per cent
Hinduism
 
 92.43%
Islam
 
 6.25%
Sikhism
 
 0.53%
Other or not stated
 
 0.79%
Religious groups in Chamba State (British Punjab province era)
Religious
group 		1901[6] 1911[7][8] 1921[9] 1931[10] 1941[11]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
Hinduism [a] 119,327 93.35% 126,269 92.93% 130,489 91.98% 135,254 92.09% 155,910 92.3%
Islam 8,332 6.52% 8,750 6.44% 10,529 7.42% 10,839 7.38% 12,318 7.29%
Sikhism 80 0.06% 141 0.1% 242 0.17% 112 0.08% 107 0.06%
Christianity 70 0.05% 81 0.06% 63 0.04% 94 0.06% 190 0.11%
Buddhism 22 0.02% 627 0.46% 541 0.38% 568 0.39% 383 0.23%
Jainism 3 0% 5 0% 3 0% 3 0% 0 0%
Zoroastrianism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Judaism 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Others 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Total population 127,834 100% 135,873 100% 141,867 100% 146,870 100% 168,908 100%
Note: British Punjab province era district borders are not an exact match in the present-day due to various bifurcations to district borders — which since created new districts — throughout the historic Punjab Province region during the post-independence era that have taken into account population increases.

Languages

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Languages of Chamba district (2011)[12]

  Pahadi (24.04%)
  Chambeali (23.23%)
  Gaddi (21.80%)
  Churahi (14.40%)
  Pangwali (3.48%)
  Bhateali (2.91%)
  Hindi (2.91%)
  Gojri (1.88%)
  Kashmiri (1.31%)
  Punjabi (1.11%)
  Others (2.93%)

The majority of the people of the district are native speakers of languages in the Himachali group. These primarily include Chambeali (the first language reported by 23% of the population in the 2011 census), Gaddi or Bharmauri (22%), Churahi (14%), Pangwali (3.5%) and Bhateali (2.9%). Other languages spoken are Hindi (2.9%), Gujari (1.9%), Kashmiri (1.3%) and Punjabi (1.1%).[12][13]

Politics

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Main article: 14th Himachal Pradesh Assembly
Constituency Party MLA Remark
No. Name
1 Churah (SC) BJP Hans Raj
2 Bharmour (ST) BJP Janak Raj
3 Chamba INC Neeraj Nayar
4 Dalhousie BJP D S Thakur
5 Bhattiyat INC Kuldeep Singh Pathania Speaker

Education

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Schools

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Interesting places

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  • Laxmi Narayan Temple : It is the most famous tourist attraction place in Chamba. There are six temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. Three temples are dedicated to Lord Vishnu, and another three to Lord Shiva.
  • Gandhi Gate : The Viceroy of British Government Lord Curzon received a warm welcome by a bright orange gateway built in 1900, known as Gandhi gate. It is the main gateway of Chamba.
Laxmi Narayan Temple of Chamba

A yet another place of interest in Chamba town is the Bhuri Singh Museum at Chamba which came into existence on 14 September 1908. It is named after Raja Bhuri Singh who ruled Chamba from 1904 to 1919. Bhuri Singh donated his family collection of paintings to the museum. The embroidered Chamba-Rumals are related in style since their drawings were made by pahari painters though the embroidery was done by the household ladies.

Salooni is 56 km from Chamba.

Khajjiar is mini Switzerland in Chamba. Bhalei Mata Temple is famous in Chamba.[citation needed] It is 35 km from Chamba. Chhudra is 25 km from Chamba.

Villages

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Fair and festivals

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Chamba is famous for its vivid festivals. The Suhi Mata festival is held for four days in March/April every year in memory of princess Sui. She is known to have sacrificed her life for the cause of her people, that is, the people of Chamba.

At the time of the harvest of the maize crop, which is the main crop of this region, to express happiness and to enjoy after a hard toil, locals celebrate Minjar festival. This week long fare/ Mela is the most popular Mela of Chamba.

  • Chaurasi Temple : Nestled on the bank of the river Ravi, Chamba town complete 1000 years of its existence. The town stands on a plateau on the right bank of the Ravi river valley between Dhauladhar and Zanskar ranges south of the inner Himalayas. This town was founded by Raja Sahil Varman in the beginning of 10th century. In the genealogical rolls of the Chamba Rajas, a reference occurs of place, which was adorned with highly fragrant Champaka trees and guarded by Goddess Champavati.

The temple was built by Sahil Varman in the honour of his daughter Champavati who is worshipped as a goddess in Chamba. This journey of one thousand years is a repository a civilised, cultured and developed society which existed in the lap of the Himalayas.[citation needed] The unique architect of houses and temples, splendid wood and metal craft, world fame Chamba Rumal and Chappal and the pahari paintings are some salient features of this one thousand years young town.[tone]

The Chamba town has a number of temples, Palaces and stylised buildings. Laxmi Narayana Temple, which is the main temple of Chamba town, was built by Sahil Varman in the 10th century AD. There are several other temples within the complex.

The temple of Radha Krishna, Shiva Temple of Chandergupta and Gauri Shankar Temple are among these. The ancient temple of Vajreshwari is believed to be 1000 years old and is dedicated to Devi Vajreshwari-Goddess of lightning.

The Sui Mata temple can be divided into three parts which can physically spread apart. The Hari Rai temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and dates back to 11th century.

Reference of Chamba town would be incomplete without the majestic Chaugan. It is the heart and hub centre of all activities in Chamba. Tradition is silent as to its use as a polo ground and the name is etymologically distinct from Chaugan, the Persian name of Polo, being of Sanskrit origin and meaning 'four-sided'. Initially the five Chaugan were a single patch of meadow.

To mark the completion of 1000 years of this town, the Government of Himachal Pradesh had celebrated the millennium of this town from 14 to 20 April 2006 in a most befitting way. The celebrations has provided the people the opportunity to have a firsthand knowledge of the rich cultural and historical past of the Chamba town.

Notable residents

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Chamba district is represented in Lok Sabha by the Member of Parliament elected from Kangra (Lok Sabha constituency). Earlier it is represented for first 4 elections to Lok Sabha as member elected from Chamba (Lok Sabha constituency). The MP elected from Chamba seat were A. R Sewal in 1952, Padam Dev in 1957, Chattar Singh in 1962 and Vikram Chand Mahajan in 1967.[15]

Notes

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  1. ^ 1931-1941: Including Ad-Dharmis

References

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  1. ^ a b Ministry of Panchayati Raj (8 September 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  2. ^ Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  3. ^ a b c d e f "District Census Handbook: Chamba" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  4. ^ US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Cape Verde 516,100 July 2011 est.
  5. ^ "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Himachal Pradesh". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  6. ^ "Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province". 1901. p. 34. JSTOR saoa.crl.25363739. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1911. p. 27. JSTOR saoa.crl.25393788. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  8. ^ Kaul, Harikishan (1911). "Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II". p. 27. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables". 1921. p. 29. JSTOR saoa.crl.25430165. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables". 1931. p. 277. JSTOR saoa.crl.25793242. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  11. ^ India Census Commissioner (1941). "Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab". p. 42. JSTOR saoa.crl.28215541. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Himachal Pradesh". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. The census returns also include 24% who identify their language as Pahari; this can include speakers of any of the above-listed varieties of Himachali.
  13. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "India – Languages". Ethnologue (22nd ed.). SIL International.
  14. ^ Dhiman, Vishal Kumar; Bandyopadhyay, Bosudha; Singh, Jagdeep; Kumar, Akhilesh; Chaudhary, Akshay (1 April 2022). "Himachal Pradesh's Gaddi Tribe: A Socio-Cultural Study". ECS Transactions. 107: 10061–10068. Bibcode:2022ECSTr.10710061D. doi:10.1149/10701.10061ecst. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  15. ^ "All Members of Lok Sabha (Since 1952) Members Biographical Sketches". Retrieved 21 December 2017.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chamba district.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Chamba district.

32°33′16″N 76°07′26″E / 32.55444°N 76.12389°E / 32.55444; 76.12389

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