Nadaun, Himachal Pradesh

Nadaun is a town and a nagar panchayat in Hamirpur district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Earlier, it was in Princely state of Kangra and Raja Jodhbir Chand son of Raja Sansar Chand ruled on Kangra-Nadaun. Presently, Nadaun is a small town in Himachal Pradesh, located on NH 3 and NH 303 in the foothills of the Shivalik range forming the western end of the district Hamirpur. It is 42 km east of Kangra and is situated on the banks of the Beas.

Nadaun
Town
Nadaun Location in Himachal Pradesh, India Nadaun Nadaun (India)
Coordinates: 31.78°N 76.35°E
Country	India
State	Himachal Pradesh
District	Hamirpur
Elevation	508 m (1,667 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	4,430
Languages
• Official	Hindi & Pahari
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)

Bulleh Shah mentions Nadaun as City of Innocent. He is said to have written the famous saying about Nadaun "Aaye Nadaun, Jaaye Kaun" (Who comes to Nadaun would never want to go back). In his famous poem "Bulla Ki Janna Mein Kaun", he has a mention of Nadaun as: "Na mein rehnda vich Nadaun".

Geography

Nadaun is located at 31.78°N 76.35°E.[1] It has an average elevation of 508 metres (1666 feet). River Beas flows through this small town. Nadaun is midway between Jwalamukhi (12 km)and Hamirpur (28 km)

Climate : The climate of Nadaun is sub-tropical with monsoons in the months of July–August. The summers are between mid May to Mid July. The temperature in summers rarely exceeds 40 degrees Celsius partly due to proximity of Himalayas and partly due to river Beas. The winters are cold but sub-zero temperatures are rare. There has been a report of snow only once in Nadaun in 2011.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[2] Nadaun had a population of 4405. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Nadaun has an average literacy rate of 89%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 78%. In Nadaun, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Area Profile of Nadaun Town

As of 2001 India census,[3]

Number of Households - 898
Average Household Size (per Household) - 5.0
Population-Total - 4,405
Population-Urban - 4,405
Proportion of Urban Population (%) - 100
Population-Rural - 0
Sex Ratio - 959
Population(0-6 Years) - 5,23
Sex Ratio(0-6 Years) - 785
SC Population - 526
Sex Ratio (SC) - 1008
Proportion of SC (%) - 12.0
ST Population - 0
Sex Ratio (ST) - 0
Proportion of ST (%) - 0
Literates - 3,473
Illiterates - 932
Literacy Rate (%) - 89.0

Battle of Nadaun

The Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb's expeditions in Deccan in the 1690s, had put considerable strain on the Mughal exchequer. As a result, Aurangazeb issued orders to recover annual tributes from the rulers of Shivalik hills, who had been defaulting on the payment. Alif Khan was given the responsibility of recovering dues from Kangra and adjoining principalities.

The Raja of Kangra and another chieftain called Raja Dayal yielded to the demands of Alif Khan. However, Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur (Bilaspur) refused to oblige and formed an alliance with other chieftains opposed to the Mughals. Guru Gobind Singh also decided to support Raja Bhim Chand.

Alif Khan's Mughal army and his aides were defeated at a battle in Nadaun. The date of the battle is given differently by different authors, as 1687, 1689, 1690, 20 March 1691, and 4 April 1691.

After the battle ended, Guru Gobind Singh stayed in Nadaun for eight days, before returning to Anandpur. Later, Maharaja Ranjit Singh built a gurdwara on the spot where the Guru had pitched his tent. The Gurdwara was affiliated to Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in 1935.

Economy

The economy of Nadaun is primarily based on 3 sources namely Agriculture, Business, Government Employment (mainly in Education). The villages in Nadaun sub-division depend primarily on Agriculture for their income. In addition there is a Silk farm in Nadaun. Some people earn their livelihood also by fishing from Beas River. Nadaun fish and its preparation is very famous in the region.

Nadaun town has got a big business community mostly involved in small to medium size businesses. These businesses take care of day-to-day needs of not only the Nadaun town but also of many villages around Nadaun like Bela,Bharoli,Bharmoti, Chaukathi, Bhumpal, Bhatta, Gagaal, jalari Bhloon, Sera etc. Because of this reason Nadaun town is sometimes called "Bazaar" by local people. The main businesses in Nadaun are Grocery Stores (both retail and whole-sale), furniture, goldsmith, clothing, construction materials. Some small scale industries exist in Nadaun which produce the finished products in some of these areas.

Transportation

There is no railway line connecting this town to rest of the country. The nearest railway station (Jwalamukhi Road) is around 25 km from Nadaun. However Nadaun is well connected with road network. It has got a central position in terms of road connectivity. Two main roads diverge from Nadaun : One in the direction of state capital Shimla (National Highway NH88) and other in the direction of the major nearby cities of Chandigarh and Hoshiarpur (National Highway 70). The transportation within Nadaun and surrounding areas is done mostly with the help of privately and government operated buses. Nadaun has a large bus station (at least bigger compared to towns of similar size in this area). Adjacent to it is a taxi stand where one can easily rent a taxi for short or long distance. For transportation of goods within the Nadaun town one can take help from a Coolie. Occasionally people use boat to cross Beas River.

Living in Nadaun

Nadaun town is divided into following areas : New Bus-stand area, Old Bus-stand area (also called Jesri), the main-market area, the old-market area (also called Pattan). The old-market area used to be main center of shopping when the Nadaun Bridge was not present. After the construction of bridge the market shifted to what is currently main-market area. The main-market area is further divided into 2 parts : the upper bazaar which is close to the Bus-Station and the main-bazaar. Main-Bazaar is in the heart of Nadaun town which is the center of business in Nadaun. Pattan area has got a big play-ground which hosts various cultural events like Ramlila and sometimes used for political and election rallies. It is divided into 6 wards.

Places to See and Various Pastimes : The place of historical importance to visit is the Old Fort situated on a hill top. The fort is in a dilapidated state but still representative of family of Maharaja Sansar Chand Katoch. A place of religious importance is the old Shiva temple. The popular belief about the Shivalinga in the temple is that it grows every year by a height equal to one grain of rice. Another place of great religious significance for Sikhs is Gurdwara overlooking the river Beas. It was started after visit of Guru Gobind Singh to this place during Battle of Nadaun. Dhyanu Bhagat Samadhi present on the banks of River Beas it is the Samadhi place of great Saint and a Great Devotee of Maa Jwalamukhi. He made Akbar bow down before his belief. Hence Nadaun is considered a town of multiple-religions all living in mutual-harmony. A favorite pastime of people of Nadaun is evening walk to the Nadaun Bridge. There are many restaurants which have come up in this area. This Bridge provides fantastic views of Beas River and of sunset. This bridge separates Hamirpur district from Kangra district. Another interesting pastime is river-cruise in a small wooden boat. One can enjoy this ride the whole day. The boat is still used as a mode of transport. There is a statue of Freedom fighter Inder Pal in the New Bus stand area.

Education

Nadaun has been a center of education in this part of Hamirpur district. Until the late 1980s it was the only place in surrounding areas where one could get education till 12th grade.

Educational Institutes : The oldest Educational institute of Nadaun is its Senior Secondary School for boys (Lala Jaganath Kamal Samarak Govt. Sen. Sec.). It has provided quality education to the students for over a century. Another major Educational Institute is Senior Secondary School for girls (Govt. Girls Senior Secondary School Nadaun). A government operated college (Sidharth Govt. College) was opened near to Nadaun in Gagal to cater the needs of higher education in this area. During recent time various privately operated colleges have come up in Nadaun and surrounding areas which offer lot of Bachelor Level courses. Nadaun also have DAV Public school. It has got a Kendriya Vidyalaya primarily meant for employees of Central Government of India. The District Institute of Education and Training of District Hamirpur located also in Tehsil Nadaun at village Gauna on distance of 6 km. There are some Kindergartens and privately operately Primary Schools in Nadaun. VedDhara Global School near Nadaun notably strives to provide quality education with international standards. Saregama Sangeet Academy is imparting musical education to budding artists and also conducts annual Basant Utsav festival with national level artists performing in Nadaun.

Nadaun like many other parts of the country has seen a progressive shift to English as medium of education in most of the privately owned schools. Nadaun is famous also for having contribution to Indian Independence Movement. Lot of freedom fighters hailed from this part of the country.

Sports

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium is a main cricket venue in the city which played host to many matches for Himachal Pradesh cricket team.

References

1. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Nadaun
2. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
3. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.