Chamba district

A district in Himachal Pradesh, India

District of Himachal Pradesh in India

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

Country|  India
State|  Himachal Pradesh
Division| Chamba
Headquarters| Chamba
Tehsils| 7
Government

• Lok Sabha constituencies| 1
• Vidhan Sabha constituencies| 5
Area

• Total| 6,522 km2 (2,518 sq mi)
Population

(2011)

• Total| 519,080
• Density| 80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone| UTC+05:30 (IST)
Website| http://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[edit]

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[edit]

Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±% p.a.

|
|

1901| 130,244| —
1911| 138,943| +0.65%
1921| 145,526| +0.46%
1931| 150,591| +0.34%
1941| 174,394| +1.48%
1951| 174,537| +0.01%
1961| 215,929| +2.15%
1971| 251,203| +1.52%
1981| 311,147| +2.16%
1991| 393,286| +2.37%
2001| 460,887| +1.60%
2011| 519,080| +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.

Religions in Chamba district (2011)[5]

Religion |  | Per cent
Hinduism |

| 92.43%
Islam |

| 6.25%
Sikhism |

| 0.53%
Other or not stated |

| 0.79%

### Languages[edit]

Languages of Chamba district (2011)[6]

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%).[6][7]

## Politics[edit]

This section is transcluded from 14th Himachal Pradesh Assembly. (edit | history)

No.  | Constituency  | Name  | Party  | Remarks

|
|
|
|

1  | Churah (SC)  | Hans Raj |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
2  | Bharmour (ST)  | Janak Raj |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
3  | Chamba | Neeraj Nayar |  | Indian National Congress |
4  | Dalhousie | D S Thakur  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
5  | Bhattiyat | Kuldeep Singh Pathania |  | Indian National Congress | Speaker
Kangra | 6  | Nurpur | Ranveer Singh |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
7  | Indora (SC)  | Malender Rajan  |  | Indian National Congress |
8  | Fatehpur | Bhawani Singh Pathania |  | Indian National Congress |
9  | Jawali | Chander Kumar |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister
10  | Dehra | Hoshyar Singh |  | Independent |
11  | Jaswan-Pragpur | Bikram Thakur |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
12  | Jawalamukhi | Sanjay Rattan |  | Indian National Congress |
13  | Jaisinghpur (SC)  | Yadvinder Goma |  | Indian National Congress |

Cabinet Minister

14  | Sullah | Vipin Singh Parmar |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
15  | Nagrota | Raghubir Singh Bali |  | Indian National Congress |
16  | Kangra | Pawan Kumar Kajal |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
17  | Shahpur | Kewal Singh Pathania  |  | Indian National Congress |
18  | Dharamshala | Sudhir Sharma |  | Indian National Congress |
19  | Palampur | Ashish Butail |  | Indian National Congress |

Chief Parliamentary Secretary

20  | Baijnath (SC)  | Kishori Lal |  | Indian National Congress |

Chief Parliamentary Secretary

Lahaul and Spiti | 21  | Lahaul and Spiti (ST)  | Ravi Thakur  |  | Indian National Congress |
Kullu | 22  | Manali | Bhuvneshwar Gaur  |  | Indian National Congress |
23  | Kullu | Sunder Singh Thakur |  | Indian National Congress |

Chief Parliamentary Secretary

24  | Banjar | Surender Shourie  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
25  | Anni (SC)  | Lokendra Kumar |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Mandi | 26  | Karsog (SC)  | Deepraj Kapoor |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
27  | Sundernagar | Rakesh Jamwal  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
28  | Nachan (SC)  | Vinod Kumar  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
29  | Seraj | Jai Ram Thakur |  | Bharatiya Janata Party | Leader of Opposition
30  | Darang | Puranchand Thakur  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
31  | Jogindernagar | Prakash Rana  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
32  | Dharampur | Chandershekhar  |  | Indian National Congress |
33  | Mandi | Anil Sharma |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
34  | Balh (SC)  | Indra Singh Gandhi  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
35  | Sarkaghat | Dalip Thakur |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Hamirpur | 36  | Bhoranj (SC)  | Suresh Kumar  |  | Indian National Congress |
37  | Sujanpur | Rajinder Singh Rana |  | Indian National Congress |
38  | Hamirpur | Ashish Sharma |  | Independent |
39  | Barsar | Inder Dutt Lakhanpal |  | Indian National Congress |
40  | Nadaun | Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu |  | Indian National Congress | Chief Minister
Una | 41  | Chintpurni (SC)  | Sudarshan Singh Babloo  |  | Indian National Congress |
42  | Gagret | Chaitanya Sharma  |  | Indian National Congress |
43  | Haroli | Mukesh Agnihotri |  | Indian National Congress | Deputy Chief Minister
44  | Una | Satpal Singh Satti |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
45  | Kutlehar | Devender Kumar Bhutto  |  | Indian National Congress |
Bilaspur | 46  | Jhanduta (SC)  | Jeet Ram Katwal |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
47  | Ghumarwin | Rajesh Dharmani  |  | Indian National Congress |

Cabinet Minister

48  | Bilaspur | Trilok Jamwal  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
49  | Sri Naina Deviji | Randhir Sharma  |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
Solan | 50  | Arki | Sanjay Awasthy |  | Indian National Congress |

Chief Parliamentary Secretary

51  | Nalagarh | K.L. Thakur |  | Independent |
52  | Doon | Ram Kumar Chaudhary |  | Indian National Congress |

Chief Parliamentary Secretary

53  | Solan (SC)  | Dhani Ram Shandil |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister
54  | Kasauli (SC)  | Vinod Sultanpuri |  | Indian National Congress |
Sirmaur | 55  | Pachhad (SC)  | Reena Kashyap |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
56  | Nahan | Ajay Solanki  |  | Indian National Congress |
57  | Sri Renukaji (SC)  | Vinay Kumar |  | Indian National Congress | Deputy Speaker
58  | Paonta Sahib | Sukh Ram Chaudhary |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
59  | Shillai | Harshwardhan Chauhan |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister
Shimla | 60  | Chopal | Balbir Singh Verma |  | Bharatiya Janata Party |
61  | Theog | Kuldeep Singh Rathore |  | Indian National Congress |
62  | Kasumpti | Anirudh Singh |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister
63  | Shimla | Harish Janartha |  | Indian National Congress |
64  | Shimla Rural | Vikramaditya Singh |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister
65  | Jubbal-Kotkhai | Rohit Thakur |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister
66  | Rampur (SC)  | Nand Lal |  | Indian National Congress |
67  | Rohru (SC)  | Mohan Lal Brakta |  | Indian National Congress |

Chief Parliamentary Secretary

Kinnaur | 68  | Kinnaur (ST)  | Jagat Singh Negi |  | Indian National Congress | Cabinet Minister

## References[edit]

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. ^ 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.
7. ^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "India – Languages". Ethnologue (22nd ed.). SIL International.

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## Education[edit]

### Schools[edit]

* Minority School Juwans Muslim Minority Educational Center Juwans Kihar district Chamba,

## Interesting places[edit]

* 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.

## Fair and festivals[edit]

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[edit]

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.[1]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "All Members of Lok Sabha (Since 1952) Members Biographical Sketches". Retrieved 21 December 2017.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chamba district.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Chamba district.

* District profile of Chamba

Places adjacent to Chamba district

| Doda district, jammu and kashmir | Kishtwar district, jammu and kashmir |

|
|

|  |
Kathua district, jammu and kashmir |

Chamba district

| Lahaul and Spiti district
|  |
Gurdaspur district, Punjab | Kangra district |

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