Batala
| Batala ਬਟਾਲਾ (Punjabi) | |
|---|---|
| city | |
 | |
  Batala | |
| Coordinates: 31°49′07″N 75°12′10″E / 31.8186°N 75.2028°ECoordinates: 31°49′07″N 75°12′10″E / 31.8186°N 75.2028°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | Punjab |
| District | Gurdaspur |
| Area | |
| • Total | 29 km2 (11 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 249 m (817 ft) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 147,872 |
| • Density | 5,100/km2 (13,000/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Punjabi |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 143505 |
| Telephone code | 01871 |
| Vehicle registration | PB 18 |
| Distance from Amritsar | 38 kilometres (24 mi) NE (land) |
| Distance from Jalandhar | 75 kilometres (47 mi) NE (land) |
| Distance from Chandigarh | 213 kilometres (132 mi) NE (land) |
| Distance from Delhi | 470 kilometres (290 mi) NE (land) |
Batala (Punjabi: ਬਟਾਲਾ) is a municipal council in Gurdaspur District in the state of Punjab, India. It is located about 30 km from Gurdaspur, the headquarters of the district. It is also a Police District.
Batala is an important place for Sikh devotees. Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of the Sikh religion was married here to Sulakhni, the daughter of Mul Chand Chauna in 1485.[1] Many temples and Gurdwaras related to the Guru's marriage attract devotees from near and far. Every year celebrations are conducted on the anniversary of Guru Nanak's marriage. Also, it is an important place for Hindus as the most powerful god of Hindu culture, Lord Shiva came here at mandir Achleshwar Dham with 33 crore devi-devtas to make happy his son Kartikeya who was sad due to his loss of race from his brother and Lord Shiva's son Ganesha.
Batala was once called as "Iron bird of Asia" as it produced the highest amount of C.I.Casting, Agricultural and mechanical machinery. Batala is still one of the leading cities in Northern India in manufacturing of C.I Casting and mechanical machinery. It's also an agricultural marketplace and industrial center. Cotton ginning, weaving, sugar refining, rice milling are some of other business taking place here.
History
The city was founded in 1465 CE by Raja Ram Deo, a Bhati Rajput, during the reign of Bahlul Lodi on a piece of land given by Tatar Khan who was the Governor of Lahore. Later, during the Mughal rule, Akbar gave it in jagir to his foster brother, Shamsher Khan. The city grew and developed under him. Batala was very famous city of Punjab region just like Lahore, Jalandhar and other major cities in the 16th century, and it is 109 years older city than Amritsar. The whole city was lying within a fort. It had 12 gates as entrance and exit. These gates are still known by their old names e.g. Sheran wala Gate, Khajuri Gate, Bhandari Gate, Ohri Gate, Thathiari Gate, Hathi gate, Pahari gate, etc.. Some of them still survive and are pleading for their condition. In 1947, at the time of partition of India, Batala was included in Pakistan region. But later it was realized by Indian leaders that in this way a nearby major city 'Amritsar' will be surrounded by Pakistan from two sides. So to avoid this danger to Amritsar, Batala was negotiated back by India from the British. For total of 3 days, Batala was part of Pakistan then it was added to Indian Territory. During the Political Integration of India, Batala was included in the Punjab state.[2]
Other historic Places in Batala are Gurdwaras where Guru Nanak stayed during his lifetime. There are also numerous other gurdwaras of significant importance to Sikhs and therefore attracts thousands of Sikhs from around the globe. Batala grew under the Muslim governor the main majority of batala was Muslim community till partition. But after partition many Muslims left batala & went to Pakistan. Then Hindus & Sikhs settled there and now batala has a majority of Hindus.
Landmarks
Located in Gurdaspur district, 38 km from Amritsar on the Kashmir Grand Trunk road. One of the older towns in the province of Lahore in the earlier times, Batala is home to many monuments of religious and historic importance. These monuments are connected with Sikh history and the Mughal period. The city consists of several churches constructed during the British Raj.
Jal Mahal (Hazira)
The Jal Mahal and the palace of Maharaja Sher Singh were built by the Maharaja (CE 1780-1839). The palace is under the control of the authorities of the local Baring Union Christian College. The administrative offices of the college are housed in it. Jal Mahal is under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Jal Mahal (Baradari) and the palace of Maharaja Sher Singh were connected through a tunnel. According to some senior citizens Shamsher Khan Tank of Jal Mahal used to filled with water through the tunnel which was further connected by a long tunnel (canal) to the Beas near Kahnuwan. The remnants of the tunnel can be seen near Baring Christian College.
Maharaja Sher Singh used to hold meetings of his courtiers in Jal Mahal. The water reservoir was built by Shamsher Khan while the beautiful Baradari in the centre of the tank was constructed by Maharaja Sher Singh. It has a square room in the centre of a pavilion with a passage. The entry to the first floor is by a staircase with concave-shaped steps on the north-eastern canal. Jal Mahal has eight doors in the lower part of the building and four in the upper storey. The inner wall contained beautiful art glass carvings and wall paintings. However, major parts of the paintings have been erased or damaged. The roof of the pavilion has also fallen. The Municipal Council had provided a tubewell to fill up the tank till the eighties. All sides of the reservoir were lined with Nanakshahi bricks. However, with the passage of time the brick lining has been destroyed. Nowadays, on one side of the tank is located a vridh ashram owned and managed by the Dainik Prarthana Sabha. There also exists Bhadr Kali Mandir and Shivala. The upper portion of Jal Mahal is in a dilapidated condition and the time is not far when this magnificent structure will pass into oblivion.
Locally known as Hazira, structure is near Baring College and was built by Shamsher Khan. The tomb stands on a raised platform surrounded by a low wall having bastions in the corners. The tomb is an octagonal structure crowned with a low dome. The spandrels of the arches have painted arabesque and geometrical designs. Hazira is now a recreational park and tourist attraction.
The interior wall as well as the exterior of the tomb is richly adorned with paintings depicting floral, geometrical and calligraphic designs. The decoration is intact on the interior but on the exterior only its traces survive. Recently, the ASI had undertaken repairs, Preservation work has been done on its interior as well as exterior walls. The surroundings of these monuments, too, have been beautified.
The palace of Maharaja Sher Singh reminds one of the love of rich architectural structures by Sikh rulers. This beautiful building with mud plastering was known to be part of Anarkali which was initially built along with Baradari as an imitation of Shalimar Garden of Lahore. The remnants of wall paintings and carvings can seen.
Achleshwar Dham
Achleshwar Dham, Mandir is a temple in Batala, Punjab.It is 7 km away from the main city. It is a place where Lord Shiva’s Son Kartik had come when he was competiting with Shri Ganesh. Shivji ordered their son to move around the earth, which one complete it 1st he will be more superior. Ganeshji move around his parents but kartik was moving around the earth. When he acme to know that Ganesh has won then he came to batala to live here permanently. Then Shiva gave him blessings that every year Ganga and all 33 crores devtas will come here. So it is a place where all the Lords had come. Perhaps the only such place on Earth.
Gurdwara Kandh Sahib
Guru Nanak was married here to Bibi Sulakhani. He was engaged to the daughter of Mul Chand Chauna who along with the Brahmin priests insisted on a traditional Hindu marriage while Guru Nanak wanted a simple marriage. Guru Nanak was sitting beside a crooked mud wall (kandh) discussing the marriage plans with the Brahmin clergy. It was planned to push the wall on top of the Guru but Guru Nanak was warned of the plan by an old woman. Guru Nanak just smiled and said "This wall will not fall for centuries. The will of God shall prevail." The wall is still preserved within the Gurdwara and a celebration is held here every year on the anniversary of Guru Nanak's marriage.
Kali Dwara Mandir
Another very famous and most-visited devotional place here is the temple dedicated to Goddess Kali. It’s situated in the heart of city and maximum rush is seen on Tuesdays.
Demographics
As per provisional data of 2011 census Batala urban agglomeration had a population of 158,404, out of which males were 83,536 and females were 74,868. The literacy rate was 85.28 per cent.[3]
Economy
Minerals
The foundry sand is found from Dharamkot near Batala. The deposits are located 6.5 km west of Batala. Exposed on both sides of Batala-Dera Baba Nanak road, the Dharmkot sand is a natural moulding sand, containing about 20% of clay. Another deposit which is about 4 metres thick, occurs at about 6 km from Batala on the Batala Qadian road. The sand gives a yellowish tinge on the surface but is reddish brown at about 1 metre depth.
The sand deposits are also found at Bhagwanpur about 15 km west of Batala on Dera Baba Nanak road and about 10 km from Gurdaspur on the Gurdaspur Naushera road (20 percent clay).
The salt petre occurs in the district at the villages of Thikriwala, Pandori in tehsil Gurdaspur and Dhawan, Chataurgarh and Badowal in tehsil Batala. It is a source of potassium nitrate which can be used for making crackers and gunpowder, in match and sugar industries, and as fertilizer.
Transport
Batala is an important industrial town famous for the manufacture of machine tools and woolen products. Therefore, it is well connected with the other cities and towns of Punjab by road and railways. Government and private buses are the main source of journey to other cities.
Road
National Highway 15 connecting Kandla in Gujarat with Pathankot in Punjab passes through Batala and connects it with Pathankot, Amritsar, Bhatinda, Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer and Kandla. Batala is also well connected by State Highway with NH1, thus connecting it with Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and New Delhi (Capital Of India).
Rail
Batala Junction (station code BAT) is on the Amritsar—Pathankot railway line of the Firozpur division of the Northern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. Amritsar Junction Railway Station located about 38 km from the town is the nearest major railway station. Train to Qadian is the another diversion from Batala. Ministry of Railways has accepted in 2010 Budget plan to connect the Batala-Quadian rail link to Jalandhar via Beas Junction. The project would start soon. This project will help connect Batala to high-speed Amritsar-Delhi section and cutting travel time to Jalandhar by 4-5 hours (No need to go Via Amritsar)
Air
Guru Ram Das International Airport serving the city of Amritsar is the nearest International airport and is located about 40 km from the town.Pathankot Airport in Pathankot, situated 70 km away from Batala is the nearest military airport.
Schools and colleges
Batala has a good number of Schools and Colleges affiliated to different boards.
Colleges
Baring Union Christian College (GNDU) www.buccbatala.org
Guru Nanak Dev College
S.L. Bawa DAV College
R.R. Bawa DAV College for Girls
Royal Institute of Nursing http://globaleducationindia.com)
Gagan College Batala www.punjabtech.org
V.M.S. institute of information and technology
Schools
Baring School Batala(ICSE)
R D Khosla DAV Model Senior Secondary School(CBSE)
St. Francis (ICSE)
DAV Centenary Public School (CBSE)
Cambridge International School Batala. {CBSE}
WoodStock Public School, Anarkali Rd,Batala[CBSE]
DAV Senior Secondary School, Chandar Nagar
Guru Nanak School
Guru Nanak Khalsa Sr/Sec (Narowal ) Batala
Senior Secondary School,Taragarh
Evergreen science&sports school,achalsahib(chahalkalan)(PSEB)
F.c. Verma Sr. secondary school, bhandari gate (PSEB)
Aray girls Sr. secondary school (PSEB)
Saheed Baba Deep Singh Modren School,Dhupsari
Hollyhock High School,Batala
Apart from these, there are many government schools : primary, higher secondary etc. .
Notable People
Following are notable people from Batala :--
- Shiv Kumar Batalvi - Famous Poet, youngest recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967.
Not only people of Batala, but also of whole Punjab take pride in association with him. His songs & poems are still recited by people. He has made Batala very famous by adding it to his name. There is a memorial in his memory at Jalandhar Road, but is now in shambles due to ignorance of successive governments.
- Mumtaz Mufti - Renowned Pakistani writer, philosopher and psychologist, awarded the high Pakistani civilian award Sitara-e-Imtiaz and Munshi Premchand award.[4]
- Bhupinder Singh Mann - Ex Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha from 1990–96), nominated by President of India for outstanding contribution to the cause of Indian Farmers.[citation needed]
- Prabhjot Singh - famous Hockey player of Indian Men's Hockey Team.
References
- ↑ History of Gurdaspur district
- ↑ Batala Town Imperial Gazetteer of India - vol.7 pg.133
- ↑ "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above". Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
- ↑ http://urdu.digestpk.com/category/writers/mumtaz-mufti/
External links
| ||||||||