Jogindernagar

Jogindernagar Hindi: जोगिन्दर नगर Punjabi: ਜੋਗਿੰਦਰ ਨਗਰ Urdu: جوگندر نگار‎
town
Jogindernagar Location in Himachal Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 31°59′19″N 76°47′30″E / 31.988723°N 76.79155°E / 31.988723; 76.79155Coordinates: 31°59′19″N 76°47′30″E / 31.988723°N 76.79155°E / 31.988723; 76.79155
Country	India
State	Himachal Pradesh
District	Mandi
Government
• MLA	Thakur Gulab Singh
Elevation	1,010 m (3,310 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	5,046
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	175015[1]
Telephone code	1908[2]
Vehicle registration	HP 29
Climate	Humid subtropical (Köppen)

Joginder Nagar or Jogindar Nagar ([dʒoːˈɡɪnd̪ər nəˈɡər]) is a hill station and a nagar panchayat in Mandi district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Named after Raja Joginder Sen, Joginder Nagar is terminal point of 163 km long Kangra Valley Narrow gauge railhead. Joginder Nagar is the only town in Asia to have 3 hydro-electric power stations, and hence it is popularly known as The City of Powerhouses. The town packs good options for sightseeing, picnicking, angling and adventure sports like paragliding and trekking. The town is known for three T's namely Trolley, Trout and Train.

Etymology

Jogindernagar has been named after the king of Mandi, Raja Joginder Singh. The name of the original village was Sukrahatti.

History

In 1925, Raja Joginder Sen and Col. B. C. Batty planned a hydel power scheme near the village of Sukrahatti. A narrow-gauge railway track was laid from Pathankot to Joginder Nagar (1,220 m) to carry the heavy machinery transported from Britain. A Haulage-way system was laid from the site of Shanan Power House to Barot, where the reservoir was constructed on Uhl river. After tunneling and piping the water over several kilometres from the river Uhl to Joginder nagar, the Shanan Power House (110 MW) was built by a team of engineers headed by Colonel Batty. Shanan Power House was the only hydroelectric project in northern India which fed undivided Punjab and Delhi.

The vision of the hydel project scheme was to construct five power stations using the same water that is drawn from the Uhl river. The used water of Shanan Power House was taken through various tunnels in adjoining Siyuri Dhar, to a distance of 8 km. A reservoir was constructed at the village Chapprot that would be used for driving turbines in stage 2 of project at the base of Chapprot hill. However, the plan could not be executed following the death of Colonel Batty.

Later in 1960s, the HP State Electricity Board decided to proceed further with the plan. In 1970, another set of turbines were added at Bassi, a small village situated at the bottom of Chapprot hill and Bassi Power House (66 MW) came into existence.

Despite the fact that Bassi Power House was producer of cheapest hydro-electricity (since the project was based on tail-water of Shanan project), no further development was seen till the beginning of 21st century. The construction of third stage of project, Uhl Stage III (100 MW), was inaugurated at village Chulla near Tullah with two reservoir, one near the Machhyal Lake and another at Raktal village near Chulla, is currently under progress.

Geography

Jogindarnagar is at north-east corner of the Joginder Nagar Valley located in the north-western ranges of the Himalayas 31°59′N 76°46′E / 31.98°N 76.77°E / 31.98; 76.77.^[3] The city is situated at the north-east corner of the valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. It has an average elevation of 1,010 metres (3,314 feet).

The surrounding mountains are covered with thick forests of Pine. Rhododendron (Burans or locally known as Brah ka fool) and Deodar trees can be found at high altitude peaks like Winch Camp.

Joginder Nagar is a Zone V (Very High Damage Risk Zone) as per Earthquake hazard zoning of India. The after-effects of the earthquake of 1905 are still visible at nearby fort Kila Karanpur.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[4] Joginder Nagar had a population of 5,046. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Joginder Nagar has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 74%. In Joginder Nagar, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The majority of Joginder Nagar's population consists of natives of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab who work in Shanan Power House currently under charge of Punjab State Electricity Board. The major religions followed in the town are Hinduism, Sikhism and Tibetan Buddhism, along with a small percentage of Christians and Muslims. A majority of Tibetan Buddhists and monks live in the settlements near village Chauntra. The major languages spoken in the area are Hindi and dialects of Pahari. The dialect of western pahari used in the region varies from Mandyali to Kangri because of closeness to Kangra district. The other languages spoken and understood by majority of population are Punjabi and English.

Access

• Distance from Mandi: 56 km.
• Distance from Chandigarh: 256 km.
• Distance from Shimla: 210 km.
• Distance from Pathankot: 150 km.
• Nearest broad gauge train station: Pathankot (163 km).
• Nearest airport: Gaggal Airport (60 km).

The narrow-gauge Kangra Valley Railway connects Jogindernagar to Pathankot and thereby to the rest of the Indian railway network.

Education

The town and neighbouring villages have easy access to education. The oldest schools in the town are Government Senior Secondary School, Government Senior Secondary School (Girls) and Dayanand Bhartiya Public Senior Secondary School (earlier Bhartiya Public High School andArya Samaj Mandir).

There have been several advances in education since 2003 and many new private schools have come up in area, some noteworthy being Shanti Niketan Senior Secondary School, Gurukul Public Senior Secondary School, Crescent Senior Secondary School, Ascent Senior Secondary School, New Crescent Senior Secondary School and Mount Maurya International School. Mount Maurya International School is first and only CBSE pattern school in the region. The increase in competition between schools has led to increase in facilities provided by schools (e.g. Commution) and hence children in a much wider region now have access to better education.

There has been reasonable progress in the higher education sector in the area and but most of higher education aspirants prefer to move to bigger cities and other states for graduation and post-graduation.

A university has been established under Tibetan Children's Villages project near the Tibetan settlement in village Chauntra, exclusively for Tibetan students in exile. The university provides education for Tibetan students in various disciplines including Tibetan language, Tibetan culture and various forms of arts and science.

Important institutions are

• Rajeev Gandhi Memorial Govt. Degree College
• HP Revenue Training Institute
• Govt. College of Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Himalayan Group of Institution's Nursing College
• Ayurvedic Research Institute & Herbal Garden
• Neelam College of Education
• Industrial Training Institute
• Prajapati Brahmakumari Ishwariya Vishwavidyalaya Rajyoga & Meditation Center
• Dayanand Bhartiya Public Senior Secondary School
• Mount Maurya International School
• New Crescent Senior Secondary Public School
• Saraswati Vidya Mandir

Places of interest

Haulage

• Haulage-way Trolley: Haulage-way trolley, that goes from 4,300 feet to up to 8,000 feet using cable wire and runs on railway track.
• Winch Camp: Highest hill station of Joginder Nagar at 2400 metres. A trolley track goes from Winch camp (8,000 feet) to Head-gear (8,300 feet) and then haulage way descends down to Barot. The three kilometer narrow gauge track from Winch Camp to Head Gear is the highest railway track in India (8,300 feet) and is currently non-functional.
• Barot: The main reservoirs on Uhl river for Shanan and Bassi hydel projects.
• Bir-Billing: There are lots of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Bir. Billing (8,600 ft.) is the hang-gliding take-off spot for Paragliding Pre-World Cup.
• Shanan Power House: One of India's first hydroelectric power projects was built in 1932.
• Narrow-gauge Railway: The narrow-gauge railway, from Pathankot to Joginder Nagar. This railway line has been nominated for inclusion in UNESCO's cultural heritage list. It is one among the highest railways in the world with highest station at Ahju (4,236 feet).
• Bassi Power House: The generation cost of this power house is cheapest in the India.
• Banderi Temple and Kila Karanpur: Banderi temple is situated on the hill to the north-west of Joginder Nagar. Kila Karanpur is abandoned fort of Raja Karan Sen, son of Raja Joginder Sen.
• Macchyal lake: Holy lake held sacred to Machinder Devta i.e. Fish God.
• Tarangari Mahadev: A holy place dedicated to Lord Shiva. Near Yora, on the way to Bhalaridha, this is a place where 3 water streams merge to form Rana Khadd, a major water stream.^[5]
• Jhatingri: Para-gliding take-off spot amongst thick forests.
• Ayurvedic Research Institutes: The largest Herbal Garden and institute for research on Ayurvedic medicines and plants in North India.
• Dhelu: Paragliding spot where joyrides are enjoyed.
• Lakshminarayana Temple: A very old temple said to be built by Pandavas dedicated to Lord Lakshminarayana.
• Baba Balakrupi Temple: A temple of Lord Balak Nath situated in Garoru village.
• Mata Maheshwari Temple: A temple of Goddess parvati situated in Bhankher(Ahju) village.
• Mata Chaturbuja Temple: A temple situated nearby Basai Dhar village and is one of the oldest temple of this town.

References

External links

• Jogindernagar travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Discovery Channel's "World's Toughest Trucker" in Joginder Nagar
• Joginder Nagar Valley
• Joginder Nagar Website
• Himachal Tourism Dep. Co.
• Himachal Tourism Department India
• Tibetan Children's Village
• Tibetan Children's Village, Chauntra