Sunam

Sunam Sunam Udham Singh Wala
city
Sunam Location in Punjab, India
Coordinates: 30°08′N 75°48′E / 30.13°N 75.8°E / 30.13; 75.8Coordinates: 30°08′N 75°48′E / 30.13°N 75.8°E / 30.13; 75.8
Country	India
State	Punjab
District	Sangrur
Elevation	231 m (758 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	51,024
Languages
• Official	Punjabi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	PB 44

Sunam is a city and a municipality in Sangrur district in the Indian state of Punjab. Sunam means the name with a good reputation.

Geography

Sunam is located at 30°08′N 75°48′E / 30.13°N 75.8°E / 30.13; 75.8.^[1] It has an average elevation of 231 metres (757 feet.Sunam falls under the district of Sangrur.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Sunam had a population of 51,024. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sunam has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 66%, and female literacy is 57%. In Sunam, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Shaheed Udham Singh

Sunam is the birthplace of Shahid Udham Singh, who shot former British Indian governor Michael O'Dwyer in revenge for his support of the notorious Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Samad Baba Bhai Mool Chand Sahib Ji

This is one place in Sunam where people from all religions/communities come to pay homage to a great saint of 17th Century.Descendants of his legacy are known as 'Bhaike' as they all are from a small village near Sunam named 'Bhai Ki Peshower'.Once every year they congregate in this ancestral village of theirs in a social gathering known as 'Babe Mitti'.Now some of them are settled in Sunam mostly known by their surname 'Joshi'. This is by far the most visited place in Sunam.

other famous religious place is sunam: 1) Peer Banana Banoi Sahib Ji 2) Shee Mata Modi Sahib Ji 3) Shee Naina Devi Mandir 4) Mata Santoshi Mata Mandir 5) Suraj Kund

Hindu Sabha High School, Sunam

This is one of three oldest public high schools of Sunam. Hindu Sabha High School Sunam was started on Feb 19th, 1948. The school celebrated its silver jubilee in 1973 and Education minister Umrao Singh inaugurated school's biggest assembly hall. This school is a non-profit and semi-government school. Later the school was upgraded to Senior Secondary school. Also Hindu Sabha College for Women was started for Arts and other subjects.

Karta Ram Jindal (20 February 1942 - 13 April 1992)

He was the headmaster of Hindu Sabha High School till he died in 1992 after serving almost 25 years. He worked day and night to make the school progress. He constructed many new classrooms and playground areas for the school. During his tenure school participated in Summer Olympics in Boxing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Summer_Olympics). Sh. Karta Ram Jindal served the biggest tenure of any headmaster during his time in Punjab. During his tenure, school progressed from almost 100 students to 1,000 students approximately. He had Masters of Arts and Bachelors of Teaching Degrees. He was well known for his strict, disciplined and yet nice attitude towards children.

Parhlad Singh Bhardwaj (15 December 1935 - 16 March 2012)

He is a well known and respected person among Sunamies. His father was Sh.Bachitar Singh and mother's name was Smt.Shyam Kaur. He was a steel-man having each and every quality in him. He was a great sportsman,painter,dramatist,spokesman and teacher. He was married to Smt.Satya Rani,who was also a teacher. He also led Punjab team in the 1982 Asian Games held in Delhi, India. He also served as secretary for Punjab Games Association. In 1979 he was honoured by Punjab's Chief Minister S.Parkash Singh Badal for his achievements. His three sons Mr. Ravinder Kumar is a lawyer, Mr. Rupinder Kumar is D.S.P. and Mr. Supinder Kumar is working as an A.J.E under PSPCL and a daughter Mrs. Shunil Lata is married to Mr.Surinder Joshi in Bhatinda. On the whole, Mr Parhlad Singh is among the Sunam's most respected persons.

Sitasar

It is an ancient tank spread over 80 bighas. It is said that Sita, wife of Rama, washed her hair in this tank when she was turned out of the house by Rama. Even now the widows of the surrounding area come here and wash their hair. It is also said that at one time kumb fair of the Punjab was held here. The tank is, now, not in good condition. Shiv Mandirs have been built in the south west and north of the tank. A small Shitla Mata Mandir has also been built in the south of the tank in which an ancient idol of Mata has been installed. This tank, it is said, was filled with the water of River Saraswati. (The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient And Mediaeval India 1927) “The Mubarak Shahi gives us some idea of “Firuz Shah’s” canal digging activity during this period. “The river Sarsati” (Saraswati) comes from the great mountains and falls into the Sutlej. An earthen hillock near a place called Barwar, Firuz was informed, separated the River Saraswati from the Salima canal (of Firuz Shah). If this hillock was dug up, the water of the Saraswati would flow into the canal which could then be taken to Sahrind or Sirhind, Mansurpura and further on to Sunam. Firuz went to the place and began digging up the hillock.”

Gurudwaras

There are number of Gurudwaras in Sunam. The most well known is the Gurdwara of the first Guruji Guru Nanak Dev Ji.Gurudwara Pehli Patshahi well known as Wadda Gurudwara where Guruji stayed for a night.

Muslim community

Before Partition of Punjab Sunam's population was predominantly Muslim, legend has it that if there would have been 5 more peers it would have been the first 'Peergah' in the region with 100 peers but that did not happen now Muslim Community constitutes about 15 families in Sunam. Peer Banna Banoi is an Islamic shrine in Sunam.People of all faiths pay homage as Peer Banna Banoi was a God fearing and a true Muslim who sacrificed his life on the day of his marriage to save the Hindu & Sikh girls from being kidnapped by the armed Muslim goons.

Education and Schools

Industries & trade

Sunam has a Grain Market, wholesale cloth market & a Sarafa Bazar in Town Side area of Sunam. Naya bazar and peeran wala Gate has main bazar

References