About Una Himachal

Una is a district of Himachal Pradesh which lies in its south western part. On the 1st September,1972 the Himachal Pradesh Govt. reorganised the then Kangra district into three districts namely Una, Hamirpur and Kangra.The famous places of Una are ‘Chintpurni’ Goddess temple, Dera Baba Barbhag Singh, Dera Baba Rudru, Joggi Panga, Dharamshala Mahanta, Dhunsar Mahadev Temple Talmehra, Shivbari Temple Kotla MAHADEV Mandir, Gagret and Mini Secretariat. Una district is well developed in the industrial sector due to close proximity to Punjab. Mehatpur, Gagret, Tahliwal & Amb are main industrial centres of Una. On 11th January 1991, Una has been provided with railway line by laying 14 Kms broad gauge track from Nangal (Punjab) to Una which has now been extended up to Chururu Takarla and a DMU Train runs between this station and Ambala cantt. via Chandigarh.
As per a local folklore, Una was so named by first guru of Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev. "Unna" means "Only That Much" in Punjabi. Una is home to the "Killa", which is a historical fort and an ancestral home of the descendants of the first guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak. The Una District has unique identity by having both plain areas and hilly areas. the same coexists at Prthipur Teh Amb, Thana Gagret.
According to 2001 census, total population of Una is: 447,967. There are 997 females per 1000 males. Literacy rate is at 81.09%. Total area of district is 1549 Sq. Kilometers. The majority of population are hindu. People of Una speak Punjabi and pahari,while some part of society speak hindi. The dress of folks is Kurta-Pajama for men and Salwar-Kameej for the women.Most of its people are govt. employees.
Most amazing place in Una is, DeraBaba Rudru. It has the "Akhand Dhoona" that is little from more then 100 years. It is believed that the holy ash of "Akhand dhoona" can cure various diseases. It is famous for removing poision of snake. Person bit by a snake can be bought to Dera Baba Rudru, for taking out the poison by holy water. It provides 24 hours free food to all visitors and needy people called "Langar". There are some more small towns in this district are Amb, Gagret,Pirthipur, Daulatpur, Chintpurni (Chinnmastika Dhamm; a holy temple, Mehatpur. Pirthipur is an ideal village with small rivulet and good mountains and with full greenery. The town has famous Shiv temple and nearby Babaji temple on hillock. It is an ideal place to live in natural Harmony. Chintpurni is a very famous temple and millions of people pay visit to this temple each year. This small town is divided into two district Kangra & Una.gagret is the main industrial hub of una.It is well known for its educational syatem.
UNA TOWN
The town of Una which happens to be the district headquarter is situated by the side of Swan river which is the tributary of the Sutlej river. As per a belief prevalent in the area the great rishi Balmiki had named this river as “Som Bhadra” in Ramayana while Rig Veda had mentioned it as “Swastu”. Una had been mentioned as a state of Jalandhar Doab in “Aainey Akbari” a historical treatise of Mughal period having in its fold eight revenue mohals out of the 60 recorded in the said book.
Una besides being the district headquarter, owes its importance to being the residence of a branch of the Bedi family whose ancestor Baba Kaladhari, a descendant of Guru Nanak, during the time of tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh after wondering about the Jalandhar Doab for some years, finally settled down here as he attracted a crowd of followers who flocked to hear his eloquent discourse on the holy Guru Granth Sahib. Even today the descendants of Baba Kaladhari are putting up in the fort of Una. The golden dome of the mausoleum of Bedi Sahib Singh situated on a high terrace overlooks the valley.
After becoming the district headquarter Una town has seen tremendous expansion besides commercial and trade activities.
MATA CHINTPURNI
The Chintpurni fair, locally known as ‘Mata Da Mela’(fair of the mother Goddess) is held in village Chintpurni on a spur of the hill range of the same name, about 3 kms. to the west of Bharwain. The fair is held near the temple of Goddess Bhagwati Chhinmastaka, where, it is said, the mother Goddess appeared in astral form in ancient times. The site is approached by metalled road from Una, Hoshiarpur and Kangra which are situated at a distance of 56, 48 and 64 kms away respectively.
DHARAMSHALA MAHANTA
Situated near the holy abode of Goddess Chintpurni, about 62 kms. from Una, Dharamshala Mahanta is a “matha”(priory) established by a solitarian Baba Nakodar Dass during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Baba Nakodar Dass who was a ‘Panchdevaupaska’ gave the pride of place to the worship of lord Vishnu. Miss Mira Seth in her book “WALL PAINTINGS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS” states “ ’Mahanta’ Lakshmi Dhar the father of the present mahanta who died few years back has a ‘sanad’(grant) which is believed to have been given to his predecessors by emperor Aurangzeb in the ninth year of his reign, corresponding to A.D. 1667 .” A large number of devotees visiting Goddess Chintpurni visit Dharamshala Mahanta to pay their obeisance.
DERA BABA GUR BARBHAG SINGH – MAIRI
Dera Baba Gurbarbhag Singh in village Mairi of Amb Tehsil, is 3 kms. north-east of village Nehri which situated on Una-Amb-Nadaun-Hamirpur road is almost 40 kms. from Una. A visit to the ‘dera’(the holy shrine) is believed to cure patients possessed by evil spirits or affected with other malign influences.
SHIV BARI – GAGRET
On Hoshiarpur-Dharmsala road, near Gagret on the bank of river Swan (Sombhadra) is located the SHIV BARI which is believed to have been the practicing range for archery pupils of Guru Dronacharya. As per a belief the lord Shiva’s temple in the Shiv Bari was got constructed by Guru Dronacharya to facilitate his daughter Jayati to worship lord Shiva. Thousands of people from the nearly area visit Shiva temple to offer bouquets to the Shiva linga during the months of July/August. There is a very thick forest around the temple but for burning the dead, no piece of wood from the forest can be used for another purpose. Around Shiv Bari is the industrial focal point Gagret where quite a few industries have been located. Gagret is also the headquarters of a development block of the same name.
DERA BABA RUDRU
Dera Baba Rudru, established by a celibate solitarian Baba Rudranand in village Nari about 10 kms. from Una, is situated on Una-Amb road near Basal village. It is said that Baba ji was named Rudra as he was considered to be a part of lord Shankar. Baba Ji established an ‘akhand dhoona’ in 1850 which is still burning constantly without break. It is believed that there is some spiritual bondage in between the five peepal tree and the ‘vibhuti’(holy ashes) of the ‘akhand dhoona’, because anyone afflicted with a snake bite after being given a dose of ‘vibhuti’ is made to sit or lie under the five peepul tree, is cured by Baba Rudru’s grace and blessings of the snake bite.
PIR NIGAHA – BASOLI
Another important fair being held near Una, the district headquarters, is the fair of Pir Nigaha. The shrine of Pir Nigaha is situated in Basoli village which is about eight kms. from Una. A cavern hewn out of the solid rock said to be initially the handiwork of some ‘pandas’ and appropriated later on by the Muhammadons, had shot up to fame in the past few years.
DHYUNSAR MAHADEV – TALMEHRA
Situated in Bahi village near Talmehra in Bangana Tehsil of Una district, Dhyunsar Mahadev Temple is corrupted form of DHAUMYESHWAR SADASHIV TIRATH (Temple). It is believed that ‘kul-purohit’(family priest) of Pandavas DHAUMYA RISHI while wandering came to this place and attracted by its serenity and beautiful surroundings, sat in reverence to worship lord Mahadev. The rishi prayed lord Shiva to bless him with the boon that whosoever will worship him at this place, his desires will be fulfilled. Eversince that time this place got the name of Dhaumyeshwar Sadashiv Tirath which got corrupted to Dhyunsar Mahadev in the modern times. On the auspicious occasion of ‘Shivratri’, a fair is held here when the ‘shiv linga’ in the temple is bathed with milk and butter milk in the presence of a mammoth gathering chanting “Om Namah Shivaye”.
AMB
The one time seat of Jaswan state, Amb is situated on Dharamsala-Una-Chandigarh road, about 32 kms. from Una. In the good old days it was known for its gardens of Jaswal rajas. Amb was raised to the status of Sub-divisional headquarter after the reorganization of the districts in 1972. As the buses coming from Hoshiarpur to Hamirpur, Chandigarh-Una-Amb-Nadaun-Jawalamukhi and from Kangra-Chandigarh-Delhi and Talwara-Mubarikpur-Una pass through Amb, so it is an important town.
KOTLA MAHADEV MANDIR
An ancient and very popular Shiva temple which is about 2.5 km from its main bus stand that is MAHADEV mandir is situated in village kotlan klan. At the entrance this Temple their has been erected a magnificent 81 feet tall skyscraping bronze colored statue of LORD SHIVA at a cost of one crore Rupees . It is visible from all over Una and is a benevolent figure at night when it is illuminated.
UNA is most popular for its players. Many players from Una represent our country and its live example is Mr. Charanjeet Singh who received Padamashree award from Indian Government in 1964 in hockey, Mr. Deepak Thakur who is in INDIAN national hockey team and football is also very popular here. From village Nangal jarialan 78 people took part in 2nd world war out of which 73 lost their lives. Other extraordinary achiever from Una is Mr U C Mahajan who translated the famous astrology book in Urdu "Lal kitab" to English.
The people of Una mainly earn their livelihood through Agriculture. but now due the nearby industrial areas like Tahliwal and Mehatpur,it is have some another source of income also.there is now also popular industries of luminous,Mahindera in Gagret.Most of the people move out of town for professional education. Resulting in a migration of people to cities for jobs and income. Most of the jobs are from public sector.In past 5 years, lot of job opportunities have raised. Education centres, banks are mainly new private sectors growing in town.Una district can be reached by a variety of transports from New Delhi. It is located just about 375 km north of New Delhi and 120 KM from Chandigarh. The city of Una is also connected by train from New Delhi.