Paonta Sahib

The town was founded by Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh Ji.[2] The Gurudwara Paonta Sahib has linkages to the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh and the Sikh leader Banda Singh Bahadur. Its original name was Paontika. In Hindi language, Paon means "feet" and tika means "became stable". It is believed that Guru Gobind Singh and his horse stopped at this place, and he decided to stay here. He lived here for four and a half years, having never stayed so long at any other place in his entire life. He wrote many Sikh religious books during the stay and moved to Anandpur Sahib to establish the Khalsa Panth. The Gurudwara houses a museum containing antiques and weapons used by Guru Gobind Singh. Paonta Sahib is the birthplace of Ajit Singh, the eldest son Of Guru Gobind Singh.

Paonta Sahib as seen from Baba Bhure Shah's Dargah on the Uttarakhand Himachal border

Paonta Sahib is located at 30.438°N 77.624°E / 30.438; 77.624.[3] It has an average elevation of 389 metres (1,276 feet). It is on the bank of the river Yamuna, the river being the boundary between the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It is situated near the towns of Nahan in Himachal Pradesh, Yamunanagar in Haryana, Saharanpur in Western Uttar Pradesh and Dehradun in Uttarakhand. It is on the western extreme of the Doon Valley, which is at a distance of about 44 km from Dehradun. Kalesar National Park is 12 km from Paonta Sahib.

Paonta Sahib has a sub-tropical continental monsoon climate characterised by a seasonal rhythm, hot summers, slightly cold winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature (0 °C to 40 °C). In winters, frost sometimes occurs during December and January. It also receives occasional winter rains from the western disturbance.

Average temperatures:

• Summer: Temperatures may rise to a maximum of 44 °C. The temperature generally remains 35 °C to 40 °C.
• Autumn: The temperature may go to a maximum of 36 °C. The temperature usually remains between 16 °C and 27 °C in autumn. The lowest temperature may go to 13 °C.
• Winter: Temperatures are cool and sometimes chilly. Average temperature in winters (November to February) remains at (max.) 2 °C to 7 °C and (min.) 0 °C to 5 °C.
• Spring: The climate remains quite pleasant. The temperature remains (max.) 16 °C to 25 °C and (min.) 9 °C to 18 °C.

As of the 2011 India census,[4] Paonta Sahib had a population of 1,58,268 (urban 25,172/ rural 1,33,096). Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%.[5] Paonta Sahib has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than National average of 74.04% (2011 figure).: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 72%. In Paonta Sahib, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Paonta Sahib is a municipal council which has 13 wards. This council looks after the development of the city, maintenance of roads, streets, cleanliness etc. The election takes place every five years to elect ward members and a chairman.

Major industries are cement (Cement Corporation of India in Rajban), power generation, renewable energy, pharmaceutical (Sun Pharmaceutical,[7] Mankind Pharma Limited), textiles, and chemicals. Apart from these, Asia's biggest limestone market[8] is located at Sataun.

• "Department of Information & Public Relations, Himachal Pradesh". 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
• "District Sirmaur, Government of Himachal Pradesh - Dev Bhoomi". Hpsirmaur.nic.in. Retrieved 22 April 2019.