Kotkapura

Kot Kapura
Kot Kapura
City
Kot Kapura

Location in Punjab, India

Coordinates: 30°35′00″N 74°54′00″E / 30.5833°N 74.9°E / 30.5833; 74.9Coordinates: 30°35′00″N 74°54′00″E / 30.5833°N 74.9°E / 30.5833; 74.9
Country  India
State Punjab
District Faridkot
Population (2001)
 • Total 80,741
Languages
 • Official Punjabi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 151204
Website citykotkapura.com

Kot Kapura (Punjabi: ਕੋਟ ਕਪੂਰਾ, Hindi: कोट कपूरा) is a historic city some 50 km from Bathinda, 40 km from Moga and 30 km from Muktsar in the state of Punjab, India. It is the largest city in the Faridkot District and has a large cotton market, considered one of the best in the world. Kotkapura is the birthplace of world-renowned astrologer Late Sardar Ujjal Singh. It takes around 15 minutes by bus from Faridkot, 4 hours by road from Chandigarh and 2.0 hours from Ludhiana, and 8 hours from New Delhi by train to reach the city. It is a central city on route to Ganganagar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, Firozpur etc. Kot Kapura takes its name from its founder, Nawab Kapur Singh, and the word "Kot", meaning a small fort – literally the "fort of Kapura".

History

Bhallan, founder of the Faridkot principality, was an ardent follower of Guru Har Gobind, the 6th Sikh Guru. He helped Guru Har Gobind Ji in the Battle of Mehraj, but died issueless in 1643. He was succeeded by his nephew, Kapura, who founded the town of Kot Kapura in 1661. Nawab Kapura was the chaudhry of eighty-four villages. Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, en route from Machhiwara, after staying at Dina and after short stopovers at various other places, reached Kot Kapura and asked Nawab Kapura Brar for his fort to fight the pursuing Mughal army. Kapura was a Sikh, but did not want to earn the ire of the Mughals by helping Guru Gobind Singh openly in his war with them; otherwise, the famous last battle of Muktsar (Khidrane Di Dhaab; now a historic town) between Guru Gobind Singh and the Mughal army would have been fought at Kot Kapura. However, Nawab refused the fort to the guru.

Kot Kapura today

Despite its natural beauty, Kot Kapura, like many other small towns in India, is going through "modernization" as never before. Shastri Market or Maheshwari Street established by Bansi Dhar Maheshwari (1875-1935) is one of the most populous and largest markets in Punjab. Kot Kapura has also been called 'City of White Gold' due to its cotton market, which was once the largest cotton market in India. Now it has three PUDA approved modern residential colonies, namely Arvind Nagar, Baba Farid Enclave and CNS Enclave. Kotkapura, happens to be the first town/city in the whole of North of India, to have a NABH accredited Hospital (Brar Eye Hospital), thus bringing to the list of cities with international level health care.

Kot Kapura was famous for its ever-closed railway crossing gate on the Kot Kapura–Muktsar highway. However, a much-delayed flyover has saved the town from this notorious landmark. Important villages near Kot Kapura are Kothe Thhe Wale, Sandhwan, Dhilwan Kalan, Panjgraian Kalan, Ghanaian Wala, Hari Nau, Madhak, Khara, Matta, Romana Albel Singh,Bir Sikhanwala. Kotkapura is very famous for "Dhodha" (a special type of sweet). Another delicacy originating from this city is "Atta Chicken" which is famous all over the world and Atta Chicken was shown on Discovery channel in the show named 'Incredible India'.

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