Panchkula

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Panchkula district.
Panchkula
पंचकुला
ਪੰਚਕੂਲਾ
City

Yagya Shala, within the Mansa Devi temple complex
Nickname(s): Chandigarh Tricity
Panchkula

Location in Haryana, India

Coordinates: 30°44′N 76°48′E / 30.74°N 76.80°E / 30.74; 76.80Coordinates: 30°44′N 76°48′E / 30.74°N 76.80°E / 30.74; 76.80
Country  India
State Haryana
District Panchkula
Government
  Type Municipality
  Body Municipal Corporation Panchkula
  Mayor Upinder Kaur Walia[1][2] (INC)
Area
  Total 816 km2 (315 sq mi)
Elevation 365 m (1,198 ft)
Languages
  Official Hindi, Punjabi, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 134 109 - 134 114
Telephone code +91-172-XXXXXXX
Vehicle registration HR-03
Website panchkula.nic.in

Panchkula (Hindi: पंचकूला) is a planned city in the Panchkula district, Haryana, India. It forms a part of a continuous area with the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the city of Mohali. It is approximately 4 km (2.4 miles) southeast of Chandigarh and 259 km (162 miles) northeast of New Delhi, the national capital. The Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula metropolitan region collectively forms a Tri-city, with a combined population of over 2 million.

The city hosts the Chandimandir Cantonment, the headquarters of the Western Command of the Indian Army. In 2011, Panchkula had population of 561,293 of which male and female were 299,679 and 261,614 respectively.

Etymology

The word Panchkula is derived from the local word panch (Sanskrit: पंच) (five) and kula (Sanskrit: कुला) (canals)"The city of 5 canals", possibly referring to five irrigation canals that distribute water from the Ghaggar-Hakra River.[3]

Geography and climate

Panchkula district has a sub tropical continental monsoon climate having, hot summers, cool winters, good monsoon rainfall. It has great variation in temperature (-1 °C to 43 °C). Sometimes winter frost occurs during December and January. The district also receives winter rains from the western disturbance. The rainfall is mostly received in the monsoon. Morni hills constitute the highest point of the district as well as of Haryana. The Ghaggar is the only perennial river, which is very shallow outside of the monsoons.

Generally the slope of the district is from north east to south west and in this direction, most of the rivers/streams rain-fed torrents flow down and spread much gravel and pebbles in their beds. Only the Sirsa river, in Kalka Tehsil, flows towards north-west. The soils in the district are mainly light loam.

The underground water in the district is generally fresh and suitable for domestic and irrigation purposes. The underground water level is generally high in the southern parts and low in north and north-east which is hilly tract. The district lies in the Himalayas boundary fault zones and earthquakes of moderate to high intensity have occurred in the past.

A street in Sector 17

Average temperature

Administration

Panchkula has branch offices for a number of state government agencies including:

Notable People from Panchkula

Tourism

Morni Hills

An offshoot of Shivalik range, Morni hills near Chandigarh are located at a distance of about 45 km from the city of gardens. It is a beautiful hill resort that has a real scenic beauty. Morni hills have been named after Queen Morni, who is said to rule this city.

Pinjore Gardens

Also known as Yadavindra Gardens, the Pinjore Gardens are situated about 20 km (12 mi) from the city, and cover a total area of 100 hectares (250 acres). The work of creating the gardens began in the seventeenth century. Pinjore Gardens is the venue for an annual mango festival. The garden houses a mini zoo, historic places, Japanese garden, nursery and a number of picnic spots. According to Hindu theology , the Pandava brothers rested in Pinjore during their exile.

Cactus Garden & Yavnika Garden

The 7 acres (2.8 ha) cactus garden in the centre of Panchkula was established in 1987, and is known for its rare and endangered species of Indian succulents.

Hotels

Demographics

Religion in Panchkula[8]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
91.30%
Sikhism
 
4.84%
Islam
 
2.30%
Jainism
 
0.69%
Christianity
 
0.48%
Others
 
0.40%

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Panchkula.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.