Paonta Sahib is an industrial city ofHimachal Pradesh in India. It is located in the south of Sirmaur district, on National Highway 7. Major industries are cement industry, Power Generation - Renewable Energy, Pharmaceutical industry, textiles, chemical industry. Apart from these, Asia's biggest limestone market is located at sataun which is 19 kms from here and some major companies also. Paonta Sahib is an important place of worship for Sikhs, hosting a large Gurdwara named Gurudwara Paonta Sahib, on the banks of the riverYamuna. The river is the boundary between the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Major hotels/homestays to stay in Paonta Sahib are Hotel Guru Surbhi, Hotel Yamuna,Shipra,RanaLodge. This is the one of the fastest developing city of himachal pradesh. There are huge number of workers who are from other states.
History
The town was founded by Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh Ji. 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. Paon in Hindi means "feet", and tika in Hindi 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 here and then went to Anandpur Sahib to establish the Khalsa Panth. The Gurudwara also houses a museum which contains a lot of antiques and weapons used by Guru Gobind Singh during his stay. Paonta Sahib is the Birthplace of Baba Ajit Singh Ji
Geography
Paonta Sahib is located at. It has an average elevation of 389 metres. 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 a distance of about 44 km from Dehradun. Kalesar National Park is 12 km from Paonta Sahib.
Climate
Paonta Sahib has a sub-tropicalcontinentalmonsoon climate characterised by a seasonal rhythm, hot summers, slightly cold winters, unreliable rainfall and great variation in temperature. 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 remains at 7 °C to 15 °C and 0 °C to 5 °C.
Spring: The climate remains quite pleasant. The temperature remains 16 °C to 25 °C and 9 °C to 18 °C.
Demographics
As of the 2011 India census, Paonta Sahib had a population of 1,58,268. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Paonta Sahib has an average literacy rate of 76%, higher than National average of 74.04%.: 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.
