Urapar is a small town on the

Nawanshahar Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district is one of twenty-three districts of state of Punjab, India, Punjab, India. It is located in Doaba region. It consists of three Subdivisions of India, subdivisions, Nawanshahr, Banga, India, Banga, and Balacha ...

Phillaur Phillaur is a town and a municipal council as well as a tehsil in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. The city is situated 20 km from Ludhiana, 45 km from Jalandhar and 140 km from Amritsar. It is situated on the border of the Doa ...

road in the

Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district is one of twenty-three districts of state of Punjab, India. It is located in Doaba region. It consists of three subdivisions, Nawanshahr, Banga, and Balachaur. There are three legislative seats in the dis ...

of the state of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Urapar, the capital of the

Saini Saini () is a farming and landowning caste of northern India. The community is given reservation in India, representation in government jobs and educational institutes as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab (I ...

, is also known as Aur-Urapar or Chak-Urapar. It is located 17 km from Nawanshahr, 17 km from

, and 15 km from Banga.

History

Urapar is famous for the Gurudwara Shahidganj Temple, which was built to honor the martyrs in the battle of 1711, in which

Banda Singh Bahadur Banda Singh Bahadur, born Lachman Dev (27 October 1670 – 9 June 1716), was a Sikh warrior and a Jathedar, general of the Khalsa Fauj, Khalsa Army. At age 15, he left home to become an Sannyasa, ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Baira ...

led the Khalsa Army in a pitched battle against the army of Shamas Khan. The Rahon and the Sikh soldiers who were captured were cremated there. There are eight gurudwaras, three Hindu temples, and three mosques in Urapar. The late Sardar Sampuran Singh Sena was the only sarpanch (head of a village) who had served four terms (20 years) in a row. He was also the first sarpanch after the city gained its freedom. During his tenure as sarpanch, he established a veterinary clinic. In appreciation of his community services, the Governor of

gave him a commendatory certificate at the opening ceremony. He approached Chotu Ram, the Education Minister of Joint

, to upgrade Khalsa Elementary School of Chak-Urapar to a high school. There are more than 100 families from Urapar currently living in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Every year they get together and celebrate Urapar Day.

Demographics

As of the 2001 India census, Urapar had a population of 4,251 (52% male and 48% female). Urapar has an average literacy rate of 87%, higher than the national average of 74% (male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 71%). In Nawanshahr, 12% of the population is under nine years of age.

Prominent residents

* Harcharan Singh (1914 – 2006), playwright

Weather

The village has a humid subtropical climate with cold winters and hot summers. Summers last from April to June and winters from November to February. The temperatures in summer vary from an average high of 48 °C (118 °F) to an average low of 25 °C (77 °F). Winter temperatures vary from 19 °C (66 °F) to -5 °C (23 °F). The climate is generally dry, except during the brief southwest monsoon season from July to August. The average annual rainfall is about 70 cm.

Health facilities

Health facilities include Guru Nanak Charitable Hospital located across the street from Gurudwara Shaidganj Sahib. The hospital is operated by the committee of Gurudwara Shaidganj Sahib and Sena. Nawanshahr {{Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district