PATHANKOT

'Pathankot' (Punjabi: ਪਠਾਨਕੋਟ, Hindi: पठानकोट, Pashto: پٹھان ڪوٽ) a city and a municipal committee in Gurdaspur district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is a meeting point of the three northern states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Due to its ideal location, Pathankot serves as a travel hub for the three northerly states and is a hub for the defence forces - Indian Army and Indian Air Force. Pathankot is the fifth lagest city in the state of Punjab in terms of population. It is the last city in Punjab on the national highway that connects Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India. This bestows strategic importance on the city. Situated in the picturesque foothills of Kangra and Dalhousie, with the river Chakki flowing close by, the city is often used as a rest-stop before heading into the mountains of Jammu and Kashmir, Dalhousie, Chamba, and Kangra, deep into the Himalayas. Pathankot also has the largest military base in the whole of Asia.
Pathankot is also used as a gateway to the Himachali hill stations of Dalhousie, Dharamsala, Mcleodganj, Kangra Valley, Jwalaji, and Chintpurni.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Places of Interest

Transport

References

External links

Geography

Pathankot is located at .^[1] It has an average elevation of 332 metres (1089 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Pathankot had a population of 159,559. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Pathankot has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 73%. In Pathankot, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. In Pathankot, Punjabi, Hindi,Dogri ,Pashto are spoken .
80% of the population are Hindus, 15% are Sikhs and 5% are Christians.

Places of Interest

Places worth visiting near Pathankot include Shahpur Kandi with a hanging resthouse, Ranjit Sagar Dam, which is the highest gravity dam in Asia, Madhopur Headworks which date back to the Mughal era. Church, Head works of Upper Bari Doab, Shahpur Kandi are the attractions of this area.
There are some caves on the way to Shahpur Kandi which date to the time of the Mahabharata. According to a legend, the Pandavas stayed in those caves for a night during their "Agayatwas". A carnival or mela, called 'Mukesran da mela' is held there each year in the month of April to mark Baisakhi.
India's foremost hydraulic research stations is situated at Malikpur which is 7 km from Pathankot, where varoius models of Dams and irrigation canal are made before actual work upon them starts. There is a fort, called Nurpur Fort built by a Nurpur king, 25 km from Pathankot.The famous road is the mission road, CNI church is on the mission road which is also the heart of city.
The economy of the city is dependent upon the Army ,3-Multipurpose Dams being constructed on river Ravi ,as trading & distribution hub for Chamba & Kangra valley and parts of Jammu & Kashmir. There are lots of crushers in the Pathankot area whose sand, stones and other concrete material are ISI marked, which is unique in the whole of India.

Transport

Pathankot is well connected by rail and road with the rest of the country. Now it also has domestic airport which provides flights for Delhi]], Dharamshala . Air deccan operates daily flight to Pathankot & Dharmashal from Delhi.
Timing
Delhi (departure)=1030 hrs,
Pathankot (arrival)=1150hrs,
Pathankot (departure)=1340hrs,
Delhi (arrival)=1455 hrs,
It has direct train links with Delhi, Jammu and other Indian cities. All trains going to Jammu pass through Pathankot. The important trains include Jammu Tawi-Mumbai Express, Pooja Express from Jammu-Jaipur. Super fast trains like Jammu Tawi-Mumbai Express do not enter city Pathankot. They stop at outer Railway Station called 'Chakki Bank'. The distance from main Railway station & Chakki Bank is just 4 km.
Pathankot is also connected by a vast network of private and public-sector bus services to other cities in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir. Important destinations include Delhi, Shimla, Chandigarh, Jammu, Dharamshala, Dalhousie, and Amritsar.
Now the Domestic airport is fully functional which connects the city with Jammu, Delhi and Jaipur.

Distance From:

Jammu - 110 km

Amritsar - 109 km

Jalandhar - 112 km

Chandigarh - 269 km

New Delhi - 485 km
Pathankot also serves as education hub for the nearby areas of J & K and Himachal. Many students basically from rural areas of these states come to study here. It has famous colleges like SD College, SRPAAB College, RRMK Arya Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Ptk etc. It has some of the famous schools like St. Joseph's Convent School,St. Thomas senior Sec School AIR FORCE SCHOOL, MCM DAV Public School. Some of the residential schools have also sprung up near Pathankot because of its scenic beauty like, Montessorie Cambridge,K.L.M,Sandeepni, sarkari school daulatpur ,Angel's Public School etc.

References

1. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Pathankot
2.

External links

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