ਰਾਮਪੁਰਾ ਫੂਲਰਾਮਪੁਰਾ ਫੂਲ

Where is Rampura Phul?

Rampura Phul is a city and tehsil headquarters in Bathinda district, Punjab, about 31 km from Bathinda city, founded in 1680 by Chaudhri Rama, son of Chaudhri Phul of the Phulkian house. With 51,023 residents (2011 census), it is the market, railway and education centre for the north-eastern part of Bathinda district, and the centre of a keenly fought assembly constituency.

The town's name comes from its position between two villages: Rampura and Phul. It is a municipal council with outgrowth, and its PIN is 151103. As a tehsil it covers 874.4 sq km with a 2011 population of 316,669; Bhagta Bhai Ka is its sub-tehsil, and the sub-district is divided into three development blocks, Bhagta Bhaika, Phul and Rampura, with 74 gram panchayats.

ਇਤਿਹਾਸ

In 1680, Chaudhri Rama, son of Chaudhri Phul, founded the town that carries both their names. Phul Sidhu-Brar, Baba Phul, was the 17th-century common ancestor of the Phulkian states and the founder of the Phulkian misl, and through his second son Rama he is the ancestor of the rulers of Patiala, Malaudh and Bhadaur.

Rama's early career was that of a rising chief: he raided the Bhattis and others, including Hassan Khan and the Muslim chief of Kot, captured Kot and Bhatîân, and obtained the intendancy of the Jangal tract from the Mohammedan Governor of Sirhind. In 1696 Rama and his brother Tiloka were baptized with Khande da amrit at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib; on 2 August 1696 the Guru wrote them a handwritten hukamnama calling on them for help in his fight with the Hill rajas, proclaiming "tera ghar mera asey", the original manuscript is preserved in the Maharaja of Patiala's private collection. Rama and Tiloka later helped Banda Singh Bahadur with men and money in his early exploits of 1710–16; Rama was killed at Maler Kotla in 1714.

In the British era this area was part of Nabha State. After 1947 Rampura Phul became part of Barnala district in the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU); in 1954 it was moved to Bathinda district, where it has remained through the 1966 reorganisation of Punjab.

The railway & the mandi town

Rampura Phul's railway station (code PUL) sits on the Bathinda–Rajpura line, in the Ambala division of Northern Railway, one platform, a double electric line, and functioning. Sixteen trains stop here, though none originate or terminate at the station; the timetable links the town to Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Delhi, Ambala Cantt, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Shri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Barmer, Nanded and Fazilka.

The 1961 Census District Handbook called Rampura Phul "an important market" on the Bhatinda–Rajpura line, trading in wheat, gram, bajra, gur, cotton and oilseeds, then a Class IV town of 10,000 to 19,999 people. The mandi tradition continues: the town has its grain market (Grain Market-Patiala Mandi, Purani Dana Mandi Road) and is described as the main market for all the surrounding villages and an education centre, with students coming in from the villages to study here.

Geography & people

The 2011 census counted 51,023 people in the municipal council with outgrowth, up from 35,530 in 1991 and 44,665 in 2001, steady growth for a Malwa market town. Distances are approximate: Bathinda about 31 km, Mansa about 39 km, Barnala about 34 km. Sikhs and Hindus both live here in large numbers, and the town serves as the market, court and college town for its tehsil.

Politically, Rampura Phul is Constituency No. 90 of the Punjab Legislative Assembly, unreserved, in Bathinda district, under the Faridkot Lok Sabha seat, with 170,676 electors. The seat has swung between parties for decades: the Congress and the Akali Dal have each won it six times, the CPI five times, and in 2022 the Aam Aadmi Party won it for the first time.

Places of interest

The old town core, the grain market and the railway station are the town's anchors. Its shrines include Sri Darbar Jafarnama Sahib, near Bhai Rupa about 5 km north by Dialpura Jungle; Gurudwara Mandi; Gurdwara Sri Satsang Sabha; Gurudwara Shaheed Baba Jivan Singh Ji on Gandhi Nagar Road; and Gurudwara Bhagat Namdev Ji on Jai Tulsi Road. The town's temples include Geeta Bhavan and Mandir and Shri Radha Krishan Mandir on Factory Road, and Mata Parmeshwari Devi Mandir on the Rampura Salabatpura Road.

For education, St. Xavier's School is a CBSE-affiliated secondary school run by the Society of Pilar; T.P.D. Malwa College (Tapsvi Puran Das Malwa College) on the Rampura Salabatpura Road is affiliated with Punjabi University, which also runs a Neighbourhood Campus here. The 1961 census recorded the town's old fairs, a cattle fair held four times a year for three days each, plus Dussehra and Diwali gatherings that once drew crowds of over 10,000.

Notable people

Sikander Singh Maluka, born 20 June 1949 at Maluka village in Rampura Phul tehsil, is the town's best-known political figure: a Shiromani Akali Dal leader, MLA from Rampura Phul in 1997 and 2012, and after 2012 the state's Minister for Education and Higher Education & Languages. Balkar Sidhu, born 10 October 1971 in Poohla village, is a Punjabi folk and bhangra singer, "Majhe Diye Mombatiye" (2000), who won the seat for the Aam Aadmi Party in 2022 and is the incumbent MLA.

Music runs through the town in other ways too: Major Rajasthani (1961–1999), the Punjabi folk and duet singer-songwriter known for his sad songs, settled in Rampura Phul with his wife Sehajpreet Kaur after marriage; Mahi Dhaliwal is a Punjabi singer from Rampura Phul; and Aks Mehraj (born Sandeep Singh), the Punjabi actor, writer and lyricist of Stupid 7 (2013), Jaggi (2021) and Netflix's Chamkila and Kohrra Season 2, did his schooling here.

Getting there & today

By rail, Rampura Phul (PUL) is on the Bathinda–Rajpura line with connections toward Delhi, Ambala, Haridwar and Rajasthan. By road it is about 31 km from Bathinda, 39 km from Mansa and 34 km from Barnala. Today it is a tehsil headquarters and municipal council, a working market and education town whose 1680 Phulkian founding still shows in its name, its station's crowds, and the hard-fought politics of its assembly seat.