ਰੁਪਨਾਰੁਪਨਾ

Where is Rupana?

Rupana is a large village in Muktsar tehsil of ਸ੍ਰੀ ਮੁਕਤਸਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ district, Punjab, in the Malwa region. It is the biggest village in its tehsil: at the 2011 census its 9,079 people made it larger than every other village in Muktsar tehsil. The town of Sri Muktsar Sahib, which is both the tehsil and district headquarters, stands about 7 kilometres away and was recorded as its nearest town. Rupana falls in the Muktsar community development block and has its own gram panchayat. In the census record it carries village code 035395, covers 2,453 hectares and has PIN code 152032. Villages around it include ਗੋਨਿਆਨਾ, Bhullar, Rohurianwali and Barkandi.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 9,079 people in Rupana, up from 7,620 in 2001: 4,939 men and 4,140 women living in 1,916 households, about 4.7 people to a household. Spread over 2,453 hectares, the density works out to about 370 people per square kilometre. The sex ratio was 838 women for every 1,000 men, low even by the standards of the region. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,154, about 13 per cent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 4,683 people, a majority of about 52 per cent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded.

Literacy in 2011 stood at 66.02 per cent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 72.03 per cent and women at 58.91 per cent. The census recorded 3,549 workers, about 39 per cent of the village. Of the 2,654 main workers, the largest group, 1,098 people, were other workers in trade, transport and services, ahead of 884 agricultural labourers and 587 cultivators working their own land; a further 895 people were marginal workers, employed for only part of the year. Counting everyone who farmed, the village held just 636 cultivators against 1,413 agricultural labourers, so Rupana's fields support more than twice as many labouring families as landholding ones.

Land and farming

Farming covers most of Rupana's land. Of the village's 2,453 hectares, 2,194 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated. All of that water came from canals, which makes Rupana a fully canal-fed village in the cotton and paddy belt of Malwa. About 259 hectares were under non-agricultural uses such as the settlement, roads and ponds. Farm power supply was recorded at 12 hours a day.

On the Guru's road, 1705

Rupana's name appears in the journey that followed one of the most remembered battles in Sikh history. After the Battle of Muktsar in 1705, ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ moved on from the battlefield town toward Rupana on his way south through Malwa. A gurdwara in Muktsar town, Gurudwara Taran Taran Sahib, stands on the Muktsar to Bathinda road and marks the place where, according to the town's account, the Guru halted while travelling toward Rupana. The village itself was the next point on that road, which is why its name is carried in the story of the journey even though the best known shrines of 1705 stand in the town, 7 kilometres away.

Schools

Education is one of Rupana's strengths. The 2011 directory recorded two government schools at every level: two primary, two middle, two secondary and two senior secondary schools, so children can study in the village from the first class to Class 12 without leaving it. Directory listings add private pre-primary, primary, middle and secondary schools alongside the government ones. For study beyond school, the nearest government degree college and polytechnic are in Sri Muktsar Sahib town.

Health and daily services

Health cover inside the village is thin. The freshly checked 2011 Village Directory record lists a dispensary and a veterinary hospital, and nothing above them: no community health centre, no primary health centre, no primary health sub-centre and no allopathic hospital was recorded in Rupana, so anything serious means a trip to Muktsar town. The directory recorded treated tap water in the village. Rupana has its own post office, a commercial bank branch and a PDS ration shop, and an anganwadi centre; the sub post office, the cooperative bank, the nearest ATM and the ASHA health worker were all recorded five to ten kilometres away. Mobile phone coverage was recorded, and domestic power supply stood at 18 hours a day, the longest of any village covered in this batch of pages.

Faith in Rupana

No shrine of Rupana itself appears in the national gurdwara and temple directories opened for this page, and the village's worship is local, centred on its own gurdwaras and temples. The historic sacred geography of this area belongs to Muktsar town, 7 kilometres away, whose gurdwaras commemorate the forty martyrs of 1705 and draw the great Maghi gathering every January.

Getting there

Rupana is reached by pucca, all-weather roads, and the 2011 directory recorded both public and private bus services in the village itself. The nearest railway station was five to ten kilometres away, at Sri Muktsar Sahib, which is the practical hub for administration, banking, hospitals and onward travel.

What is the population of Rupana?

The population of Rupana was 9,079 at the 2011 census, living in 1,916 households in Muktsar tehsil of Sri Muktsar Sahib district. It had grown from 7,620 in 2001 and was the largest village population in the tehsil.

Is Rupana connected to Guru Gobind Singh Ji's journey?

Yes, by the road he took. After the Battle of Muktsar in 1705, Guru Gobind Singh Ji travelled from Muktsar toward Rupana, and Gurudwara Taran Taran Sahib in Muktsar town marks his halt on that journey.