Solan district Overview :

Solan district is one of the twelve districts of Himachal Pradesh state in northern India. Solan town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 1936 km2.

History :

The territory of the present-day district comprises the territories of the erstwhile princely states of Baghal, Baghat, Kunihar, Kuthar, Mangal, Beja, Mahlog, Nalagarh and parts of Keonthal and Koti and hilly areas of the erstwhile Punjab State which were merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1 November 1966. This district came into existence on 1 September 1972. The district was carved out by amalgamating Solan and Arki tehsils of the erstwhile Mahasu district and Kandaghat and Nalagarh tehsils of the erstwhile PEPSU.Name of the district as well as its headquarters comes from Mata Shoolini Devi. It's said that she saved Solan from being destroyed.

Demographics :

According to the 2011 census Solan district has a population of 576,670, roughly equal to the nation of Solomon Islands or the US state of Wyoming. This gives it a ranking of 532nd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 300 inhabitants per square kilometre (780/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.9%.[4] Solan has a sex ratio of 880 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 85.02%.

Economy

Agriculture is the prominent feature of Solan district. It is the main occupation of the inhabitants of Solan district and about 60 percent people are dependent for their livehood on agriculture and its allied activities. Maize, wheat and barley are the main crops and onion, pulses and peas are the main cash crops grown in many parts of district.

Vegetables like cabbage, turnip, beans, ladyfinger, tomato, radish, chillies, garlic etc. are grown in many parts of the district. Beside this cultivation of mushroom in the district is also very high. So much so that N.R.C.M. (National Research Centre for Mushroom), Central Government Body is located in Solan town. People not only involve in the agriculture of the mushroom but they also use it for preparing of pickles, murabas and soups of mushroom. Because the cultivation of mushroom is very popular in Solan, so people call the city of Solan as "Mushroom City".

Places of Interest :

Kasauli :

It is a cantonment and town, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station. Main landmarks of Kasauli are CRI, Baptist Church, Christ Church, Monkey point, Hanuman Temple.

Barog railway station :

Barog railway station is a small railway station in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The station lies on UNESCO World Heritage Site Kalka–Shimla Railway. The station is located at an altitude of 1,531 metres (5,023 ft) above mean sea level, 42.14 km from Kalka.
The station is named after Colonel S. Barog, who was in charge of the construction of the first unsuccessful tunnel built on the line. The longest tunnel (No.33) with a length of 1,143.61m is also named after him and is situated close to the Kalka side of the station.

Mohan Meakin Brewery :

Mohan Meakin is a large group of companies which started with Asia's first brewery incorporated in 1855 (but established much earlier) by Edward Dyer at Kasauli in the Himalayan Mountains in India under the name Dyer Breweries.
Another entrepreneur, H. G. Meakin, moved to India and in 1887 bought the old Shimla and Solan Breweries from Edward Dyer[2]and added more at Ranikhet, Dalhousie, Chakrata, Darjeeling, Kirkee and Nuwara Eliya (Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon). After the First World War, the Meakin and Dyer breweries merged and, in 1937, when Burma was separated from India, the company was restructured with its Indian assets as Dyer Meakin Breweries, a public company on the London Stock Exchange.

Following independence, Narendra Nath Mohan raised funds and travelled to London, where he acquired a majority stake in Dyer Meakin Breweries.  He took over management of the company in 1949 and built new breweries at Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Khopoli (near Mumbai) and the company name was changed to Mohan Meakin Breweries in 1967.

Chail :

Chail is a hill station in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is 44 kilometres (27 mi) from Shimla and 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Solan. It is known for its salubrious beauty and virgin forests. The Chail Palace is well known for its architecture: the palace was built as summer retreat by the Maharaja of Patiala during the British Raj, on the land allotted to him by the British for former's assistance in the Anglo-Nepalese War. The cricket ground and a polo ground which is there at an altitude of 2,250 m was owned by erstwhile royal family of Patiala. It is the world's highest cricket ground.

Shoolini Mata Temple :

The Shoolini Mata Temple is dedicated to Shoolini Mata-an incarnation of Goddess Durga. The shrine is one of the prime attractions of Solan. It is also believed that the town of Solan was named after Shoolini Mata, who is the presiding deity of the temple. As per legends, the temple was once the abode of Shoolini Mata.

The shrine attracts huge crowd during festival days, especially during the Shoolini fair. The temple looks beautiful in the night when it is completely illuminated and is crowded on holidays and festivals. Other highlights of the fair are activities like dancing, singing and wrestling .The fair attracts traders, sweet sellers, general merchants and shopkeepers from the neighbouring town.

                                            Solan is crowned as the “City of Red Gold“, in reference to the bulk production of tomatoes in the area The town is situated between Chandigarh and Shimla , on the Kalka-Shimla National Highway. The Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge heritage railway line, built by the British passes through Solan and is a recognised World Heritage site.