Banur

Banur is a small City  south of Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab, on the Chandigarh-Patiala National Highway .  It is located in Patiala parliamentary constituency.  It lies in Rajpura legislative assembly constituency with Shri.  Hardayal Singh Kamboj as it MLA. 

Toponymy 
In ancient times, the town was called Pushpawati.  This name was derived from the abundance of flowering plants in the region (Pushp means flower in Hindi, Pushp + wati means a place where flowers are in abundance). 

The name "Banur" is from the name of the local goddess of music, Mai Banno. 

History 
During Mughal times, Banur was a sizeable town along with its neighbour Chatt.  Banda Singh Bahadur marched from Lohgarh, as the muslims of Banur used to seize cows and oxen of Hindus and slaughter them in their presence, he reduced Banur to ruins in 1709, on his way to Sirhind-Fategarh. 

Demographics 
In 2011, according to Census India, Banur had a population of 18,775, including 9,889 males and 8,886 females.  13.4% of the total population were children, and literacy rate was above the state average at nearly 77%.  In 2011, Banur Municipal Council had total administration over 3,639 households. 

Religion 
The town's mosque fell during the 1990s, due to ravages of time and weather.  However, Banur still has many old temples, such as Mai Banno temple, Basanti Devi temple, Gugga Mari and Shitla Mata temple. 

A three-day mela (religious fair) is organised every year at Gugga Mari on Naumi of Shraavana month, where people offer onions and wheat at the Mari.  A mela is also organised at Shitla Mata temple every year where people offer chickpeas, dal and water.  

Banur has a very big Gurudwara on the Chandigarh-Rajpura National Highway, which is in memory of Banda Singh Bahadur.  The Gurudwara organises various religious functions every year. 

Banur is also diksha place of jain saint Aatma Ram ji maharaj, who became a jain monk under a tree in this city.  Later he became Aacharya(head) of Jain shwetambar sthanakwasi shraman sangh.  Many jain monks visit this city time to time and chaturmas are held every year. 

Colleges and institutes 
 Alliance International School
 Holy mary's School Banur. 
 Chitkara University, Punjab
 Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital
 Institute of Hospitality and Management
 Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI)
 Gurukul Vidyapeeth Institute of Engineering & Technology
 Dr IT Polytechnic College
 Industrial Training Institute (ITI)
 Shaheed Udham Singh College of Engineering & Technology
 Swami Vivekananda Institute of Engineering & Technology

See also 
 Chhatbir Zoo
 Jhansla

References 

Category:Cities and towns in Patiala district