District
Kangra
| Headquarters | Dharamshala |
|---|---|
| Division | Kangra |
| Formed | 1 November 1966 (transferred from Punjab) |
| Area | 5,739 km² |
| Population (2011) | 15,10,075 |
| Density (2011) | 263 per km² |
| Literacy (2011) | 85.67 % |
| Sex ratio (2011) | 1,012 |
The most populous district of Himachal Pradesh (1.51 million, about 22% of the state). It came to HP on 1 November 1966 under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, along with Kullu, Shimla, Lahaul & Spiti, Nalagarh and parts of Una — the transfer that doubled the size of Himachal.
Historically this is Trigarta, the oldest named polity in the region, ruled by the Katoch dynasty from Nagarkot (Kangra) fort. The British annexed it in 1846 after the First Anglo-Sikh War and made it a district of Punjab — which is why it had to be transferred back in 1966.
- Kangra Fort — Nagarkot; sacked by Mahmud Ghazni (1009), taken by Jahangir's forces (1620), held by Ranjit Singh (1809–1846), ruined by the 1905 earthquake.
- Dharamshala — district HQ and the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh since 2017; seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile since 1960.
- Masroor rock-cut temples — 8th-century monolithic shrines, the 'Ellora of the Himalayas'.
- Jwalamukhi, Brajeshwari (Kangra) and Chamunda Devi — three of HP's Shakti Peeths.
- Baijnath — 1204 CE Shiva temple in Nagara style.
- Kangra tea — planted from 1849; GI tag in 2005.
- Pong Dam (Maharana Pratap Sagar) — a Ramsar wetland site on the Beas.