Chamba is an old town of Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh in North India. Located at an altitude of 1000 meters Chamba had a population of about 20’000 habitants in the year 2001. The town is located at the confluence of Ravi and Sal Rivers. Jammu and Kashmir being North-West of it, ladakh to its west, Kangra to its south-east and Gurdaspur of Punjab to the south of Chamba. Ravi River flows in East- West direction. Shah Madar hill forms a back drop of the town on its eastern side of Chamba Zanskar and Dhauladhar mountains of inner Himalayan ranges provide cover to the town of Chamba.
Even though chamber is located in mountains, it is very well connected to other places by roads, including Delhi, Shimla and Chandigarh. Nearest railway station is Chakki Bank and Phatankot which is about 120 Kms. By road. The town has large number of Temples and Places. Two very popular fairs are organized every year they are ‘Suhi Mata Mela’ and ‘Minjar Mela’ which lasts for many days. Lots of music and dancing can be seen in the fairs. Arts and Crafts of Chamba are famous all over. Its pahari Paintings is also well recognized. Chemera Hydroelectric Power Station is located in the district of Chamba.
The temperature of the place varies between 38 degrees to 15 degrees in summers and 15 degrees to -1 degrees in winters. The best time to visit this place is between March to June. The monuments of the town can be divided into two groups first being prior to British Empire i.e. before the year 1846 and second being the monuments after 1846. The buildings before 1846 are the Lakshmi Narayan group temples, Sita ram Temple, Bansi Gopal temple, Kharura Mohalla and Hari Rai Temple, The Suhi Mata Temple, Chamunda Devi Temple, Champavati temple and Akhand Chandi Palace. Buildings built after 1846 are Shyam Singh Hospital, Bhuri Singh Museum, The State Forces Barracks, The Church of Scotland, The Cgaugans, The Shiva Temple, The administrative building etc.
