Goraya
| Goraya, Punjab Guru Aaya Manchester of Punjab | |
|---|---|
| town | |
  Goraya, Punjab Location in Punjab, India  Goraya, Punjab Goraya, Punjab (India) | |
| Coordinates: 31°08′N 75°46′E / 31.13°N 75.77°ECoordinates: 31°08′N 75°46′E / 31.13°N 75.77°E | |
| Country |
 |
| State | Punjab |
| District | Jalandhar |
| Government | |
| • Body | Nagar Palika |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Total | 16,462 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Punjabi |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 144409 |
| Telephone code | 01826 |
| Vehicle registration | PB 37 |
Goraya is a town in Jalandhar district and Phillaur Tehsil in the Indian state of Punjab. It lies between Phagwara and Ludhiana stretch of National Highway 44 (Old NH 1), Grand Trunk Road.
Geography
Goraya is located at 31.13°N 75.77°E. It has an average elevation of 240 metres (790 ft). The city has a humid subtropical climate with cool winters and hot summers. Summers last from April to June and winters from November to February. Temperatures in summer vary from average highs of around 44 °C (111 °F) to average lows of around 25 °C (77 °F). Winter temperatures vary from highs of 19 °C (66 °F) to lows of −5 °C (23 °F). On the whole, the climate is dry except during the brief southwest monsoon season during July–August. The average annual rainfall is about 70 centimetres (28 in).
Sports
Cricket is the most popular game in Goraya; it is played by almost every child. Other games played here include badminton, football, kabaddi, and kushti (wrestling).Tirath Mahal And Sukha Mahal are famous player of wrestling and kabbadi respectively.
ATTA Ground is one of the only few playing grounds around Goraya. It is used by the locals to organise different sports tournaments, especially cricket. It is used as a football and cricket ground on a regular basis. It is also a venue for many kabaddi and football district-level events.
The town produced famous Canadian powerlifter Harnek Singh Rai, who represented Canada in the 39th annual IPF world powerlifting championship, held at Delhi in 2009, as an international referee and Canadian team manager wearing a red turban to match the Canadian flag. Rai is a member of the Canadian Powerlifting Hall of Fame. He represented Canada in different countries as an athlete, team coach and a referee in 2014 in South Africa and the USA, and in 2015 in Finland. The Ontario government awarded him a lifetime achievement award in 2007.
History
After their arrival in India, the people of Goraya (known as Manchester of Punjab, for no clear reason) of Jats founded another village on G.T. Road between Ludhiana and Jalandhar, and named it after the old principal city in Central Asia as Goraya. It is known that the town is named after the arrival of 6th Guru of Sikhs, Sh Guru Har Gobind sahib ji, so it is named after "Guru Aya" or Goraya. These people are still residing in the same area. The area used to have a number of factories but very few of them survived as time passed. In fact the "Manchester of Punjab" nickname was derived from thriving foundry industries during the 60s, 70s and 80s which was akin with Manchester (an industrial town with many foundries) in U.K.
Education and religion
There are various government and public schools and colleges in Goraya S.H.I.P.S, SR. Sec govt schools, and some other private schools have been doing well as a medium of providing education to children of the area. There are places for worshipping like mandirs, dargah and gurudwaras.