Una Himachal tourist places, Chintpurni, temples and Pong Dam

Top Places to Visit (10)

920 m52 km) through the Shivalik forest is now well-maintained

The Chintpurni Devi temple at 920 m in the Shivalik foothills is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas — sacred sites associated with the body of the goddess Sati — and is among the most heavily visited religious sites in Himachal Pradesh, receiving an estimated 7–10 million pilgrims annually from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Jammu.
The goddess Chinnamastika, the headless form of Durga, is venerated here with particular intensity during the Navratri festivals (March–April and September–October).
The approach road from Una (52 km) through the Shivalik forest is now well-maintained.
Enormous prasad preparations — particularly kheer and halwa — and the constant flow of devotional music give the temple precinct a vibrantly intense devotional atmosphere.

20 km from Una town near the village of Amb

The Amb temple complex, 20 km from Una town near the village of Amb, is a group of early medieval Hindu temples dating to the 8th–9th century in the Pratihara style — remarkable because they are among the finest and best-preserved ancient stone temples in the outer Himalayan belt, and yet virtually unknown outside academic circles.
The main shikhara temples, built in the nagara (north Indian) style with carved exteriors depicting Vishnu, Shiva and their attendants, are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The site is set in agricultural land with a pleasant rural character.
The quality of the stone carving — particularly the doorway guardians and the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna — is comparable to more famous temple sites of the period.

369 m

The district headquarters of Una at 369 m is the flattest and warmest point in Himachal Pradesh — a commercial and administrative centre in the foothills that serves as the main entry point into the state from Punjab.
The Swan river, channelised through the town, now includes into a linear river park with walking paths and gardens.
The Una railway station on the Pathankot-Una Himachal Railway line connects the district directly to the Punjab rail network.
Una's industrial character, dominated by the pharmaceutical factories of the Mehatpur and Bharwain industrial estates, gives it a distinctly different atmosphere from the mountain districts of Himachal.

The ashram of the Shaivite saint Baba Rudra Nand on the outskirts of Una town is an active spiritual centre in the Nath tradition — the ancient yogic lineage associated with Guru Gorakhnath.
The ashram conducts regular satsang (spiritual gatherings), yoga classes and meditation programmes that are open to visitors.
The main temple is an attractive structure set in planted gardens.
The ashram also maintains a charitable school and health clinic serving surrounding villages.
Visitors are welcome with appropriate respect for the spiritual atmosphere; the institution maintains a simple, non-commercial character despite its proximity to the busy Una town.

3 km

The Swan river, a seasonal flashflood-prone stream draining the Shivalik foothills into the Punjab plains, now includes in Una into a linear riverside park where channelisation work and bank planting have created a green corridor through the town.
The eco park section, stretching approximately 3 km, has walking and cycling paths, bird observation points and seasonal gardens.
In winter (November–February) the river's edge attracts migratory birds including various egret species, kingfishers and lapwings.
The park is a popular local amenity for Una town residents and a pleasant space for early morning walks in the cooler months.

The Nangal Dam on the Satluj river, just south of the HP-Punjab border near Nangal town, is the downstream component of the Bhakra-Nangal project — India's largest post-Independence irrigation and hydro project, inaugurated by Nehru in 1963.
The Nangal reservoir stretches back toward Bilaspur and forms the lower basin of Gobind Sagar.
The dam structure itself, significantly smaller than the Bhakra main dam, can be visited with security clearance; the township built for project engineers retains its planned 1950s character.
The reservoir margins on the HP side have good birdlife, particularly in winter when the Bhakra-Nangal reservoir system attracts bar-headed geese, Eurasian wigeons and various diving ducks.

The ruined fort of the former Kutlehar princely state — one of the 30+ small principalities that dotted the Shivalik foothills before independence — stands on a forested hillside above the Una valley, its stone walls and corner bastions now largely consumed by vegetation.
The Kutlehar state, which managed to maintain autonomy through the British period, acceded to India in 1948; its former palace in the village below has been converted to private use.
The climb to the fort summit through secondary forest takes approximately 30 minutes and offers views over the Una valley floor and the Swan river floodplain.
The site is not formally developed for tourism and is visited primarily by local history enthusiasts.

6 km from Chintpurni

A small but ancient goddess temple on a forested ridge 6 km from Chintpurni, Sathali Devi is venerated as a complementary deity to the Chintpurni goddess — many pilgrims to Chintpurni include Sathali in their circuit.
The ridge on which the temple sits offers views over the Shivalik foothills and the Una valley that are particularly scenic in the early morning light.
The surrounding deodar forest, relatively intact because of the religious protection of the temple catchment, supports good woodland birdlife.
The temple is tended by a hereditary priest family from the adjacent village.

A rural cluster in the border zone between Una and Hamirpur districts, Bangana and its surrounding villages are known for traditional Himachali textile weaving — particularly the production of heavy wool pattus (shawls) and blankets using horizontal frame looms that are still operated in domestic settings.
A Himachal Pradesh government crafts development initiative has supported a small weavers' cooperative that welcomes visitors and sells directly.
The weaving process — carding, spinning and slow shuttle weaving — can be observed in family homes with advance notice through the cooperative.
The products, particularly the heavy natural-dyed blankets, are significantly cheaper here than in urban craft emporiums.

The 307 sq km Pong Dam Wetland, created by the impounding of the Beas river at Pong on the HP-Punjab border, is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and among the most significant waterfowl wintering grounds in the western Himalaya.
The reservoir, at its peak in November–February, hosts up to 100,000 bar-headed geese — a single population of this high-altitude migratory species that breeds on the Tibetan plateau and winters here.
Over 220 species of waterbirds have been recorded including greylag goose, common crane, tufted duck, ferruginous duck and various tern species.
The Wildlife Department maintains boat-based viewing safaris from the Nagrota Surian entry point on the HP shore.
Winter mornings when the geese lift off the water in enormous flocks are among the great wildlife spectacles of northern India.