Thanamandi

Thanamandi is a town and a municipal committee in Rajouri district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.ThannaMandi lies on Mughal Road.The town is sacred for the people as it is home to the most important Sufi saint Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah. The place called Shahdara Sharief houses the mausoleum of Babaji in the town.GeographyThanamandi is located at. It has an average elevation of 1,478 metres (5,659 feet).DemographicsIndia census, Thanamandi had a population of 7,204. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Thanna Mandi has an average literacy rate of 60%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 69%, and female literacy is 49%. In Thanamandi, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age. This region is home to several villages of mixed tribes including gujjars, kamalaks, khans, Ganie's,Dars, Bhat, Mir, shawls, Raina's,thakars, and samyals.This town is about 7 km from Shadhara shrief which is famous for chikri wood craft. Most of the families in the town are kashmiri in tribes beside with some population of Gujjars and rajputs. The entire town of the Thanna Mandi is a mixed population of different communities having origin from Kashmir Valley since 1505 BC. They have converted to Islam from kashmiri pandits ( Brahmans) and have opted different trades and skills to catch the livelihood options. From the town of Thanna Mandi to district headquarters(Rajouri) its only 23 km. Thanna Mandi has also strategic importance as it falls on the way to Srinagar through Mughal road. During off season People/ used to walk over Peerpanjal range a short-cut route to Srinagar in search of food for their cattle's. After Mughal road is constructed this has become an alternate route to reach Srinagar for vehicles. Town still has some old forts been built at the time of Mughals. People say it used to be a trade market during Mughal time so the name came 'Mandi'.