Bilaspur district is situated in Sutluj valley in the outer hills of Himachal Pradesh. Its boundaries touch Una, Hamirpur, Mandi and Solan districts.  The New Township Bilaspur should be regarded as the first planned hill town of the country. The best months from visiting this place are from September to December.

Geography: The district covers an area of 1,167 sq km. Sutluj is the main river which passes through the middle of the district and divides it into almost equal parts. The total forest area is 12,783 hectares. Rainfall varies from a minimum of 1.5 mm to a maximum of 62 mm. The maximum and minimum temperatures are 37o and 5o C respectively. The Bhakhra Dam on river Sutluj, is the highest straight gravity dam in the world, and is situated in Naina Devi sub-tehsil about 14 km from Nangal town. The reservoir formed behind the Bhakhra Dam is called the Gobind Sagar lake. This reservoir is 90 km long and encompasses an area of approximately 170 sq km. In October and November, when the water level of the reservoir is at its peak, a series of regattas are organized by the department of Tourism. Water-skiing, sailing, kayaking and water scooter racing are popular water sports activities during this period.

People: The total population of Bilaspur district is 3,40,735. The major religion is Hinduism, while a small percentage of the population also follows Sikhism and Islam. In addition to Hindi, the main local language spoken is Kahluri or Bilaspuri.

History: The erstwhile ruling family of Bilaspur claims its descent from Chanderwanshi Rajputs who reigned at Chanderi in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. Raja Bir Chand extended the jurisdiction of his kingdom Kahlur during his 33 years of rule and subjugated about 15 neighboring princely states. His expansion was ultimately halted by the Raja of Sirmaur, with whom he concluded treaty of peace. Bir Chand was followed by a number of his successors and last of them was Kahan Chand who conquered the Hindur state (Nalagarh) and gave it to his second son Surjeet Chand from whom the present ruling family of Nalagarh descends.

The Capital of ruling dynasty continued to be located at Kotkahlur till 1600 AD when the heir apparent Bir Chand fled to Sunhani across the river Sutluj along with mother where he settled. After the death of his father Raja Gayn Chand, Bir Chand returned to Kotkaklur and got himself installed as the King. He kept his capital at Sunhani on the right side of river Sutluj. In 1650 A.D. when Deep Chand of the same dynasty succeeded as Raja of Kahlur state, he decided to shift his capital. to a new site on the left bank of Sutluj river traditionally called “Beas gufa” after the name of Rishi Vyas. He built a palace called ‘Dholar’ over looking the river and founded a town on the river bank which was named after Beas gufa and was later on called Bilaspur. The original Bilaspur town was submerged in the 'Govind Sagar’ on 1st July, 1954. A new township above the old one has come up at an elevation of 673 m above sea level.

The state of Bilaspur, a separate entity, was integrated with Himachal Pradesh on 1st July, 1954 thereby adding one more district with an area of 106,848 hectares. Initially, it consisted of two tehsils namely, Ghumarwin and Bilaspur Sadar. In January, 1980 a separate sub-tehsil called Naina Devi was created with headquarters at Swarghat. In 1984 one new sub-tehsil namely, Jhandutta was created by carving out some areas of tehsil Ghumarwin. Jhandutta sub-tehsil was given full tehsil status in January, 1998.

Swarghat: At an elevation of 1128 m, Swarghat, once the summer capital of Raja Bilaspur, is situated at a distance of about 42 km from Bilaspur on the Bilaspur-Chandigarh NH 21 national highway. Surrounded by pine trees it is a beautiful place. Naina Devi temple and Bhakra Dam, are easily approachable from here. There is Lakshmi Narain Temple in the village. This is an ideal spot for a quiet overnight stay. In the night, the view, while lights twinkle in the plain of Punjab, is worth seeing. HPTDC has constructed a 8 room hotel 'Hill Top' here.