[1] The district has the famous Govind Sagar Lake on the Sutlej River which acts as the reservoir for the Bhakra and Nangal Dam project.

The ruler acceded to the Government of India on 12 October 1948, and Bilaspur was made an Indian state under a chief commissioner.

The ruling dynasty was Chandela Rajputs, who claimed descent from the rulers of Chanderi in present-day Madhya Pradesh.

[3] The Kot hill range is also about 30 km long; it runs from the village of Naghiar to the Baghpal jungle along the bank of the Satluj.

There are also several ferries: Kashnu, Uttapar, Chonta, Bhakra, Ghamber, Ali khad, Jewari, Kachlur, Pangwana, Oal, and Nakrana.

[3] After arising in the Shimla hills, the Ghamber passes through the Sabathu and Bhagal regions before entering Bilaspur district at the village of Neri.

[4] Gobind Sagar is a popular tourist destination,[3] and it is also a site for various recreational activities like fishing, swimming, sailing, rowing, and water-skiing.

[3] The scrub forests generally exist on relatively poor soil — the more fertile areas have been made into farmland.

In north-facing areas, sheltered depressions, and well-drained, moderately steep slopes (such as the eastern side of the Naina Devi hills), bamboo grows in large, dense groups "to the exclusion of all other species".

In hot areas, or on poorly drained soils, it can't compete with the scrub plants and is generally replaced by them.

[3] The chir pine (Pinus longifolia) is economically the most important tree in Bilaspur district, both for its resin and as a source of timber.

[3] A single patch of oak forest (Quercus incana) exists in the district, on the northeastern side of Bahadurpur hill.

There are also some small pockets of oak growth on the western side of the hill, but these are less well developed because the slope is steep and the soil is shallow and rocky.

Other native fish species include the Indian trout (Barilius bura), the gunch (Bagarius yarrelli), the Himalayan barbel, and the gid (Labeo diplostomus).

[3] The Sabathu series primarily consists of "olive-green, oily looking splintery shales, some khaki coloured quartzites, and nummulitic limestones... exposed as thin veins on the anticlinal ridges formed by the Dagshais".

They generally occupy "the anticlinal ridges formed by the chain of hills running... roughly north-northwest" and consist of "soft to hard massive sandstones, brownish to greenish brown in colour; and hard concretionary clays, brick red, orange, or chocolate in colour".

In general, though, the middle Siwaliks' sandstone is less jointed and tends to be more brownish or greyish, and their clay is softer and less concretionary.

Newer alluvial deposits, of geologically recent origin, consist of sand, gravel, and boulders in the valleys of streams.

Among the town's public buildings are a higher secondary school, a rest house, a police station, a primary health centre, and a post office.

The temple is above the town — it crowns Naina Devi hill's summit — and a long flight of stone steps connects the two.

[3] Deoli, located 13 km from Bilaspur by the road to Mandi, first gained prominence in 1960, when a large mirror carp hatchery was built here on government land.

Buffalo milk ghee is firstly offered here newly married couple move around Ficus (pipal) tree.

It has a small thakurdwara which was built by Raja Amar Chand in 1883 and which contains brass idols of Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman.

One version attributes the fort to Raja Bir Chand, the legendary founder of the Kahlur principality who may have lived around the year 900.

Mamgain considers this account "dubious" and suggests that, instead, Kahal Chand may have been involved in repairing or expanding the fort.

Also in the vicinity are the ruins of several buildings constructed under Raja Bijai Chand in the late 1800s or early 1900s to serve as a summer home.

A possible, but highly speculative, date for its construction may be 1142 Vikrami, or about 1085 CE: a short inscription in the fort's inner wall appears to contain the numbers 1142, which M.D.

From them, the fort's basic layout appears to have been a rectangle, about 100 m by 50 m. The outer walls, which still exist in some places, were made of hammer-dressed stone.

Local tradition holds that there were 7 fortified outposts outside the main fort; all that remains of these are piles of stones marking their location.

It was also noted in 1975 that construction workers involved in road building in the district had unofficially formed a sort of loose, informal union.