Pratapgarh, Rajasthan

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name=Pratapgarh
type=town
latd = 24.03|longd=74.78
locator_position=right
state_name=Rajasthan
district=Pratapgarh| population_as_of = 2001 | population_total = 35,000 | area_telephone= 01478
postal_code= 312605
vehicle_code_range= RJ-35
unlocode=INBOM
footnotes = |

Partapgarh, also called Partabgarh or Pratapgarh, is a town in Rajasthan, India. It is the district headquarters of Pratapgarh district ( Rajasthan) the newest District of Rajasthan. Famous for its Theva art, the town is surrounded by tribal villages.

Geography

Pratapgarh is located at 24.03° N 74.78° E [1] . It has an average elevation of 491 metres (1610 feet). It is second highest place in Rajasthan after Mount Abu.

Culture

The city is a blend of old and new cultures. In nearby villages, the tribal culture still thrives. Every Sunday when the tribes come to the city to buy merchandise in the weekly haat market, the city also looks tribal.

Places of historical and religious interest

A temple of historic and religious interest near Partapgarh is Shri Bamottar(Shantinath)Tirth. the temple has a 150 cms black colored high idol of Bhagwan Shantinath.

How to reach: Shri digamabar Jain Atisay Kshetra Shantinathji is at village Bamottar. The village north of pratapgarh is 5 km from the road head from partapgarh-Choti Sadri-Chittorgarh road in Chittorgarh District. Partapgarh is 32 km from Mandsaur railway station.

The idol was installed in Vikram 1902. The first legend associated with its installation at the time of renovation in Vikram 1990 tells that it was found difficult to take the idol inside the temple due to small size of the entrance but the Dev gave dream to Bhattarak Hemchandra that idol would be installed by itself and in the morning the idol was seen on the Vedi. A local lord was prevented from sacrificing the goats by incapicitating the lord as a the miracle of this temple. the lord could be cured only when he took a vow not to sacrifice any animal. Even now, numerous people come here to fulfill their ambitions. A clan called the KAPTI clan of the Jain community annually organize a religious ceremony (POOJA in local dialect). The patriarch of the Kapti clan Mr. Mohanlal Birdichand Kapti (Jain) passed away in 2006 before which he led the ceremonies at the temple every year. The Kapti clan continues the annual ceremony which involves taking the idol from Shantinath temple to a nearby temple and bringing it back. Attended largely by residents of Partapgarh, everyone attending the Pooja is provided Jain vegetarian lunch complimentary by the temple.:The other idols in the temple are Bhagwan Ajitnath (about 80 cms black stone) in padmasan installed in vikram 1712- Bhagwan Padamprabh ( about 28 cms high white in padamasan) installed in vikram 1828- Bhagwan Chandraprabh (about 40 cms black stone) in padamasan installed in vikram 1659- Bhagwan Vasupujya (about 70 cms black stone) installed in vikram 1929.

Topography

The internal part of the city has many narrow streets and some of them are so narrow that it is hard for two bikes to cross each other. But since the last decade, the outer part of the city Nai Aabadi, Ashok Nagar are developing fast.

Nearby cities include Chhoti Sadri, Mandsaur and Dhariyawad.

Demography

As of the 2001 Indian census, Pratapgarh had a population of 35,414. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Pratapgarh has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 67%. In Pratapgarh, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Services and infrastructure

There are three cinema halls. They are Archana, Pratap and Samata . The Pratap theatre was the first cinema hall in the whole Udaipur zone when it was built in 1945. Nowadays it is running only adult movies.

Communication services were earlier relying on BSNL, but today other private operators like Airtel, Reliance and Hutch, Tata Indicom are also providing telecom services.Due to its stratregic location airprot authority of india has installed here a VOR staton for guideing aircraft their path. It is said that Pratapgarh is midway between Delhi-Mumbai route.Though the city is connected to all important towns by road, railway line is still a dream. Due to the height at which it is located, it will be very costly to build a railway line to here.

Local newspapers include "Dainik Kanthal Jyot" and "Jai kanthal".

Education

The town has some good primary schools like Burhani Bagh, Pragati Academy, Emmanuael Mission School. There are a few higher secondary schools named Govt. Sr. Sec. School, Aadarsh, Saifiyah and Bhattarak school. Adarsh Bal Mandir has wide variety of educational services for primary, secondary and higher secondary classes. Bbn is the only senior secondary English medium school in Pratapgarh. The oldest English medium school is St. Paul's School, . Pratapgarh has a small college too, opened in 1966 for higher studies. The town has produced many students studying engineering and MBBS in elite institutions. Many native people are now working with Multinational companies like Microsoft, WARTSILA,GE,TCS, Siemens as well as in the national labs like ISRO. Now there is also a girls B.Ed college run by Mahila Vidhya Mandir Group, also operating Adarsh Bal Mandir adn alied schools.