Solapur district

Solapur District is a district in Maharashtra state of India. The city of Solapur is the district headquarters. It is located on the south east edge of the state and lies entirely in the Bhima and Seena basins. The entire district is drained by the Bhima River. [cite web
url=http://solapur.gov.in/htmldocs%5Cggraphy.htm
title=Solapur District Geographical Information
publisher=
accessdate=2006-12-11 ]

Solapur District leads in beedi production. Kundalsangam, Karmala and Barshi have adopted the path of development through industry and education. Akkalkot also has mallikarjun temple where many lingayat devotees workship daily.

Solapur is an ancient historical and religious place with Shri Siddharameshwar as its "Gramadaiwata". Shri Siddharameshwar was a historical figure of the 12th century whose "Karmayoga" on his own native land-Solapur, turned him into a God-figure over the course of time.Siddharama was a great conributor to Lingayata religion and he is considered as one of the six prophets of Lingayat religion. He had gained the "Siddhi". As Solapur was a drought prone area, Shri Siddharameshwar dug a lake with the help of 4000 "Sharanas" to solve the problem of potable water. He entombed himself alive (Shivyogsamadhi) at Solapur.

During the Indian independence movement, the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9th, 10th and 11th May 1930. However, this resulted in the executions of Shri Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri Kurban Hussein, Shri Jagannath Shinde and Shri Kisan Sarda who were hanged on 12 January 1931, in the prison at Pune. This resulted in the city becoming recognized as "The City of Hutatmas".

The presiding deity of Maharashtra, Lord Vitthal is at Pandharpur in this district. Swami Samarth of Akkalkot has followers from all walks of life. Solapur is famous as a textile town, especially owing to its talented weavers’ community, and is an important railway junction on the North-South train line.

Facts

District - Solapur

Area - 14886 km²

Sub-divisions - Solapur, Madha (Kurduwadi), Pandharpur

Talukas - North Solapur, Barshi, Akkalkot, South Solapur, Mohol,Mangalvedha, Pandharpur, Sangola, Malshiras, Karmala, Madha.

Proposal for a separate Phandarpur District The Solapur district is under proposal to be bifurcated and a separate Phandarpur district be carved out of existing Solapur district. Distance from Mumbai - 450 km

Means of transport - Railway stations -Solapur, Mohol, Kurduwadi, Madha, Akkalkot RoadST Buses, SMT (Solapur Municipal Transportation, Auto-Rikshaws.Solapur station has daily train service to Mumbai via Pune known as Siddheshwar ExpressAlso, daily shuttle from Solapur to Pune known as Hutatma Express

Population
*Total - 3,849,543(District)The district is 31.83% urban as of 2001. [http://www.censusindiamaps.net/page/India_WhizMap/IndiaMap.htm]

Area under irrigation - 4,839.15 km²

Irrigation projectsMajor-1Medium-2Minor-69Imp. Projs.- Bhima Ujjani

IndustriesBig-98Small-8986

Languages/dialects - Marathi, Kannda, Telgu,

Folk-Arts - Lavani, Gondhal, Dhangari,Aradhi and Bhalari songs

WeatherTemperature Max: 44.10 °CMin: 10.7 °CRainfall-759.80 mm (Average)

Main crops - Jowar, wheat, sugarcane Solapur district especially Mangalwedha taluka is known for Jowar. Maldandi Jowar is famous in all over Maharashtra. In December - January agriculturists celebrates Hurda Party. This is also famous event in Solapur. Hurda means pre-stage of Jowar. Agriculturists sow special breed of Hurda, named as Dudhmogra, Gulbhendi etc.

Area under horticulture - 600 km²

Health infrastructurePHCs-67Rural Hosp.-14Dist. Hosp.-1Big Hosp.-30

Tourist places - Pandharpur, Kundalsangam,Akkalkot, Akluj, Barshi, Karmala, Nanaj(North Solapur taluka) In Pandharpur, warkaris come for having darshan of Lord Vitthal and Rukmini without any invitation on Aashadhi Ekadashi and Kartiki Ekadashi. Lakhs of warkari come by walking in scorching sunny or rainy days. They walk hundreds of miles with chanting of Dhyanoba-Tukaram. Jai Jai Vitthal Jai hari Vitthal. Lord Vitthal's temple is of ancient time. This is unique case in world to which statue devotee can touch. Mangalwedha is known as a land of saints like Damaji, Kanhopatra, and Tikacharya. For Damaji, Lord Vitthal came at Mangalwedha as a Vithoo Mahar. Damaji was head clerk of Badshah of Beedar (now in Karnataka), opened doors of warehouses of Jawari in scarcity days and saved thousands of lives.(http:\mangalwedha.com)

Educational InstitutionsUniversities - Solapur UniversityMedical Colleges - Dr. Vaishampayan Memorial Medical CollegeColleges-30School For Mentally Handicapped - Jivala School for Mentally Handicapped, Barsi, Solapur

Primary schools - 2838Secondary schools - 637

Places of interest

* Siddheshwar Temple and lake
* Solapur Fort (Bhuikot Killa)- Fort built by Bahamani sultan
* Prin.K.P.Mangalvedhekar Institute of Management. [http://www.mangalwedhekar.org] ,
* Pandharpur (70 km) - [http://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/mtdc/Shrines.aspx?strpage=Shrines-Pandharpur.html Lord Vithoba Temple] , [http://www.templenet.com/Maharashtra/pandharpur.html 1] , [http://www.hindubooks.org/temples/maharastra/pandharpur/ 2]
* Akkalkot (38 km) - [http://www.shreeswami.org/ Swami Samarth Maharaj Temple]
* Barshi
* Maldhok wildlife sanctuary, Nannaj
* Ramling - Lord Mahadeo Temple
* Gangapur - [http://www.shreeswami.org/gangapur-sangam.htm Shri Dattatreya Temple]
* Dahigaun - [http://www.jainjagat.com/viewtemple.php/Place/Country/India/State/Maharashtra/City/Solapur/318 Jain Temple]

Places of Interest

Mangalwedha - Saint Damaji's Temple

References

External links

* [http://solapur4u.com]
* [http://solapur.nic.in Solapur District]