Agartala

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Agartala
state_name = Tripura
type = capital
skyline = Ujjayanta aerial.jpg
skyline_caption = Aerial view of Agartala's city center skyline around Ujjayanta Palace
latd = 23.50 |longd = 91.2
district = West Tripura
altitude = 12.80
population_as_of = 2004
population_total = 367822
population_density = 6251
area_magnitude = 7
area_total = 58.84
area_telephone = 91 (0)381
postal_code = 799001
vehicle_code_range = TR

Agartala audio|Agartala.ogg|pronunciation (Bengali: আগরতলা "Agortôla") is the capital of the Indian state of Tripura. It lies on the Haora River and is located 2 km from Bangladesh. It has several temples and palaces. The population of Agartala was 367,822 in 2004 after the municipal expansion [ [http://tripura.nic.in/amc/amcdetails.doc Agartala Municipality Statistics] , provided by the "AMC"(Agartala Municipal Council) at the "Government of Tripura website"] (189,327 in the 2001 census) [ [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/ Indian Census] ] .

History

Foundation

The ancient Capital of the then Princely State ‘SWADHIN TRIPURA’ was at Rangamati (Udaipur, South Tripura) by the bank of the river Gomati and in 1760 A.D. , it was shifted by the Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya (r.1829-1849) of Manikya Dynasty [ [http://www.uq.net.au/~zzhsoszy/ips/t/tripura.html Genealogy of Tripura Kingdom] ] "Queensland University".] to present old Agartala by the bank of the river Haora and was named ‘Haveli’. Due to frequent invasion of the Kuki's and also to keep easy communication with the British Bengal, the Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya started the process of shifting the Capital from Old Haveli to New Haveli (present Agartala ) in the year 1849 A.D.

During British Raj, Agartala was the capital of the erstwhile 'Hill Tippera' state, it became a municipality in 1874-75, and in 1901 had the population of 9,513 [ [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V05_078.gifAgartala] "The Imperial Gazetteer of India", 1909, v. 5, p. 70.] .

=Agartala Municipality= The Agartala Municipality was established during the reign of Maharaja Chandra Manikya (1862-1896) within an area of 3 sq. miles having a population of only 875 by a royal proclamation in the last part of 1871 A.D. Mr. A.W.S.Power , the Ist British Political Agent for Tipperah was also appointed as the Chairman of the Agartala Municipality in the year 1872 A.D. who held office from 1872-73 A.D.

Planned city

Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur is called the founder of the planned City of Agartala. During the period of the early forties, the entire town area was re-organised infrastructurally in a planned manner with strong roads and a market building.

Contemporary history

On October 1, 2008 a series of 5 bomb blasts rocked the city.

Geography and climate

Agartala is located at coord|23.84|N|91.28|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/26/Agartala.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Agartala] ] . It has an average elevation of 16 metres (52 ft).

The city is situated in a plain along the Haora River, though the city also extends to the low lying hills on its northern parts.

Agaratala has extreme climate all through the year.

* Summer : (March to June) - Hot
* Monsoon: (July to September) - Humid and lots of rainfall
* Winter : (October to February) - Cold

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Agartala had a population of 189,327. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Agartala has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 52% of the males and 48% of females literate. 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Historical Population

In 1941 Agartala had a population of 17,693. [Columbia-Lippincott Gazeteer. p. 18] By 1991 the population had risen to 157,358. [Cohen, Saul B.,ed. "Columbia Gazeteer of the World" (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998) p. 26]

Growth of the Agartala City at a glance.

Neighbourhoods

Agartala city consists of many "Para"s, which means "locality" in Bengali. Each neighbourhood or "para" is usually a municipal ward or division also.

Localities

The major areas of the city are listed below:
* Krishnanagar
* Banamalipur
* Dhaleswar
* Pratapgar Area
* Kashari patti
* Kaman Chowmuni
* Radha Nagar
* Shibnagar
* Ramnagar
* Joynagar
* Abhoynagar
* Radhanagar
* Arundhutinagar
* Gol Bazaar
* Gurkha Basti
* Kunjaban
* College Tilla
* Indiranagar
* Volagiri
* Arundhuti Nagar
* Bhati Abhoynagar
* 79 Tilla
* New Capital Complex
* GB, Agartala
* Amtali
* Badhar Ghat
* lake Chowmuni
* Ganaraj Chowmuni
* Durjoynagar
* Bardowali
* Bottala
* Melarmath

These areas are further subdivided into residential blocks, such as Banamalipur which is divided into North Banamalipur, Madhya Banamlipur, South Banamalipur, etc.

The city is expanding very rapidly and is expected to grow and include many more peripheral towns and municipalities in coming years.

Extensions

From 2004 onwards the Agartala Municipal Council has been further extended taking 16 No.of Grams of Dukli R.D.Block,7 No. of Grams of Mohanpur R.D.Block and 2 No.of Grams of Jirania R.D.Block with area of 42.83 sq.k.m. and 1,78,495 nos.of population in addition to the 16 km² and population of 200,000 in 2001 census. [ [http://tripura.nic.in/amc/amcdetails.doc Agartala Municipality Statistics] ] [ [http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Jrp/pdf/jrp_133_09.pdf Agartala Statistics and future outlook] ]

City Administration

The Agartala city is managed by the Agartala Municipal Council, AMC, which divides the city into many wards and each ward has an elected ward representative or municipal councillor.

For postal administration also the city is divided into various postal zones.

Municipal Wards

Politics

Agartala assembly constituency is part of Tripura West (Lok Sabha constituency). [cite web
url = archive.eci.gov.in/Febse2003/background/S23/rptListofAC_Dist_PC.pdf
title = Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies
accessdate = 2008-10-08
work = Tripura
publisher = Election Commission of India ]

Economy

The city is the state capital so most of the population is employed in the state & central Government and other Government owned enterprises.

Public Sector

List of major PSU's in Agartala are:
* ONGC
* GAIL
* BSNL
* TRTC

Private Sector

There is a wide variety of private enterprises also and the main business area of the city Gol Bazaar and Kaman Chowmuhani area which has a huge conglomeration of shops, bazaars, banks, etc.

Major Indian banks serving Agartala are SBI, PNB, UTI Bank, ICICI Bank, Vijaya Bank, Canara Bank,UCO Bank, HDFC Bank, etc.

The major commodities exported from Agartala are tea, rubber and gas/LPG.

Demography and culture

The city mainly consists of Bengalis and Bengali Culture and Bengali language predominates the city. The main festivals of the city such as Durga Puja and Saraswati puja reflect the influence of the culture of the Bengalis.

There is also a growing population of the native Tripuri people in the city.

Among the native Tripuri Festivals, the most famous are Kharchi & Garia Poojas.

Languages

Bengali is the common language spoken in Agartala. Other languages spoken include Kokborok (Tripuri language), Manipuri , Chakma, Nepali, etc.

Religion

Hinduism is the dominant religion and there are many temples across the city.One of the beautifully structuredprominent temple is Buddha Mandirwhich is located near the VIProad.Some prominent temples are:
* Laxmi Narayan Bari temple in Palace Compound.
* Jagannath Temple.
* Ramthakur's Ashram in Banamalipur.
* Durga Bari Temple in Palace Compound.

The religion Islam has also many followers.

Christianity is also a growing religion with the majority of the Christians among the native Tripuri people. A majority of the Christians are of the Baptist denomination. The churches are listed below.

* Town Baptist Church in Arundhutinagar
* City Baptist Church in Krishnanagar
* Capital Baptist Church in Krishnanagar
* Central Baptist Church in Palace Compound
* St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Durjoynagar

Buddhism is also followed by the Chakma also known as changma people and there is a Buddha Mandir temple in Abhoynagar.

Transport

Road

National Highway 44 connects Agartala to Assam and the rest of India by road. The highways (NH44 , NH 44A) connects Agartala with Silchar (288 km), Guwahati (599 km), Shillong (499 km), Dharmanagar (200 km) and Aizawl (443 km). A bus service also connects it to Dhaka (150 km).

Agartala is well connected by road to other parts of Tripura state. National highway 44 has been extended to the south, thus improving the road connectivity between Agartala & south Tripura. Buses, Jeeps trekkers & SUVs are the most popular public carriers, and cars and vans are usually used for private hire.

The main mode of transport within the city consists of a network of cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws and buses.

Airport

Agartala is also connected by air, the modernised Agartala Airport connects it to other cities in India. There are daily flight connections to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Shillong and Guwahati.

The major Airline Service Providers are Air India, Jet Airways, Indigo Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, Air Deccan,etc.

Railways

Agartala has been fully connected to other cities in India w.e.f 28th June 2008.However, "the routine rail services to Agartala would start by mid-August after clearance from the railway safety commissioner," said P Shivkumar, general manager (construction) of NFR. The foundation stone for the 119-km Kumarghat-Agartala railway project was laid in 1996 by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda.Agartala is the second capital city [after Guwahati, Assam] in the northeast to be connected to the country's extensive railway network.

Communications

Being the capital of a state Agartala has access to all the modern communications network and infrastructure.

Telecommunications

List of Telecom companies serving Agartala are:
* Airtel
* Aircel
* Reliance Telecom
* BSNL

Radio

List of Radio stations:
* AIR
* FM Radio Oo La La

Television

Doordarshan (DD) has a television station in Agartala. NE TV and NE Bangla have production and broadcasting centers in the city.

Newspapers

Many newspapers serve the city and the state. Bengali language media is dominant in the city, A list of the major news publications are:

* Syandan Patrika (Bengali)
* Dainik Arohan (Bengali)
* Daily Desher Katha (Bengali)
* Dainik Sambad (Bengali)
* Tripura Darpan (Bengali)
* Tripura Times (English)

Education

Agartala has a lot of educational institutions, schools and colleges and also a central university.

Universities

* Tripura University
* [http://www.iutripura.edu.in/ ICFAI university, Tripura]
* National Institute of Technology, Agartala (NIT Agartala)

Colleges

* NATIONAL_INSTITUTE_OF_TECHNOLOGY, Agartala
* MBB College
* Women's College
* Ramthakur College
* [http://www.trimedcol.com/ Tripura Medical College]
* Tripura Institute of Technology
* Agartala Polytechnic College
* Women's Polytechnic

Prominent Schools

* Shishu Bihar Higher Secondary School
* Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Amtali
* Holy Cross School
* Don Bosco
* St. Paul's
* Umakanta Academy
* Boys Budhjong
* Girls Budhjong
* Maharani Tulsibati Girls School
* Hindi higher secondary School
* Netaji Subhash Vidyaniketan
* Kendriya Vidyalaya,kunjaban
* BaniVidyapith School

ports

Agartala has a good sporting tradition, with many sports and games being played. Especially favourite is football with its own city football league with clubs from various neighborhoods and localities. Tripura has a state team which plays in the Eastern division of the Ranji Trophy Championship, the National Cricket competition of India.

The main stadiums are the Badarghat Stadium, College Tilla Cricket Stadium and the Umakanta Academy Mini-Stadium.

Tourism

Places of interest

*College Tilla - Maharaja Bir Bikram College, Tripura University buildings, football ground, international cricket stadium, picturesque lush landscapes & serene natural lakes.
*Ujjayanta Palace - Palace of the Tripura kings, now converted to state legislative assembly.
*Jagannath temple - Hindu temple of Vaishnava school of thought.
*Umamaheswar temple - Hindu temple of Shaiva & Shakta schools of thought.
*Venuban Vihar
*Budhha Mandir
*Puratan Agartala

Parks

* Rabinra Kanan
* Children's Park
* Nehru Park

Museums

* Tripura State Museum at Post Office Chowmuhani.

Hotels

* Hotel Rajdhani
* Ginger Hotel
* Hotel Rajarshi

References

External links

* [http://www.syandanpatrika.com Bengali Newspaper of Tripura]
* [http://tripura.nic.in/amc/AboutAmc.htm About AMC]
*
* [http://supplementboss.com/agartala-horti.htm Agartala Horti Agriculture Government Offices]
* [http://uk.weather.com/weather/climatology/INXX0153 Weather statistics at Weather.co.uk]
* [http://www.globalguide.org?id=100844 Agartala on GlobalGuide.Org]
* [http://www.tripuraconnects.com/ Community web portal for Tripurites in and out of Tripura]
* [http://www.kanchanmoni.com/agartala_durga_puja.htm Durga Puja from Agartala]
* [http://www.holidayiq.com/destinations/Agartala-Overview.html Agartala Tourism, Tripura, India]