Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Raipur
type = capital
latd = 21.23
longd = 81.63
state_name = Chhattisgarh
district = Raipur
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Shri Sunil Soni
area_total = 456
area_magnitude = 9
altitude = 298.15
population_total = 1500000
population_as_of = 2001
telephone = 771
postal_code = 492 xxx
vehicle_code_range = CG-04
website = www.raipur.nic.in
footnotes =

Raipur audio|Raipur.ogg|pronunciation (Hindi: रायपुर) is the capital city of the state of Chhattisgarh, India. The population is 1,509,887(agglomeration) 2006. The city is the administrative headquarters of Raipur District. It was formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chhattisgarh was formed on November 1, 2000. A World Class City Naya Raipur is being developed near Raipur.

History

On the basis of ruins of a fort and other structures located on the southern part of the city, some historians believe that the city of Raipur was in existence even during the 9th century. However, most historians agree that King Brahmadeva Rai founded the city in the last quarter of the 14th century. [http://www.raipurcity.info] [http://raipur.nic.in/hist.htm]

Geography and climate

climate chart
Raipur
13|27|0
15|30|20
20|35|10
24|39|10
27|41|20
26|36|230
23|30|380
23|30|360
23|31|190
21|31|50
16|28|10
12|26|0
source= [http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=36034&refer=&units=metric Weather Base]
float=right
clear=rightThe new city of Raipur is located near the centre of a large plain, sometimes referred as the "rice bowl of India", where hundreds of varieties of rice are grown. The Mahanadi River flows to the east of the city of Raipur, and the southern side has dense forests. The Maikal Hills rise on the north-west of Raipur; on the north, the land rises and merges with the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which extends north-east across Jharkhand state. On the south of Raipur lies the Baster Plateau.

Climate

Raipur has a sub-tropical climate, temperatures remain moderate for most of the year, apart from the summer from March to June, which can be extremely hot. The city receives about 1300 mm of rain, mostly in the monsoon season from late June to early October. Winters last from November to January and are mild, although lows can fall to 5°C (42 °F).

Transport

Raipur city is well connected via rail,road,and air transport services.

Raipur city is situated on the Mumbai-Howrah route of Indian Railways and is well connected with such important places as Mumbai,Howrah, Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi, Amritsar, Pune,Bhopal,Jabalpur,Nagpur ,Vishakapatnam,Trivendrum, Patna, Ahmedabad,Jodhpur, Jaipur,Bhubaneswar, Secundrabad,Lucknow,Kanpur,Gorakhpur,Chennai and Bangalore& many other important cities of india.

National Highway 6 (Mumbai-Kolkata) passes through the city of Raipur, and National Highway 43,200,12A links the city with [Visakhapatnam, Bilaspur and Jabalpur. It is well connected by road to all important places of India. recently a 4 Lane ExpressWay has been built between Raipur-Bhilai-Durg.Air links to the city were revived after the city became the state capital.
Indian Airlines connects the city with Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Nagpur.
Air Deccan flies to Mumbai and Delhi .
Jet Airways has daily flights to Bombay (Mumbai), Delhi , Bhopal , Indore ,Ahmedabad , Nagpur and Hyderabad .
Kingfisher Airlines has also two daily Flights each to Kolkata and Indore and one daily flight each to Pune , Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.Few other domestic airlines like Spicejet,GO-AIR and Jetlite are eager to Add Raipur to their route-map and declared the commencement of services very soon.

Bus services

Raipur City Bus is a road transport system run by Raipur City Transport Services Limited.Raipur municipal corporation relaunched the Raipur City Bus service in 25 Feb 2008,an extensive service with some routes servicing most areas in city.The company runs 40 low floor buses(tata star), equipped with GPS devices, electronic sign boards and computerised vending machines.

Politics

Raipur is capital of newly created state of Chhattisgarh. The state of Chhattisgarh is presently governed by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) one of the two main political parties of India. Dr. Raman Singh is the chief minister of Chhattisgarh at present.

Economy

Raipur is primarily a commercial city. Traditionally, the city of Raipur has been described as "an agricultural-processing and saw-milling town". The city is located centrally in the state of Chhattisgarh, and now serves as a regional hub for trade and commerce for a variety of local agricultural and forest products. There are several small-scale industries, which include oil milling, soap manufacturing and electrical welding.

The traditional face of the city is changing, and the city of Raipur and its neighbourhood are now becoming an important regional commercial and industrial destination for the coal, power, steel and aluminium industries. Close to Raipur, several industries have developed:

*several cement units
*marble cutting and polishing industries
*granite cutting and polishing industries

Raipur is India’s biggest iron market - there are about 173 steel rolling mills, 170 sponge iron plants, more than 250 steel plants, 800 agro-industies and 70 ferro-alloy plants in and around the city. There are more than 300 rice milling plants, and all major and local cement manufacturing companies have a presence in the city.

Raipur is believed to become one of the highly developed cities of India and the Commercial Capital of Central India ,leaving Indore and Nagpur much behind , by the end of 2010 .

Raipur, like many other Tier II Indian cities, is experiencing a boom in construction and development. Firms like Indigo Design & Engineering Associates PLC., Soma Developers, DLF,omaxe,merlin group etc. are among the trailblazers in the city. The new airport along with improved road and rail infrastructure is expected to give a general filip to the city.

Naya Raipur Development Authority, the project promoter, is developing the township that will have an 18-hole golf course over 400 acres, golf villas, residential and commercial buildings, and a hotel.

Demographics

Being an important regional centre and a city with a history stretching back more than a thousand years, Raipur has been attracting persons from different parts of Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring states. The demographic composition is a mixed one: North Indians, South Indians, local ethenic Chattisgarhri and few from North East. The city is essentially inhabited by the trading communities like Baniyas,Agrawal/Agarwals, Jains, Gujaratis, and Marwaris. The city also houses immigrant population that includes Sindhis and the Sikhs. It also has a sizable Bengalis,Telugu, Malayalees and Maharashtrians population. Muslims and Christians are minorities. Raipur has remained calm even during times of communal riots during 1992-93 and during the post-Godhara period in 2002, thus presenting a unique model of harmony and coexistence in the newly formed state. Muslims primarily reside in such areas as Moudhapara (occupied by the immigrants from UP and Bihar), Baijnathpara, Chota Para, Momin Para (Shia Islam community) and Byron Bazaar (which is named after a Briton who is supposed to have formed the place; Byron Bazar was once mostly inhabited by the Muslims from the "Madras Paltan" i.e. those serving in the British Army (Madras Regiment), and had occupied Byron Bazaar as a result of their regiment getting disbanded). The Christian population is scattered around the city.

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Raipur had a population of 39,09,887 with an extended agglomeration population of 700,113. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Raipur has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 65%. In Raipur, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Education

Most of the government-run schools in Raipur are affiliated with the State School Examination Board, whereas most private schools are affiliated with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) boards.
*Kendriya Vidyalaya
*Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Mana Camp. JNV Mana^{(http://www.jnvraipur.com)} which is considered as one of the best Navodayas in India.
*S.S. Kalibadi H.S. School
*Adarsh vidyalaya
*Saint Paul's School (A public school with more than 120 years of history, which started as a co-ed school)
*Holy Cross Convent (Pension Bada)
*Holy Cross (Byron Bazaar)
*Holy Cross (Kapa)
*Holy hearts (katora talab)
*Pt.sunder lal sharma school (Sundar nagar)
*Bharat Mata Higher Secondary School (Tatibandh)
*Mintu International Public School,a complete AC School Campus(http://www.mps-raipur.com)
*Rajkumar College (a public school more than a hundred years old)(http://www.rajkumarcollege.com),
*KAANGER VALEY ACADEMY( a student friendly school) www.kva.edu.in
*Gyan Ganga Educational Academy (Zero Point),
*Salem English School
*Ryan International
*St Xavier high school
*Desh Bandhu School.
*Delhi Public School.
*Radiant Public School.
*Maharishi Vidya Mandir (Tatibandh).
*st. pauls English school.
*Adarsh Vidyalaya.
*Shri Balaji Vidya Mandir (Devendra Nagar)
*chhattisgarh public school
*krishna public school
*J.R.DANI Girls schoolThe state capital is served by these main universities:
*Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University (http://www.prsu.ac.in)
*Indira Gandhi Agriculture University
*National Institute of Technology, Raipur (http://nitrr.ac.in)
*the Hidayatullah National Law University (http://www.hnlu.ac.in)
*Kishbhau Thakre Patrakarity Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya(http://www.ktujm.ac.in)

Apart from several colleges offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses, there are many professional educational institutes viz.
*Government Medical College
*Raipur Institute of Technology, Raipur

Colleges of Raipur"' --

1.Govt. Model Science College
2.swami vivekanand college [English medium]
3.st. vincent pallotti college [English medium]
4.Durga college
5.central college
6.S.H.S.college
7.D.B.Girls college
8.Smt. Pramila Gokuldas Daga Girls College RAIPUR
9.Pragati college
10.Shanti niketan college
11.Chhattisgarh college
12.Vipra college
13.College of Dairy Technology
14.Chanakya College
15.Ayurvedic College
16.College of Agricultural Biotechnology
17.Datnteshwari College of Horticulture
18.Disha College of information Technology (DCIT)

Hidayatullah National Law University; Sixth in a series on National Law schools established on the lines of the National Law School at Bangalore.

Apart form NIT, Raipur has one Medical College called Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College having 100 seats of MBBS.

And apart from this now raipur having 9 Engineering colleges,forming more then 2200 engineer per year & 1 GIRLS polytechnic.

NIT Raipur

National Institute of Technology; The NIT, Raipur is spread over an area of 88 acres. The campus has a main college building, six hostel blocks, residential quarters for teaching and non-teaching staff, a bank, a separate Public Works Department and electricity office for campus maintenance, a well equipped low cost dispensary and a well maintained guest house. The campus has got an additional facility of a local railway station named as Saraswati Nagar meant specially for the benefit of the students of nearby areas. The college is about 5 km from the Raipur railway station and about 12 km from the airport. Placement record of 90% of the eligible students makes the college/university numero uno in Chhatisgarh. The college is also famous for having the highest number of branches, 11 (B.Tech) branches having some of the best faculties in India. It is also famous for intake of maximum number of students in all NITs. 34 permanent faculties have joined the college.Post graduate branches like M.Tech and M.C.A. are also available for students. Cerficate courses like C, C++ and AutoCAD is provided by the college. The scenic view of 3 unique gardens make the college truly beautiful.This is has a record of having 783 admission this year.

Places of interest

Telibandha Talab: the lake which lies on the most busy GE Road of the city. Is a location where most of the Hindu Religious Rites are performed.

Shankar Nagar & "Avanti-Vihar", posh colony of the city, and Bottle House, an apartment which looks like a bottle.

Civil Lines: the high security region of the city where government officials and IAS officers reside.

Hotel Babylon: The only 5 star hotel of the city

Burha Talab: literal meaning "aged" (burha) "lake" (talab), Burha Talab is the largest lake of several in the city. Its beauty is enhanced by an island, laced with green trees and gardens, situated in the middle of the lake.

Dudhadari Temple: situated near the Burha Talab, stands the 500-year-old Dudhadari Temple, which has elaborate carvings. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Ram.

In Raipur City, one of the most famous temple is known as the Banjari Mata Mandir which was established by Shree Harish Joshi ["needs citation"] . The folklore has it that Mr. Joshi found a place where a stone looked like an idol of Banjari Mata. Upon discovering the idol, he started worshiping the idol and hence attracting attention of the public. Since then the place has been converted into a famous temple ["needs citation"] .

Shadani Darbar named after the saint Shri Shadaramji Saheb, is a popular pilgrimage spot for Hindus. It is located about ten kilometers from Raipur railway station and only 4 kilometers from the Airport, on the Dhamtari road.Shadani Darbar, spread over 12 acres of land, has a big hall where Dhuni Saheb is kept. The beautiful engraved images of gods and avatars (incarnations) can be seen on the either side of the wall. Dukh bhanjan Dhuni is performed every day. Other highlights are musical fountains with religious idols and statues.

Mahant Ghasi Das Memorial Museum; a large collection of inscriptions, images, coins, sculptures, etc. are displayed in this museum.

Shaheed Smarak Complex; an exceptionally conceptualized architectural marvel of Architect Prasanna Kothari - a memorial of freedom fighters enveloping a huge auditorium, library, museum and an art gallery, located in the heart of the city.

Nandanvan Garden developed by the wildlife division of the Raipur Forest Department, is located about 15 km from Raipur, on the banks of the Kharron River, in the western boundary of the City. It is noted for its natural beauty. There is a zoo with animals such as lions, panthers, wild cats and deer, among many others.

Champaran is a small town about 60 km (37 mi) from Raipur that has religious significance as the birthplace of the saint Vallabha Acharya.

The Historic place of Sirpur is only 78 km from Raipur.

Recently, The very first mall of Chattisgarh and Raipur 'City Mall 36' was inaugurated by Hon'ble Chief Minister of Chattisgarh. The mall comprises number of national and international brands such as INOX, Globus,Big Bazar etc. Raipur is getting ready for 6 more such global malls by end of 2008 namely Magneto The Mall, R.K Mall,Treasure Island [http://www.timalls.com/] and Future Group's Cinemax,Ambuja Mall [http://www.ambujarealty.com] , Velocity III [Beyond Imagination] .Also the TAJ group of Hotels has started the construction of its Five Star Hotel in Raipur which is taking place just behind the site of Magneto-The Mall [http://www.magnetothemall.com] .

The historic place of akhra can be visited for seeing the "ravana bhata",it is a vast plain.It also has a science college.It has its own goddess akhra dai which the villagers worship.Akhra can be visited for its meadows too.

References

External links

* [http://www.raipurcity.info Website on Raipur city]
* [http://www.raipurnews.info Raipur News]
* [http://www.raipur.nic.in/default.htm Raipur District Administration]
* [http://www.raipurlive.com/ RaipurLive.com - Everything About Raipur]