Ramanagara district

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Ramanagara District
type = city
latd = 12.72 | longd = 77.3
locator_position = right | state_name = Karnataka
district = Ramanagara district

Ramanagara [ [http://www.ramanagaracity.gov.in/ City of Ramanagara - City Municipal Council] ] (known as Closepet, after Sir Barry Close (1756–1813), in pre-Independence times and retained in geology) is a town and a city municipal council in the Indian state of Karnataka.It is also the headquarters of Ramanagara district.

Geography

Ramanagara is approximately 50 km southwest of Bangalore. It has an average elevation of 747 metres (2450 feet).

Ramanagara is famous for the huge rocky outcroppings. Those that are popular for rock climbing are; Savandurga, Ramadevarabetta, SRS betta and Thenginkalbetta.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Ramanagara had a population of 79,365. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Ramanagara has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 67%, and female literacy is 58%. In Ramanagara, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Figures for the district, which was carved out of Bangalore Rural in September 2007, are not available as yet.

Economy

Ramanagara is famous for its silk market, one of the biggest in India, giving it the other name of Silktown. Ramanagara taluk includes the Bidadi industrial area, which houses the manufacturing units of Toyota and Coca-Cola, and a 1400 MW combined cycle gas-based power plant.

Hills and landscape

The region has several tall granitic hills which are famous for many short rock climbs, typically 1 to 2 pitches in length. Grades vary from 5.8 American to 5.11 American. It is home to some of the world's oldest granite outcrops. Some of the interesting climbs are on the "Wanakkal wall" ("Gabbar ki asli pasand", "Labor pain"), on the "Rainbow wall" ("UIAA", "Kalia"), on "Anna-Thamma" ("Darkness at dawn", "Black Diamond", the name "Anna-Thama" means 'elder-brother-younger-brother' in Kannada).

Another well known hill is "Ramadevarabetta". Along with Savandurga this was one of the shooting locations for David Lean's "A Passage to India". Small door like grottoes were made in the rock to resemble caves. [ [http://www.mapability.com/travel/p2i/marabar_3.html A Passage to India - locations] Accessed December 2006] It was also in this region that the path-breaking Hindi movie, Sholay, was shot.

Other famous hills in the region include the Revanasideshwara hill and Handigundi.

These hills have been threatened by quarrying and also plans to carve these hills into statues. The region is covered in scrub forest and is home to threatened bird species such as the Yellow-throated Bulbul and Long-billed Vultures. [Subramanya, S. and Naveein, O. C. 2006. Breeding of Long-billed Vulture "Gyps indicus" at Ramanagaram hills, Karnataka, India. Indian Birds 2(2):32 [http://www.indianbirds.in/download/IB.2.2.VulturesRamnag.pdf Full text] ] The hill is today one of the few locations in south India where Long-billed Vultures nest. The region is also home to numerous sloth bears. [http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jun182005/city2014532005617.asp]

Closepet granites

The Closepet granites are a major geological feature of this region and are from the Lower Proterozoic era. This belt of rocks extend in the north-south direction in 50km belt. This belt has younger potassic granites and is believed to separate two distinct crustal blocks of Archaean age. The block to the west has low grade granite-greenstone belts with iron-manganese ores and to the east are younger gneisses of granitic and granodioritic composition with gold-bearing schist belts. [ [http://www.dae.gov.in/amd/regions/sr.htm Atomic minerals directorate] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/09/24/stories/2006092400290800.htm The beckoning monoliths]
* [http://bangalorerural.nic.in/Ramanagaram.htm Bangalore rural district - taluk page]