Raipur
Raipur (
Hindi: रायपुर) is the
capital city of the
state of
Chhattisgarh,
India. The population is 605,131 (
agglomeration 922,559) (
2001 census). The city is also the administrative headquarters of
Raipur District. It was formerly a part of
Madhya Pradesh, before the state of Chattisgarh was formed on
November 1,
2000.
Based on the 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 the King Rama Chandra founded the city in the last quarter of the
14th century.
The 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. Maikal Hills rise on the north-west of Raipur; on the northwards, the land rises and merges with the
Chota Nagpur Plateau, which extends northeast across
Jharkhand state, India. On the south of Raipur lies the
Baster Plateau.
Raipur city is situated on the
Nagpur-
Bilaspur route of the
Indian Railways and is well connected with important places like
Mumbai,
Howrah (
Calcutta),
Delhi,
Amritsar,
Pune,
Cochin,
Patna, and
Dhanbad.
National Highway 6 passes through the city of Raipur and National Highway 43 links the city with
Vijayanagaram. It is well connected by roads to all important places of India.
The air links to the city has been revived after the city becoming capital of
Chattisgarh state. Along with Indian Airlines, which connects the city to
Nagpur,
Bhubaneshwar,
Chennai,
Delhi,
Mumbai, and
Vishakapatnam,
Air Deccan is flying to
Kolkata and
Ranchi, while
Jet Airways has a daily flight to
Mumbai.
The airport in Raipur is situated in the outskirts of the city, in the village of Mana. The airport is popularly known as Mana Airport. It is the sole commercially operating airport of Chattisgarh state.
Temperature:
Summer around 29 to 47 °C (84 to 113 °F)
Winter around 10 to 27 °C (50 to 81 °F)
Rainfall:
* Around 1200 mm (July to mid-September)
Until very recent times, Raipur was primarily a commercial city. Traditionally, the city of Raipur has been described as "an agricultural-processing and saw-milling town". The city has certain advantages due to it being located centrally in the state of Chhattisgarh, and the city 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 has now changed, and the city of Raipur and its neighbourhood has now become an important commercial and industrial destination for
coal,
power,
steel, and
aluminum industries. In close proximity to the Raipur city, several industries have come up:
*Several
cement units
*
Marble cutting and polishing industries
*
Granite cutting and polishing industries
Raipur is one of India's biggest iron markets - there are about 170 steel rolling mills, 5 sponge iron plants and 17 ferro alloy plants in and around the city. There are more than 300 rice milling plants and all major cement manufacturing companies have their presence in the city.
Being an important centre of the region and a city with a history stretching more than 1000 years, Raipur has been attracting persons from different parts of the Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring states. The demographic composition is a mixed one. The city is essentially inhabitated by the trading communities like Agrawals, Jains, Gujratis, Baniyas, and Marwaris, besides the local chhattisgaris. The city also houses a decent amount of migrant population like Sindhis and the Sikhs. It also has a sizable
Bengali and
Maharashtrian population. Muslims and Christians are in minority. Raipur has remained calm even during times of communal riots during 1992-93 and during post godhara period in 2002, thus presenting a unique model of harmony and coexistance in new formed state. Muslims are premarily residing in the old city areas like Modhapara, Baijanathpara, Chota Para and Byron bazar, while the Christian population is scaterred around the city.
Most of the government-run schools in Raipur town are affiliated to the State School Examination Board, whereas most of the private schools are affiliated to
CBSE and
ICSE boards. A number of schools are also run by
convents or by the
Jesuits.Notable to mention are Rajkumar college, a 100 year old public school, Salem School, Holycross school ,st.xavier's school etc.
The state capital is served by three main universities; namely, Pundit Ravi Shankar Shukla University, Indira Gandhi Agriculture University, and Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University. Apart from several colleges offering under graduate and post graduate courses, Raipur town has amon g many professional educational institutes, a Govt. medical college, an Govt. engineering college and a music academy.
Burha Talab; literal meaning
aged (burha)
lake (talab), Burha Talab is the largest lake of several in the city. Its beauty is enhanced on account of 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 years old Dudhadari Temple, with elaborate carvings. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu God Ram.
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 Prasanna Kothari - a memorial of freedom fighters enveloping a huge auditorium, library, museum and an art gallery.
Hidayatullah National Law University; 6th in a series on National Law schools established on the lines of the National Law School at Bangalore.
Lal Ganga Shopping Mall is the first urbane shopping mall in Raipur. It houses stores of many world class brands. A good place to hang out.
*
Raipur District Administration
