Chamarajanagar district | |
|---|---|
| Chamarajanagara | |
.jpg)   .jpg)  | |
| Nickname: Silk City | |
 Interactive map of Chamarajanagar district | |
| Coordinates:11°55′34″N76°56′25″E / 11.9260°N 76.9402°E /11.9260; 76.9402 | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  Karnataka |
| Headquarters | Chamarajanagar |
| Taluks | Kollegal,Yelandur,Gundlupet,Chamarajanagar,Hanur |
| Government | |
| • District Commissioner & District Magistrate | Shilpa Nag C T,IAS |
| • CEO | Mona Roat,IAS |
| • District in-charge minister | K. Venkatesh |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,101 km2 (1,970 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 1,020,791 |
| • Density | 200/km2 (520/sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Kannada |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 571 313 |
| Telephone code | 08226 |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-KA |
| Vehicle registration |
|
| Website | chamrajnagar |
Chamarajanagar district orChamarajanagara is the southernmost district in the state ofKarnataka,India. It was carved out of the original largerMysore District in 15th August 1997.[1]Chamarajanagar town is the headquarters of this district. Chamarajannagar district was located in most southern part of Karnataka.[2]
It is the third least populous district in Karnataka (out of30), afterKodagu andBangalore Rural.[1]
Chamarajanagar was earlier known as Sri Arikottara.[1] In 1825,Krishnaraja Wodeyar III built a large temple of Chamarajeshvara in Dravidian style in memory of his fatherChamaraja Wodeyar IX. It is believed that Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the Wodeyar of Mysuru, was born here, and hence this place was renamed after him.[3] The Vijaya Parsvanath Basadi, a holy Jain shrine was constructed by Punisadandanayaka, the commander of the Hoysala king Gangaraja in the year 1117 AD.
Being the southernmost district ofKarnataka, Chamarajanagar district borders the state ofTamil Nadu andKerala. Specifically, it bordersMysore district ofKarnataka to the west and north,Mandya andRamanagara districts of Karnataka to the north-east,Dharmapuri andKrishnagiri districts of Tamil Nadu to the east,Salem to south-east,Erode districts andNilgiris district of Tamil Nadu to the south, and to the extreme south-west, there is a very small border withWayanad district of Kerala.
Most of the district lies in the leeward region of theNilgiris and consists of mainly semi-arid rain-dependent flatlands along with forested hills.
The Karnataka state government has started a Rs.400 crore project on 1`,595 acres of land calledBadanaguppe-Kellamballi Industrial Estate which will include sectors like automobile, food processing, textiles, leather, granite and agriculture related industries.
Three national highways of India pass through Chamarajanagara district namely NH-766, NH-181, and NH-948. Some state highways of Karnataka pass through this district.
National Highway 948 ( previously NH 209), which starts from Bengaluru in Karnataka state and ends at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, passes through the following places namelyKanakapura,Malavalli,Kollegal,Chamarajanagar, Punajanur and enters Tamil Nadu. It further goes to Hasanur, Dhimbam ghat, Thalamalai,Bannari,Satyamangalam, Puliampatti,Annur ends at Coimbatore. FewKSRTC buses run on NH 948. There are many roads from Chamarajanagara district to neighbouring Tamil Nnadu state. One road connectsKollegal to Hasanur via Dhondenling and Germalam. There is a Buddhist monastery at Dhondeling. Another road connectsKollegala to Anthiyur viaHanur, Ramapura, Burgur and Moongilpalya. The road from Kollegala toMettur goes through Hanur Kowdalli( Cowdalli), Male Mahadeshwara Betta (MM Hills), Palar, Govindapadi, Kaveripuram and Kolathur. The above-mentioned three roads pass through forest teeming with wild animals, including elephants, Indian Bison, leopards and tigers. These roads are isolated and narrow at many stretches without any human habitation or cellular phone signals.
National Highway 181 connectsGundlupete town of Chamarajanagara district withOoty via Bandipura and Gudalur. National Highway 766 connects Gundlupete with Kalpetta via Mulehole andSulthan Bathery. The national highways 181 and 766 are closed for private vehicles at night in stretch between Gundlupete and neighbouring states.. Only state government buses are allowed at night in these section of highway.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 334,676 | — |
| 1911 | 344,414 | +0.29% |
| 1921 | 328,501 | −0.47% |
| 1931 | 352,485 | +0.71% |
| 1941 | 390,337 | +1.03% |
| 1951 | 449,448 | +1.42% |
| 1961 | 533,759 | +1.73% |
| 1971 | 616,502 | +1.45% |
| 1981 | 768,198 | +2.22% |
| 1991 | 883,365 | +1.41% |
| 2001 | 965,462 | +0.89% |
| 2011 | 1,020,791 | +0.56% |
| source:[4] | ||
| Religion | Percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | 92.29% | |||
| Islam | 4.62% | |||
| Christianity | 2.17% | |||
| Buddhism | 0.48% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.44% | |||
According to the2011 census Chamarajanagar district has apopulation of 1,020,791,[1] roughly equal to the nation ofCyprus[6] or the US state ofMontana.[7] This gives it a ranking of 441st in India (out of a total of640).[1] The district has a population density of 200 inhabitants per square kilometre (520/sq mi) .[1] Itspopulation growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 5.75%.[1] Chamarajanagar has asex ratio of 989females for every 1000 males,[1] and aliteracy rate of 61.43%. 17.14% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 25.42% and 11.78% of the population respectively.[8]
The district has a high percentage of Scheduled Castes, with a population of 259,000, making up a quarter of the district's population. Having a large percentage of forest cover the district also has a high population of tribals, mostly theNayakas but also forest tribes like theSoligas,Yeravas,Jenu Kurubas andBetta Kurubas. These tribals have their own languages and their total population is around 120,000, and make up 12% of the district population.[9] Other communities include Lingayats, Muslims and Vokkaligas.[10]
At the time of the 2011 census, 86.10% of the population spokeKannada, 4.58%Tamil, 4.42%Urdu and 3.29%Telugu as their first language.[11]
Since much of the southern area of the district is dense forest, it provided good refuge to the notorious banditVeerappan, responsible for the death of over a hundred policemen in both states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He was shot dead in an encounter with the specially formed Special Task Force (STF) on 18 October 2004, inDharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. He had been on the run for over two decades. The presence of illegal quarrying for black stone imposes a great threat to the forests in the region.
The main tourist attractions are Sri Chamarajeshwara temple inChamarajanagar,Biligiriranga Hills, K Gudi,Male Mahadeshwara Hills, Gundal dam,Suvarnavati Dam,Hogenakal Falls,Shivasamudram,Bandipur National Park, andGopalaswamy Hills in Gundlupet.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Cyprus 1,120,489 July 2011 est.
Montana 989,415
