Nagpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India. With a population of 2,390,179, Nagpur UA is the 13th largest urban conglomeration in India, In addition to being the seat of annual winter session of Maharashtra state assembly "Vidhan sabha", Nagpur is also a major commercial and political center of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, and is also famous throughout the country as "Orange city" for being a major trade center of oranges that are cultivated in the region. In addition, the city also derives political importance from being the headquarters for the Hindu nationalist organisation RSS and an important location for the 'dalit Buddhist movement'.
History
Nagpur is not an ancient city by Indian standards but it is the second most important city in Maharashtra after Mumbai. This lovely city was established by Bhakt Buland in the year 1702, a Gond prince of the kingdom of Deogad in the Chhindwara district, Nagpur. In the latter half of the 18th century this city was ruled by the Bhonsles of the Maratha confederacy who established their capital here. Later, the city came under the control of the British under Doctrine of Lapse publicized by Lord Dalhousie.
Geography and climate
Climate
As it is located at centre of Indian peninsula far from Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, Nagpur has a tropical wet and dry climate with dry conditions prevailing for most of the year. Nagpur city receives an annual rainfall of 1,205 mm (47.44 in) from monsoon rains during June to September. The highest recorded rainfall was 304 mm on July 14, 1994. Summers are extremely hot lasting from March to June, with maximum temperatures occurring in May. Winter lasts from November to January, during which temperatures can drop below 10°C (50°F). The highest recorded temperature in the city was 48.6 °C (119.5 °F) on 26 May 1954, while the lowest was 3 °C.
Culture and interesting places
The city contains people from other Indian states as well as people belonging to the world's major faiths, and yet is known for staying calm during communal conflicts in India. Nagpur plays host to cultural events throughout the year. Cultural and literary societies in Nagpur include 'Vidarbha sahitya sangh' (for development of Marathi), 'Vidarbha rashtrabhasha prachar samiti' (promotion and spreading Hindi) and 'Vidarbha Hindi sahitya sammelan' (for promoting Hindi). The conference on Marathi literature; 'Marathi sahitya sammelan' were held twice in Nagpur city. The 'south central cultural centre' also sponsors cultural events in Nagpur city, such as the 'orange city craft mela and folk dance festival', Vidarbha which is noted for its numerous folk-dances.
Newspapers are published from Nagpur in Marathi, English and Hindi. In addition, the government of Maharashtra organizes a week long 'Kalidas festival', a series of music and dance performances, by national level artists.
Attractions in Nagpur
Nagpur offers a lot options as far as tourist places is concerned. The scenic beauty teemed with beautiful forts and temples make Nagpur one of the most attractive travel destination.
Ambazari Lake
The Ambazari Lake is situated 6-km west of Nagpur. It is the largest and the most beautiful Lake in the city. This place is very well managed and preserved by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. The Lake also has a garden located just beside it and is a model garden. It was established in 1958 on an area of 20 acres of land.
The musical fountain, various electric rides and amusement games make this garden an ideal place to travel and children to enjoy. The garden also offers boating facilities and good walking trails as an enjoying outdoor activity.
Nagpur specialty
The Oranges of Nagpur are famous throughout the world for their superior quality. These Oranges are arranged in a "Mondha". It is an arrangement unique to Nagpur markets. The Nagpur Oranges are cultivated in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The orange is cultivated in 80000 hectares area in Vidarbha with a total production of nearly 5 lakh tons. A major part of the Oranges produced here is exported to the other countries of the world. Thus contributing to the growth of the 'country's economy'.
Sitabuldi Fort
The Sitabuldi fort is an important landmark of Nagpur, located on top of a hill, right in the center of the city. This fort was built by a British officer in the year 1857. It is one of the oldest attractions of the city. One can view this park from the twin hills of Sitabuldi.
The fort now houses the office of the Territorial Army, and is open to the public on National holidays.
Tekdi Ganapathi temple
This temple is one of the most ancient and popular temples of Nagpur. It is located near the railway station. The temple is called "Tekdi Ganapati"; as it is constructed on a hill and in Marathi Language a hill is called as a "Tekdi". It is believed to be approximately 250 years old. Earlier, the temple was not more than a tin shaded temple but later it was constructed as one of the most respected temple. The construction of Ganesh temple was started in 1978 and completed in 1984.
Tadoba National Park
The Tadoba National Park; is a small park, sprawled over an area of 120 sq. kms at an altitude of 200 m. It is located 100-km south of Nagpur and 45-kms north of the district headquarter.
Taboda is also known as 'The Jewel of Vidarbha'. It is one of the oldest parks in Maharashtra and is also a Project Tiger reserve since 1993. The area around Tadoba was once highly populated by the Gond tribals. The park is named after their local deity 'Taru'; who, according to a legend, was killed in a fight with a tiger. He is still worshiped by the local villagers as the deity of 'Tadoba'.
Shri Vyankatesh temple
This temple is located on Dharaskar Road in Itwari, Nagpur. The idea of building a Vyankatesh temple here was given by respected chief venerable Swamiji Shri Dharacharyaji. The construction of the temple was started in 1963 and completed in 1968.
The statue of the God Vyankatesh is extremely beautiful, made of black stone and adorned with beautiful gold ornaments. There are three festival statues located below the main idol and all three of them are purely made of gold by the skilled artist from Chennai. The main idol of God Vyankatesh had been brought from South India.
Cuisine
The Vidharbha region has its own distinctive cuisine known as the Varhadi cuisine or Saoji cuisine. Saoji food, or Saoji Varhadi, is the traditional food and is famous for its spicy taste.
Non-vegetarian food especially chicken and mutton are commonly eaten in Nagpur, but vegetarian food can also be prepared especially using boiled potato, Paneer or Soya chunks. Saoji food, although very spicy, is not harmful to the body and does not lead to any digestive problems, as the process of cooking has been modified to overcome any health problems.
Transport
Railway
Due to its central location in India, the Nagpur railway station is an important railway junction and a transit terminal for trains that connect the country lengthwise and breadthwise, especially trains connecting India's major metropolises, Mumbai to Howrah-Kolkata, Delhi and Jammu to Chennai, JABALPUR, VARANASI Hydrabad, Bangalore and Kanyakumari in the south, as well as western cities such as Pune and Ahemedabad.
The city is the divisional head quarters for the 'central railway' and 'south east central railway' zone of Indian railways. In 2010 Jan aahar opened its outlet in Nagpur railway station.
Jan aahar has only a few of its outlets in India. Jan aadhar offers light and healthy food at very affordable prices.
Roadway
Nagpur is a major junction for roadways as India's two major national highways, Kanyakumari-Varanasi (NH7) and Hajira-Kolkata (NH6), passing through the city. One more highway number 69 connects Nagpur to Obaidullaganj near Bhopal. Nagpur is at the junction of two Asian highways namely AH43 Agrato Matara, Sri Lanka and AH46 connecting Kharagpur, India to Dhule, India. Auto rickshaws operate in most parts of Nagpur and are the main form of hired transport within the city.
Airway
Nagpur's 'air traffic control' (ATC); is the busiest in India, with more than 300 international flights flying over the city every day in 2004. In October 2005, Nagpur's Sonegaon airport was declared an international airport and was renamed.
Nagpur is well connected to the main Indian cities. It has regular flights to all the major Indian cities. The Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International airport is 7 kms from the city. Most of the domestic airlines have services from Nagpur to Mumbai and other important cities of India such as Delhi, Chennai, Patna, Varanasi, Lucknow, Bangalore.Nanded, Delhi, Indore, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Sharjah, Kolkata and Hyderabad.
