Bicholim, pronounced (), also known as Divchal and Dicholi, is a town and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

North Goa district North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnata ...

in the state of Goa,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It is the headquarters of the ''Concelho'' (district) of Bicholim, one of seven that make up the Novas Conquistas (New Conquests), territories added to Goa comparatively latter than the first three of the Velhas Conquistas. The town is located about 30 kilometres from the capital

Panjim Panaji (; also known as Panjim) is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river estuary ...

. It is in the mining heartland of Goa.

History

As per '' Hiregutti plates of Bhoja Asantika'', a locality named ''Dipaka visaya'' in the copper plates dating 5th century CE, is identified with modern-day ''Divchali'' or Dicholi. It was under the rule of an independent

Warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

(PrabhuDesai's of Sankhali/Sanquelim) It was taken over by Portuguese in late 18th century as part of New Conquest.

Geography

Bicholim is located at . It has an average elevation of 22 metres (72 feet).

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, Dicholi had a population of 16,986. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dicholi has an average literacy rate of 82%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

constitutes a major chunk in the economy of Bicholim with about 36% of the population working for a single

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

ore mine owner, formerly Souza Mineralia Pvt. Ltd. owned by M.M.P. DeSouza who formed a partnership with the Dempos, the Dempo clan took over the mines underhandedly and it is now taken over by

Sesa Goa Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, India, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha. History Sterlite Industries Vedanta (then called St ...

which has been merged into

Vedanta Resources Vedanta Resources Limited is an Indian diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas oper ...

of Anil Agarwal. Wednesday is the market day where people in and around Bicholim gather in the main market region for trading small goods/commodities.

Government and politics

Bicholim is part of Bicholim (Goa Assembly constituency) and North Goa (Lok Sabha constituency).

Socio-political

Bicholim has three primary

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

, four secondary schools, a polytechnic institute, a number of

hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, temples, churches and

mosques A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

, and a protected site, pandava caves. Some of the prominent temples are the Shanta Durga temple and the Mahadeva Temple. The Shanta Durga temple is close to the banks of the river, which is a tributary of river Mandovi. The church of Our Lady of Grace dominates the

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

. The high school run from the precincts of the church complex is one of the prominent schools of Bicholim. A historic

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

Nimuz ghar (possibly Namaz Ghar) stands on the hilltop prominently overlooking the town of Bicholim. The monument was built to commemorate the victory of the combined

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

forces over the Portuguese. Another prominent landmark of the town is the Tribunal started by the Portuguese to deal with civil and criminal cases after the Nova Conquista. As in other communities of Goa, Ganesh Chaturthi or Chawath is a celebrated with its own unique touch in Bicholim. A folk dance called "Ghode Modni" which has a cavalry theme is a specialty of Bicholim.

Mayem Lake

Bicholim has an idyllic

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

dotted with serene

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and majestic

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

s. The tranquil Mayem Lake is a major

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

destination in Bicholim. Located amidst rolling

hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as ...

and surrounded by a countryside, the lake is one of the most pristine

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

spots in Goa. The Goa Tourism Development Department has developed a

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

area and a resort here.

Bicholim Industrial Estate

Set up by the Goa Industrial Development Department, the Bicholim Industrial Estate located on the banks of Mandovi tributary is home to more than 50 industrial

workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the ...

and manufacturing units specializing in a range of products and services such as Pottery,

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

fabrication,

plastics Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptabi ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

equipment,

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...

s, bus body, etc.

Cudnem Village

Cudnem or ''Kudene'' is a large village situated on the left bank of the Cudnem River. It is located in Bicholim of North Goa district, Goa with total 763 families residing. The Cudnem village had a population of 3,308 of which 1,714 are males while 1,594 are females according to 2011 Indian census.

Jainism

There are remains of Ancient Jain temples in Gujirwada in Cudnem village. Broken idols of

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a ' ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the '' dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable pass ...

were discovered during an excavation in 1986 by the directorate of archeology and archives. The Jain temple of Cudnem was constructed in the 10th century and was in ruins in the 15th century. The idols of

were also found in Chandreshwar temple in Kothambi village, situated on the right bank of the River Mandovi. Naroa is situated on the left bank of the River Mandovi. Broken sculptures of the Jain

Suparshvanatha, belonging to the period of the Goan Kadamba ruler Shivachitta Permadi Dev, were discovered in an old Jain temple in Jainkot, Naroa. The sculpture of

Parshvanatha ''Parshvanatha'' (), also known as ''Parshva'' () and ''Parasnath'', was the 23rd of 24 ''Tirthankaras'' (supreme preacher of dharma) of Jainism. He is the only Tirthankara who gained the title of ''Kalīkālkalpataru ( Kalpavriksha in this "Ka ...

, the 23rd

was discovered in Hindolewada, Naroa.

Notes

References

External links

{{commons category, Bicholim Cities and towns in North Goa district