Chotila is a

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 ...

temple town and Taluka headquarters of Chotila Taluka,

Surendranagar district Surendranagar is an administrative district in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India. It has a population of approximately 1.7 million people. Surendranagar city, along with the twin city of Wadhwan, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, ...

, located near

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

Gujarat, India Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth- ...

. Nearby railway stations included Than &

. The distance from the Than junction to Chotila is 21 km and Distance from Rajkot railway junction to Than is 47 km.

History

Chotila was known as Chotgadh in ancient times. It was originally a holding of the Sodha Parmars, but was seized from Jagsio Parmar by the Khachar Kathis who made it one of their principal seats. Most of the Khachar Kathis trace their origin to the Chotila house. Chotila was acquired by the Kathis in 1566 AD. It is the headquarters of an Agency thana during British period. Famous literary,

Jhaverchand Meghani Jhaverchand or Zaverchand Kalidas Meghani ( – ) was an Indian poet, writer, social reformer and freedom fighter. He is a well-known name in the field of Gujarati literature. He was born in Chotila where the Government College has been rena ...

was born in Chotila and the Government College has been named in his honor as Raashtreeya Shaayar Zaverchand Meghani College.

Demographics

The population, according to the census of 1872, was 1771, and according to that of 1881 was recorded as being 2029 . It currently has a population of nearly 20,000.

Places of interest

The Chamund or Chotila hill which is surmounted by the temple of

Chamunda Chamunda (Sanskrit: चामुण्डा, ISO-15919: Cāmuṇḍā), also known as Chamundeshwari, Chamundi or Charchika, is a fearsome form of Chandi, the Hindu Divine Mother Shakti and is one of the seven Matrikas (mother goddesses).W ...

is 1173 feet in height. The temple is reached by climbing 620 steps. The temple is open for devotees from 5 am to 5:30 pm.

Administration

The town is administered by

Nagarpalika In India, a Municipal Council (also known as Municipality, Nagar Palika, or Nagar Palika Parishad) is an Urban Local Body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. However, there are exceptions to that, as previously Nagar Palikas co ...

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

: {{cite book, title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Kathiawar, url=https://archive.org/details/1884GazetteerByBombayPresidencyVol8Kathiawar349D, year=1884, publisher=Printed at the Government Central Press, Bombay, volume=VIII, pages=407 Shakti temples Hindu temples in Gujarat Princely states of Gujarat Kathi princely states Cities and towns in Surendranagar district Taluka of Surendranagar Tourist attractions in Surendranagar district

History

Demographics

Places of interest

Administration

See also

References