Kurundwad is a town on the banks of the

Panchganga river The Panchganga River is one of the important rivers of India located in Maharashtra. In English, the name translates as "Five Rivers". It is a major tributary of Krishna River, with which it joins at Narsobawadi. Origin The Panchganga River o ...

, 55 km from Kolhapur (

Kolhapur district Kolhapur district (Marathi pronunciation: olʱaːpuɾ is a district in the Maharashtra state of India. The city of Kolhapur is its district headquarter. It is situated near Panchaganga river. It is bordered by the Sangli district to the Nor ...

) in the Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Geography

It is in the southern part of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

. It is 55 km from the district headquarters of

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

and lies 2 km from the Shri Dattatrey devotee town of Narsobachi Wadi. Kurundwad is situated near the banks of two rivers,

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and Panchaganga. Near Krishna river lies Kurundwad Ghat, built by Raja Raghunathrao I Dadasaheb Patwardhan around 1795. A ''samadhi'' (memorial) of Santajiraje Ghorapade, who was Commander-in-Chief of Maratha forces that humbled

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

during the reign of Chhatrapati Rajaram (1689–1700).

Transport

The nearest railway station is in

Jaysingpur Jaysingpur is a city and municipal council in the Kolhapur district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city derives its name from Raja Jaysing, the father of Shrimant Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, who planned and developed the a ...

, approximately 15 km to the north.

Culture

Popular regional sports include

Kabbadi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

, weight lifting and

Kho Kho Kho kho or kho-kho is a traditional Indian sport that dates back to ancient India. It is the second most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connec ...

History

During the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, the area of Kurundwad was a

native state In biochemistry, the native state of a protein or nucleic acid is its properly folded and/or assembled form, which is operative and functional. The native state of a biomolecule may possess all four levels of biomolecular structure, with the s ...

, falling under the

Deccan States Agency The Deccan States Agency, also known as the Deccan States Agency and Kolhapur Residency, was a political agency of British India, managing the relations of the British government of the Bombay Presidency with a collection of princely states and ...

of the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

. It formed part of the southern Mahratta ''jagirs''. Created in 1772 by a grant from the

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

, the state was later divided into two parts, including "Shedbal", which lapsed to the British government in 1857. In 1855, the remaining state area of Kurundwad was further divided into a senior branch, Kurundvad Senior, with an area of 185 miles², and a junior branch,

Kurundvad Junior Kurundvad Junior, also spelt as 'Kurundwad', was of two Maratha Empire, Maratha princely states during the British Raj: 'Kurundvad Senior' and Kurundvad Junior. The two states separated in 1854 and less than a century later, on 8 March 1948, both ...

, with an area of 114 miles². The territory of both was widely scattered among other native states and British districts. According to the 1901

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 incl ...

, the senior branch had a population of 42,474, while the junior branch had a population of 34,003. The chiefs of the branches were

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

s by caste, belonging to the

Patwardhan Patwardhan may refer to the surname most commonly used by members of Indian Chitpavan Brahmin families belonging to the Kaundinya gotra. The Karhade Patwardhans belong to the Kashyapa and Naidhruva Gotra and their history in the Rajapur region o ...

family. The last ruler (junior line) was Raja Shrimant Raghunathrao Ganpatrao (Dadasaheb) Patwardhan. He was ADC to the 1st President of India, recipient of the Independence Medal, recipient of King George V Silver Jubilee Medal and the King George VI Coronation Medal ereditary Distinction

Legacy

Raja Shrimant Bhalchandrarao II Chintamanrao Patwardhan, Raja of Kurundwad-Snr, ranks as a ''sardar'' in the southern Maratha country.

Demographics

The "Kurundwad Municipal Council" has population of 22,372 of which 11,325 are males while 11,047 are females as per report released by "Census India 2011". Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 2267 which is 10.13% of total population of Kurundwad (M Cl). In Kurundwad Municipal Council, Female Sex Ratio is of 975 against state average of 929. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Kurundwad is around 802 compared to Maharashtra state average of 894. Literacy rate of Kurundwad city is 86.90% higher than state average of 82.34%. In Kurundwad, Male literacy is around 92.81% while female literacy rate is 80.97%.

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

is the official and most widely spoken language there.

Schools

* Sitabai Patwardhan High School, Kurundwad. * Dr. Allama Iqbal High School and Junior College, Kurundwad. * Sane Guruji Vidyalaya, Kurundwad. * Sou. Vimaladevi Khanderao Mane Kanya Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Kurundwad. * Prathamik Vidya Mandir, Kurundwad. * Sanjeevani English Medium School, Kurundwad. *Sainiki Pattern Niwasi Shala, Kurundwad. *Abhinav Prathamik Shala, Kurundwad. *Kumar Vidya Mandir No.1, Kurundwad. *Kumar Vidya Mandir No.2, Kurundwad. *Kumar Vidya Mandir No.3, Kurundwad. *Kanya Vidya Mandir No.1, Kurundwad. *Kanya Vidya Mandir No.2, Kurundwad.

Notable people

Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (18 August 1872 – 21 August 1931) was a Hindustani musician. He sang the original version of the bhajan Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, and founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya on 5 May 1901. He is also credited with ...

- Hindustani classical vocalist
Ringmaster Vishnupant Chhatre
''-'' Circus inventor of India

References

{{Reflist

External links

Website on Kurundwad
1772 establishments in India Cities and towns in Kolhapur district Princely states of India States and territories established in 1772