Shirgaon ("Shirgaav" in the

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state o ...

) is a small village in the Walwa subdivision of the Sangli District,

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 ...

state, India. It is located 32 km west of Sangli and 320 km from Mumbai. Agriculture is one of the main sources of income, with the main cultivated crop being sugar cane, followed by

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s and

soya beans Soya may refer to: Food * Soya bean, or soybean, a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean * Soya sauce, see soy sauce, a fermented sauce made from soybeans, roasted grain, water and salt Places * Sōya District, ...

. Most of the land is irrigated.

Population

As of the 2011 Indian census, Shirgaon has a population of 1,950 inhabitants. Males make up 52% of the population and females 48%. The traditional business of the Ambis is to drive small boats ("hodi", or "naav" in Marathi) on the river.

The town

The village is surrounded by the Krishna River on three sides. During floods, the only way into the village is from the north. The village has very few schools in the area with the primary/secondary schools K. Laxmibai Naikwadi Vidhyalay and the Shirgaon Z.P. School. There is an ancient temple of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

on the banks of the river. Every year there are

Mahashivratri Maha Shivaratri ( IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ...

celebrations in the temple, attended by a large number of devotees.

Pragati Wachanalaya Shirgaon Library

The public

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

in Shirgaon is the Pragati Wachanalaya Shirgaon Library, started in 2002 by the Pragati Group Shirgaon. The library contains about 6000 books useful for children in their preparation of competitive examinations. This library celebrated its 13th anniversary on 14 November 2015 . Competitions held at this occasion for the students included a Rangoli competition, drawing, painting, handwriting and essay writing. The library has recently been given a computer to store the book inventory. In addition to children's study books, it holds

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 * * ...

daily newspapers such as ''

Sakal ''Sakal'' (Marathi: सकाळ, meaning "Morning") is a Marathi-language daily newspaper by Sakal Media Group, its headquarters established in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Sakal is the flagship newspaper of the foundation publication, Sakal Med ...

'', '' Pudhari'', '' Lokmat'' and ''

Loksatta ''Loksatta'' (''Lōksattā'') is a Marathi daily newspaper in Maharashtra, India. It is published by The Indian Express Group and was launched on 14 January 1948. ''Loksatta'' is published out of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Palghar, Ahmednag ...

'', and monthly magazines. Website - www.pragatilibrary.page4.me

References

{{Reflist Villages in Sangli district