Umaria district is a district of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. The town of
Umaria
Umaria is a municipality city in the Umaria district of the Shahdol Division of Madhya Pradesh, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second ...
is the district headquarters. The district is part of Shahdol Division.
The total geographical area of the district sums up to 4548 square kilometers and has a population of 644,758. Umaria is enriched with its vast resources of forests and minerals. The
coal mine
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
s are a steady source of revenue for the district.
The most important mineral found in the district is coal and as a result 8 mines are being operated by
South Eastern Coalfields Limited
South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) is the largest coal producing company of India. It is a "Miniratna" Company, and one of eight fully owned subsidiaries of Coal India Limited. The company has its headquarter at Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Ind ...
(Nowrozabad) in the district. The
Bandhavgarh National Park
Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...
(Tala) and
Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Station
Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Plant is located at Birsinghpur in Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the secon ...
at Mangthar (Pali) are located in the district. Umaria was formerly the headquarters of the South Rewa District and thereafter the headquarters town of the
Bandhavgarh
Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...
tehsil. It is situated at a distance of about 69 km. from
Shahdol
Shahdol is a city in Shahdol district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Shahdol district, The total geographical area of the district is .
Demographics
India census
A census is the procedure o ...
, the parent district. Metalled roads connect the town with
Katni
Katni officially Murwara is a city on the banks of the Katni River in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Katni District. It is in the Mahakoshal region of central India. The city is from the divisional headquarters ...
,
Rewa
Rewa may refer to:
Places Fiji
* Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji
* Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh
* Rewa Province, Fiji
* Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji
...
,
Shahdol
Shahdol is a city in Shahdol district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Shahdol district, The total geographical area of the district is .
Demographics
India census
A census is the procedure o ...
, etc., on which regular buses ply. Umaria is also a railway station on the Katni-Bilaspur section of the
South East Central Railway zone
The South East Central Railway (abbreviated SECR) is one of the 19 Railway Zones in India. The Zone Office is headquartered at Bilaspur and comprises the Bilaspur, Nagpur and Raipur Division.
History
This Zone was formerly part of the South ...
.
As of 2011 it is the second least populous district of Madhya Pradesh (out of
50), after
Harda
Harda is a town and a municipality in Harda district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Harda is the administrative headquarters of Harda.
History Mughal period
During the Mughal period, Harda was a mahal in the Handia sarkar. In 1742 ...
.
History
Umaria was ruled by Lodhi Rajputs. The Lodhi Rajput family built the temple of Lakshmi Narayan on southern bank of Narbada Barman ghat. They also built on the steps of the northern bank of Barman ghat Karkeli a great gateway called the Hathi Darwaza, to allow their elephants passage. The fort of
Bandhavgarh
Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...
was given as dowry with Padamkuwari, daughter of Somdutt Karchuli of
Mandla
Mandla is a city with municipality in Mandla district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandla District. The city is situated in a loop of the Narmada River, which surrounds it on three sides, and ...
to Karan Deo, son of Maharaja Vyaghradev. Bandhogarh was the early capital of the Baghel dynasty.
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
spent his childhood days in Bandhogarh.
Later the Baghels of
Rewa
Rewa may refer to:
Places Fiji
* Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji
* Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh
* Rewa Province, Fiji
* Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji
...
came with his force and won Umaria from Lodhis. Umaria was always a favourite town for many princes and kings because the dense forests and tigers. It was the southern capital of old Rewa District under the former Bandhogarh tehsil. The forests of
Bandhavgarh
Bandhavgarh National Park is a national park of India, located in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh, with an area of , was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger Reserve in 1993. The current core area is spread ov ...
were a game reserve of Maharaja of Rewa.
After independence, Umaria was a part of
Shahdol district
Shahdol District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in east central India. It old name was Matsya raj or Virat kingdom in the name of great king Maharaja Virata. With a total area of and a population of 10,66,063. Shahdol is an important dist ...
. In 1998, it was carved out of Shahdol as a separate district.
Climate
Average Rainfall : 1293 m.m.
Average Max. Temperature :46.2 °C
Average Min. Temperature : -0.1 °C
Economy
In 2006 the
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a m ...
named Umaria one of the country's 250
most backward districts (out of a total of
640).
[ It is one of the 24 districts in Madhya Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).]
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Umaria District has a population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 644,758, roughly equal to the nation of Montenegro
)
, image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg
, map_caption =
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, capital = Podgorica
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages = M ...
or the US state of Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. This gives it a ranking of 513th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.73%. Umaria has a sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species devia ...
of 953 females
Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...
for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
of 67.34%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 9.02% and 46.64% of the population respectively. The Gonds make up the largest tribal group, accounting for 40% of the total ST population. Other important tribes include the Baigas and Kols.
Hindus are the largest group in the district with 96.33%. Muslims are 2.48% and traditional tribal religions were 0.93%.
Languages
At the time of the 2011 Census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...
, 83.58% of the population in the district spoke Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
, 14.43% Bagheli
Bagheli (Devanagari: बघेली) or Baghelkhandi is a Central Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Baghelkhand region of central India.
Classification
An independent language belonging to the Eastern Hindi subgroup, Bagheli is one of the ...
and 0.94% Gondi as their first language.2011 Census of India, Population By Mother Tongue
/ref>
Bandhavgarh National Park
Bandhavgarh () is a relatively small park. In the last few years this former game reserve has become one of India's most prominent National Parks. The major reason for all the interest is Bandhavgarh high density of tigers, which roam the mixed forests of sal, bamboo and ambilica officinale in search of an easy kill. The tigers have not only bolstered the local population by breeding successfully, they have also brought international media attention to the park and to the plight of the Royal Bengal Tiger. The density of the tiger population at Bandhavgarh is the highest known in India. 60 Tigers at 450 km2 area in Bandhavgarh National Park. This is also white tiger country. The last known as captured by Maharaja Martand Singh in 1951. This white tiger, named "Mohan," is now stuffed and display in the place of Maharaja of Rewa
Rewa may refer to:
Places Fiji
* Rewa (Fijian Communal Constituency, Fiji), a former electoral division of Fiji
* Rewa Plateau, between the Kaimur and Vindhya Ranges in Madhya Pradesh
* Rewa Province, Fiji
* Rewa River, the widest river in Fiji
...
.
Attractions
Bandhavgarh Fort
Bandhavgarh is the name of tehsil in Umaria District. Formerly it was the capital of the Bandhavgarh Kingdom of the Magha dynasty, then the headquarters of the tehsil. At present its headquarters is Umaria.
The fort of Bandhavgarh is a place of considerable archaeological and historical importance.
It is a natural impregnable fort and stands on a hill, at an attitude of about above sea-level. The Bamnia hill is also a part of the fort, because it is enclosed by a rampart. The fort is on the Rewa-Uma-Katni road at a distance of about from Umaria Town.
Chandia
Chandia is on the Umaria-Katni road, from Umaria. The railway station of Chandia Road, known as Chandia railway station.
The most important spot of Chandia is a small temple, enshrining Goddess Kalika. Her mouth is wide open, but her out-stretched tongue is broken. There is also an old temple of god Rama and his consort Janaki. It was a thikana (state or estate) of Thakur of Chandia. A small fair meets at Suraswahi Chandia for three days in February/March, on the occasion of Shivaratri. There is a Fort Chandia of Baghels.
Pali Birsinghpur
Pali Birsinghpur is situated on the Umaria-Shahdol road, at a distance of about from Umaria. Another road goes from Pali to Mandla via Dindori. This place is famous for Maa Birasini Devi Temple. Pali is also a railway station, and there is a rest house for the tourists to stay. The station is known as the Pali-Birsinghpur station. Near the railway station there is a temple, enshrining Maa Birasini Devi Temple. By popular belief she is Goddess Kali, represented here as skeleton Goddess, but with her mouth closed. Many remains of old Jain idols kept here in some Hindu temples. The annual fairs are held both in October and March, on the occasion of Navaratri, near the temple of Goddess.
Umaria town
The headquarters town of the Umaria district and Bandhavgarh tehsil, formerly Umaria was the headquarters of the South Rewa District. It is situated at a distance of about from Shahdol.
Near the railway station stands a Shiva temple, known as the Sagara temple. It was an old shrine, recently remodeled. Its main gates are still intact with stone statues, carved in Khajuraho models. Near about is Jwalamukhi temple. About from the town, there is another temple named Madhibag temple of Mahabharata era, with similar carvings of the Khajuraho pattern.
Umaria is known for its coal-mines, which were opened in 1881 by the Government of India and transferred to the Rewa Darbar in the same year, mainly to meet the requirement of railway at Katni.
Baderi
Baderi is a gram panchayat in Umaria district. It is situated about from Umaria in Bandhavgarh Road. It was a province of Baghela dynasty in Central India. It was a pawai (estate) of Rewah Riyasat. There is Nand Mahal and Baderi Fort, ruled by Baghel rajputs in 17th century.
Manpur
Manpur is a block and the biggest tehsil in umaria district. It is situated about from district headquarter and about from Bandhavgarh National Park in Tala-Jaisinghnagar road. There are 84 Gram Panchayats in Manpur tehsil.
Mangthar Dam (Birsinghpur Reservoir)
Birsinghpur Reservoir is located from Birsinghpur Pali Railway Station. This reservoir is constructed for Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Station
Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Plant is located at Birsinghpur in Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the secon ...
. This reservoir is constructed on Johila river, which originates near Amarkantak
Amarkantak (National Library at Kolkata romanization, NLK ''Amarakaṇṭaka'') is a pilgrim town and a Nagar Panchayat in Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Amarkantak region is a unique natural heritage area and is the meeting point of the Vin ...
in Anuppur
Anuppur is a City in northeastern Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Anuppur tehsil and Anuppur District. Previously, it was in Shahdol district.
Geography
Anuppur is located at . It has an aver ...
district of Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. Johila River is a tributary of the Son River
Son River ( hi, सोन नदी, also spelt Sone River) is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Pat ...
, which is the second largest tributary of the Ganga river
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
from the southern banks.
References
External links
Umaria District
{{Districts of Madhya Pradesh
Districts of Madhya Pradesh
Coal mining districts in India