Virbhadra is a town in
Dehradun district in 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
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, located close to the pilgrimage town of
Rishikesh
Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints meditati ...
. It is most known as the factory township of
Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited
Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL) is a public sector pharmaceutical, bulk drug manufacturing and drug discovery company owned by the Indian government, headquartered in New Delhi, and located in Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Rishikesh.: ...
,
Rishikesh
Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints meditati ...
plant (IDPL), a
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
undertaking, established in 1967, with about 2800 houses, with Government Inter College and a
Kendriya Vidyalaya
The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of central government schools in India that are instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,248 schools in India, and three abroad in Moscow ...
, established in 1976 with support from IDPL administration but get closed in 2000, again reestablished by initiative of centre government in same campus in 2003 The town also has a historical
Virbhadra Temple
Virbhadra Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, located at Virbhadra
Virbhadra is a town in Dehradun district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, located close to the pilgrimage town of Rishikesh. It is most known as the factory township of Ind ...
,
Neem Karoli Baba
Neem Karoli Baba () or Neeb Karori Baba () ( – 11 September 1973), known to his followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman. He is known outside India for being the spiritual master of a number of Ameri ...
Ashram and a Hanuman Mandir. Very near to the town is the
Pashulok Barrage
The Pashulok Barrage is a barrage located on the Ganges River just south of Rishikesh in Dehradun district, Uttarakhand, India.
Chilla Power Plant
In a run-of-the-river scheme, the main purpose of the barrage is to divert water into a canal o ...
which acts as a water reservoir for the Chilla Hydro power plant. The motorable road to the
Neelkanth Mahadev Temple passes along the top of the dam.
Geography
Virbhadra is located at . It has an average elevation of 330 metres (1,083 feet).
History
It is named after ''
Virabhadra
Virabhadra (), also rendered Veerabhadra, Veerabathira, and Veerabathiran, is a fierce form of the Hindu god Shiva. He is created by the wrath of Shiva, when the deity hurls a lock of his matted hair upon the ground, upon hearing of the self- ...
'', an avatar created through the wrath 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 ...
after the
yajña
Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...
of
Daksha
In Hinduism, Daksha (Sanskrit: दक्ष, IAST: , lit. "able, dexterous, or honest one") is one of the '' Prajapati'', the agents of creation, as well as a divine king-rishi. His iconography depicts him as a man with a stocky body and a ha ...
, at
Kankhal
Kankhal is a small colony in Haridwar in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand state in India.
Mentioned in the Vayu Purana and the Mahabharata as ''Kanakhala'',[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 ...]
,
Virbhadra had a population of 13,271. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Virbhadra has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 86%, and female literacy is 75%. In Virbhadra, 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.
References
Cities and towns in Dehradun district
{{Uttarakhand-geo-stub