Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of

Shimoga district Shimoga district, officially known as Shivamogga district, is a district in the Karnataka state of India. A major part of Shimoga district lies in the Malnad region or the Sahyadri. Shimoga city is its administrative centre. Jog Falls view ...

in the central part of the state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India. The city lies on the banks of the

Tunga River The Tunga River (alternatively spelled Thunga) is a river in Karnataka state, southern India. The river is born in the Western Ghats on a hill known as ''Varaha Parvata'' at a place called '' Gangamoola''. From here, the river flows through two ...

. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city is popularly nicknamed the "Gateway of

Malnad Malnad (; Malēnādu) is a region in the state of Karnataka in India. Malenadu covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountain range, and is roughly 100 kilometers in width. Malnadis a region of Karnataka ...

". The population of Shimoga city is 322,650 as per 2011 census. The city has been selected for the Smart Cities project, standing in the fourth position in the state and 25th in the country as of November 2020. The city is 569 m above sea level and is surrounded by lush green paddy fields, arecanut and coconut groves. It is located 267 km from the state capital

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

and 195 km from the port city

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ke ...

History

The name of the city is derived from the term "''shivmoga''". A version of the etymology is the story that

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 ...

drank the

water using "''Mogge''", hence the name Shiva-mogga". Another version of the etymology is that the name is derived from the term "''Sihi-Mogge''", meaning "sweet pot". The district formed the southern tip of the Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

Maurya The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

n Empire in the third century BC. It was ruled during later centuries by the Kadambas (4th century),

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

(6th century), Western Ganga,

Rashtrakutas Rashtrakuta ( IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing the ...

(8th century),

Hoysalas The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved ...

(11th century), and the

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire. Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, it spread over a large area and included the modern era Group of Monuments at Hampi site in Vijayanagara district, Bell ...

rulers (15th century).

Nayakas of Keladi Nayakas of Keladi (1499–1763), also known as Nayakas of Bednore and Ikkeri Nayakas, were an Indian dynasty based in Keladi in present-day Shimoga district of Karnataka, India. They were an important ruling dynasty in post-medieval Karnat ...

, also known as ''Nayakas of Bednore'' and ''Ikkeri Nayakas'', were an

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 ...

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

based in

Keladi Keladi is a temple town in Sagara Taluk of the state of Karnataka in India. Keladi is located about 8 km from the town of Sagara. History It is the place whence the ''Ikkeri'' chiefs derived their origin, which is thus related: Two broth ...

in present-day

. They were an important ruling dynasty in late medieval and early modern Karnataka. They initially ruled as a vassal of the famous

Vijayanagar Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and ...

. After the fall of the empire in 1565, they gained independence and ruled significant parts of

region of the Western Ghats in present-day Karnataka, most areas in the coastal regions of Karnataka, and parts of northern

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, Malabar and the central plains along the Tungabhadra river. In 1763 AD, with their defeat to

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the at ...

, they were absorbed into the Kingdom of Mysore. During the Satyagraha movement, Mahatma Gandhi also visited the place to instigate the fight for national freedom. After the independence of

in 1947, the Mysore state merged into the Republic of India. On 1 November 2006, the government of Karnataka announced the renaming of Shimoga to "Shivamogga", along with nine other cities in the state. The central government approved (12 cities) the request in the October 2014 and the city was renamed on 1 November 2014.

Education

Shimoga is one of the important centers for the high school and the pre-university education in

. Notable institutes in Shimoga for pre-university (PU) education include: Sri Aurobindo PU College and PACE PU College. The village of Gajanur hosts a

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) is a system of central schools for talented students predominantly from rural areas in India. They are run by Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Noida, an autonomous organization under the Department of School Educa ...

(central school) which is a boarding school.

Kuvempu University Kuvempu University is a public state university in Shankaraghattta, Bhadravathi taluk, Shivamogga, Karnataka, India. It was established in 1987 by the act of the Karnataka state legislature through amendment No. 28/1976 dated 29 January 1989 ...

is located in Shankarghatta, at a distance of 20 km from Shimoga. Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences is the medical sciences college at Shimoga and managed by Government Departments. Subbaiah Institute of Medical Sciences is located at Purale. It also has two engineering colleges, Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering and PES Institute of Technology and Management.

Demographics

As of

2011 Indian Census 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 ...

, Shimoga had a total population of 322,650, of which 162,018 were males and 160,632 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 32,691. The total number of literates in Shimoga was 254,531, which constituted 78.9% of the population with male literacy of 81.4% and female literacy of 76.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Shimoga was 87.8%, of which male literacy rate was 90.8% and female literacy rate was 84.8%. The

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

population was 40,737 and 9,192 respectively. Shimoga had 76009 households in 2011.

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

is the most widely spoken language in Shimoga. 85.5% of people are

Hindus 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 ...

and 12.25% are

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, with rest being

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

s, Christians and other..

Geography

According to the Shimoga City Municipal Corporation, the city has a total area of about . Most/all these hills are part of the Western Ghats, a region known for plentiful rainfall and lush greenery and declared during 2012 as a

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

site.

flows through Shimoga. It is the major source of drinking water in the city.

Climate

The climate is tropical wet and dry (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

) summer average temperature . This means that the winter and the early part of summer are typically dry periods. The majority of the rainfall occurs between June and early October. Shimoga is a part of a region known as

(land of hills) in Karnataka. Yearly, the rainfall aggregates up to 3295mm of precipitation. January and February are the driest months, July the wettest, and April is the warmest month with an average high temperature of 35.5 degrees Celsius (95.9 degrees F). Coldest months of Shimoga are July, August, November and December with average high temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees F). In summer (April–May), temperature crosses 36 °C at Shimoga.

Civic administration

Shimoga is governed by a Municipal Corporation called the Shivamogga City Corporation. The total area under it is , with a population of 322,650 (Census 2011). Shimoga has been selected under the Smart Cities Mission of the Indian Government under Round 2 of selections. Shimoga was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation from a Municipal Council in 2013. The latest Mayoral elections of Shimoga City Corporation were held in January 2020 in which BJP leader Suvarna Shankar was elected the Mayor and Surekha Muralidhar was elected as the Deputy Mayor. Since they were elected by elected representatives belonging to their party, we can say that the corporation has direct elections. The corporation has a Council of 35 elected members. In 2018, Smt. Charulatha Somal took charge as the Municipal Commissioner of Shimoga City Corporation.

Economy

APMC of Shimoga is main marketing point of arecanut, the major commercial crop grown in the district and well as in neighbouring districts like Uttara Kannada. Shimoga has the biggest

areca nut ''Areca'' is a genus of 51 species of palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and India, across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name ''Areca'' is derived from a name ...

market, and known for procuring high quality areca nuts. Other agricultural produces like rice, Maize, chili, coconut etc. are also marketed in APMC. Shimoga IT Park is an information technology hub built just outside Shimoga near the upcoming Shimoga Airport. The IT Park consists of a 100000 sq ft office building with 24/7 electrical capacity, diesel backup generators, and high speed T1 data connections for use by IT industries such as data centres, call centres, aerospace, robotics, etc. Spar mall

Transportation

Shimoga is well connected by road to major cities like

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...

Davangere Davanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly known ...

. Two major National Highways pass through the city. The city has two railway stations, main one being Shivmogga Town Railway Station, and there are trains that run to and from Bangalore,

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is re ...

and

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. Shimoga Airport is under construction in Sogane, 6 km south of Shimoga. The nearest international airports are Kempegowda International Airport and

Mangalore International Airport Mangalore International Airport , is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. It is one of the only two international airports in Karnataka, the other being Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore. Mangalo ...

Notable people

U. R. Ananthamurthy Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy (21 December 1932 – 22 August 2014) was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 199 ...

, Jnanapeetha awardee *

Sarekoppa Bangarappa Sarekoppa Bangarappa (26 October 1933 – 26 December 2011) was an Indian politician who was the 12th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1990 to 1992. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Karnataka between 1967 and 1996, bef ...

, former Chief Minister of Karnataka * K. S. Eshwarappa, a politician and former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka * Mathur Krishnamurthy, Kannada language writer. * Kuvempu, a National poet, Jnanapeetha winner * P Lankesh *

Kadidal Manjappa Kadidal Manjappa (1908–1992) was the third Chief Minister of Karnataka (then, Mysore State) for a short period of time in 1956 (19 August 1956 – 31 October 1956). He hailed from the village of Kadidal in the nature rich Tirthahalli taluk o ...

, 3rd Chief Minister of Karnataka *

Shekhar Naik Shekhar Naik (born 7 April 1986) is an Indian national blind cricketer and a former captain of the India national blind cricket team. He captained India to victories at the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup in 2012 and Blind Cricket World Cup in 20 ...

, a former captain of the Indian blind cricket team * D. H. Shankaramurthy, Former Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly * Khadi Shankarappa, a freedom fighter * Shimoga Subbanna, a playback singer *

Sudeep Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He i ...

, an actor and director in Indian cinema *

Archana Udupa Archana Udupa is an Indian singer. She sings devotional, classical and film songs. She is graded artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. She won Zee TV TVS Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest of singing in 1998. Archana Udupa is the first person of south ...

, Indian playback singer * B. S. Yediyurappa, 19th Chief Minister of Karnataka

References

External links

Shimoga Zilla PanchayatShimoga ProfileU.S. Army Corps of Engineers detailed map of Shimoga district 1959Shimoga City Website
{{Shivamogga topics Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2007 All articles containing potentially dated statements Cities and towns in Shimoga district Cities in Karnataka