Karanja (Ghadge) is a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

town located within the Arvi subdivision and serves as a taluka (code 4961) in the

Wardha district Wardha District (Marathi pronunciation: �əɾd̪ʰaː is in the state of Maharashtra in western India. This district is a part of Nagpur Division. The city of Wardha is the administrative headquarter of the district. Hinganghat, Pulgaon, A ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. Karanja is located on

National Highway 53 (India) National Highway 53, (combination of old - NH6 Surat-Kolkata, NH200 Bilaspur-Chandikhole & NH5A Chandikhole-Paradeep) is a national highway in India. It connects Hajira in Gujarat and Paradeep port in Odisha. NH-53 traverses the states of ...

, also known as Asian Highway (AH46) or National Highway 6 (India, under the old numbering system). It is approximately 76 km from

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

, 75 km from

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

, and 70 km from

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...

, placing it almost at the center of these major cities. Due to its strategic location, it serves as a convenient rest stop for tourists, travelers, and transport services. The

comprises around 60 gram panchayats and 102 villages. The majority of the population in Karanja consists of

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, with significant communities of

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

and

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

also residing in the area. In

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, the majority of the population belongs to the

Kshatriya Pawar Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

caste, also known as Bhoyar Pawar. Other major Hindu castes in the area include

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

Kunbi Kunbi (alternatively Kanbi) (Marathi language, Marathi: ISO 15919: ''Kuṇabī'', Gujarati language, Gujarati: ISO 15919: ''Kaṇabī'') is a generic term applied to several caste system, castes of traditional farmers in Western India. These ...

, and

Teli Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the oil pressing and trade in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik. India's Prime minister Narendra Modi is from Teli c ...

. The region also has a significant population of tribals, such as the Gond community. Festivals like

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

, Dasara, Pola,

Ganesh Utsav Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi () or Vinayaka Chavithi () or Vinayagar Chaturthi (), is a Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Hindu deity Ganesh. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's ''mur ...

Muharram Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...

, and

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

are celebrated. In 2015, Karanja was designated as a

Nagar Panchayat A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

The MahaOrange Plant

The MahaOrange Plant, located 2.5 km from Karanja (Ghadge), was established as a facility for exporting

oranges The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange (''Citrus × aurantium''), is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', between the pomelo (''Citrus m ...

and other fruits, such as

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

. It was operational before 2009–2010, primarily exporting oranges. However, due to unknown circumstances, the plant shut down and remained non-functional for many years, presenting a significant challenge. Although the plant is equipped with essential facilities for preparing fruits for export, such as grading, wax-coating, pre-cooling, and cold storage facilities, it lacks an attached processing unit. None of the available units were operational during its inactive period. In January 2015, when MahaOrange took over the plant, Shridhar Thakre informed the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) that repairing the plant would be a priority, as reported by ''The Times of India''.

Golibar Chowk incident

Golibar Chowk is one of the main squares in Karanja (Ghadge), located near the bus stop. The name of the square, ''Golibar'' (meaning "gunfire"), originates from an incident involving gunfire that occurred in the area. This ''गोळीमार'' (Golimar) incident remains a notable part of Karanja's history.

Sweet oranges

Karanja (Ghadge) and its surrounding areas are known for producing high-quality oranges, renowned for their sweet taste.

Cotton and soybean

Cotton and soybean are also produced on a large scale in Karanja Tehsil.

Shree Vitthal Tekdi

Karanja has a long landscape with a scenic view from Shri Vitthal Tekdi, where ''Shri Vitthal'' refers to Lord

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

and ''Tekdi'' means hill. The hill is known for the Shri Vitthal Temple at the top. The flat area at the summit is a popular spot for morning and evening walks, and many sports enthusiasts visit for jogging, running, and exercise. During holy months, devotees gather in the evening and at night for ''

bhajans Bhajan is an Indian term for any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Dharmic religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root w ...

''.

Athawadi Bazaar ( weekly market)

Athawadi Bazaar is a weekly market held every Sunday from 7:00 am to 11:30 pm, offering vegetables and other goods. It serves the everyday needs of Karanja town and nearby villages. ''Kacha chiwada'' and ''

jalebi ''Jalebi'' is a popular sweet snack in the Indian subcontinent, West Asia and some parts of Africa. It goes by many names, including ''jilapi'', ''zelepi'','' jilebi'', '' jilipi'', ''zulbia'', ''zoolbia'', ''jerry'', ''mushabak'', ''z'labia'' ...

'' are popular items in the market.

References

{{cite news , url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/successful-orange-export-due-to-support-of-farmers-and-entrepreneurs/articleshow/51664103.cms, title= The MahaOrangePlant reference 1, newspaper= The Times of India, date= 3 April 2016, access-date=2023-01-22 Cities and towns in Wardha district Wardha district Talukas in Maharashtra