Ponda ( Romi Konkani: ''Fôn-èh''; ), is a city and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

in the

North Goa district North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...

of Goa,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the administrative headquarters of

Ponda Taluka Ponda ''Tehsil, taluka'' is a subdivision of the district of north Goa district, north Goa, in the India, Indian state of Goa. Its administrative headquarters is the township of Ponda, Goa, Ponda. Location Located in central Goa, it hosts many ed ...

and is centrally located within the State of Goa. Ponda lies 28 km (17 miles) southeast of

Panaji Panaji (; , , )also known as Panjim, is the capital of the Indian state of Goa and the headquarters of North Goa district. Previously, it was the territorial capital of the former Portuguese India. It lies on the banks of the Mandovi river est ...

, the capital of Goa and 17 km (10.6 miles) northeast of

Margao Margao (, ) is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on the banks of the river Sal. It is the district headquarters of South Goa, and administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district. It is Goa's second largest ci ...

, the district headquarters, which is closer to Panaji North Goa.

Geography

Ponda is located at . It has an average elevation of . It lies along the National Highway 748, which connects

Belagavi Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

in the neighbouring state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Demographics

According to the 2011 census of India, Ponda had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 22,664. Males constituted 51.8% of the population and females 48.2%. Ponda had an average literacy rate of 85.2%, higher than the national average of 74.0%, with male literacy at 86.7% and female literacy at 83.5%. In Ponda, 9.9% of the population was under 6 years of age.

Religion

Hinduism

There are many Hindu temples in and around Ponda. The temples of Shri Manguesh (Shiva), Shri Nagesh, Shri Ganapati, Shri Ramnath and the Goddesses Shri Shantadurga, Shri Mahalasa, Shri Mahalaxmi are all located nearby.Department of Tourism, Government of Goa, India - Ponda
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Christianity

St. Anne Church, Ponda, Goa is called ‘Santa Ana Igreja em Ponda, Goa’ in Portuguese. The St. Anne Church, Ponda, Goa is popularly called ‘The Ponda Church’ locally in Goa. The original Church of Ponda, dedicated to St. Anne and St Anthony, was founded in 1700. Ponda was then a mission station administered by the Jesuits. The present Ponda Church was built later. The parish of Ponda was entrusted to the pastoral care of members of the Order of Franciscans Minor in 1957. The present parochial residence of the Ponda Church was built in 1967 and the church sanctuary was enlarged and remodeled in 1987. The church is of Neo-Roman style and is two-storey high. Its Rococo curved apex has cherubs and statue in relief. The facade has a Gable with stained glass oculus. It has finials of urn and spear-and-ball types. It has a belfry at left with horizontal banding and tiled porch up front. Chapel (with Chaplain) in the Parish of St. Anne Church, Ponda, Goa *Our Lady of Mount Carmel Chapel, Ponda, Goa Chapels (without chaplains) in the Parish of St. Anne Church, Ponda, Goa *St. Sebastian Chapel, Durbhat, Ponda, Goa *St. Rock Chapel, Bandora, Ponda, Goa *St. Anthony Chapel, Khandepar, Ponda, Goa

Islam

The historic Safa Masjid is a mosque built in 1560 by the Bijapur ruler Ibrahim Adil Shah I about 2 km from the center of Ponda. It is one of two 16th-century

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic monuments in Goa that survived the

Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal in 15 ...

Jainism

The

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Bandivade in Ponda was established by King Sripala. He also built a Jain temple of Neminatha in Ponda.

Government and politics

Ponda is part of Ponda (Goa Assembly constituency) and North Goa (Lok Sabha constituency).

Transport

Ponda is connected by road to the capital of Goa, Panaji, to the main railway junction of Margao, and to the International Airport at Dabolim. Regularly scheduled bus services to Panaji (Panjim), Margao, and Vasco (near Dabolim) depart from the Kadamba Transport Corporation bus stand on the outskirts of the town. Buses to nearby villages and towns, as well as interstate buses, also depart from the same bus stand. There are buses regularly between Ponda and Dharwad, Hubballi, and Belagavi, run by the Kadamba Transport Corporation and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation. The National Highway 566 connects Ponda to Vasco via Verna. The National Highway 4A connects to Belgaum/Hubli and Panaji (Panjim).

References

External links

National Institute of Construction Management and Research

{{Authority control Cities and towns in North Goa district