Solapur

This article is about the municipality in Maharashtra, India. For its namesake district, see Solapur district.

Solapur Solapur सोलापूर.
city
Government
• Mayor	Arif Shaik
Population  (2011)
• Total	4,315,527
Website	solapur.gov.in
0

Solapur (Marathi: सोलापूर) is a city in South Western Maharashtra, India governed by municipal corporation.

Solapur is one of the four districts that form the region of Western Maharashtra (the other three districts are Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli). It is the fourth largest district in Maharashtra in terms of land area and seventh largest in terms of population. It is an important junction on the Central railway line. Solapur is a city with an array of small and medium scale industries.

Solapur is very famous for Textile Industries, Solapur Chaddars and Towels are famous around the globe. It has been a leading center for cotton mills and power looms, though recent times have seen these industries relocate elsewhere. The chief deity of the city is Shri Siddeshwar. The "Nandidhwaj" procession on Makar Sankranti fair is attended by millions of devotees. An annual fair is held in the month of January wherein huge crowd comes from various parts of country, which is called as Gadda Fair in vernacular language. It is also famous for its shenga chatni and bhakri.

History

Solapur District was ruled by various dynasties such as Andhrabhratyas, Chalukyas, Ganpati Bappa Morya Rashtrkutas, Yadavas and Bahamanis. 'Solapur' is believed to be derived from two words 'Sola' meaning sixteen and 'pur' meaning village. The present city of Solapur was considered to be spread over sixteen villages viz. Aadilpur, Ahmedpur, Chapaldev, Fatehpur, Jamdarwadi, Kalajapur, Khadarpur, Khandervkiwadi, Muhammadpur, Ranapur, Sandalpur, Shaikpur, Solapur, Sonalagi, Sonapur and Vaidakwadi. Recent research work however shows that the name SOLAPUR is derived not from the congregation of sixteen villages. It is evident from the inscriptions of Shivayogi Shri. Siddheshwar of the time of the Kalachuristis of Kalyani, that the town was called Sonnalage which came to be pronounced as Sonnalagi. The town was known as Sonnalagi even up to the times of Yadavas. A Sanskrit inscription dated Shake 1238, after the downfall of the Yadavas found at Kamati in Mohol shows that the town was known as Sonalipur. One of the inscriptions found in Solapur fort shows that the town was called Sonalpur while another inscription on the well in the fort shows that it was known as Sandalpur.

File:Siddheshwar.jpg

Siddheshwar Lake

Sholapur passed from the Bahmani to the Bijapur kings and from them to the Mahrattas. In 1818, on the fall of the peshwa, it was ceded to the British, when it formed part of Ahmednagar, Pune and Satara districts. In 1838 it became the Sub-district of Ahmednagar. It included Barshi, Mohol, Madha, Karmala, Indi, Hippargi and Muddebihal Sub-divisions. In 1864 this Sub-district was abolished. In 1871 this district was reformed joining the Sub-divisions viz. Solapur, Barshi, Mohol, Madha and Karmala and two Sub-divisions of Satara district viz. Pandharpur, Sangola and in 1875 Malshiras Sub-division was also attached. After the State reorganisation in 1956 Solapur was included in Mumbai State and it became a full fledged district of Maharashtra State in 1960.

Solapur is one of the biggest cities in Maharashtra, situated near the borders with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is an ancient historical and religious place with Shri Siddharameshwar as its "Gramadaiwata". Shri Siddharameshwar was a historical figure of the 12th century whose "Karmayoga" on his own native land-Solapur, turned him into a God-figure over the course of time. There was a great saint Shri. Siddarama, who preached the teachings of Shri. Basaweshwara. A young girl, inspired by the teachings of this saint wished to marry the saint. Shri. Siddaram being a brahamachari denied to marry her and gave permission to marry with his Yogadanda. The same marriage function is celebrated every year on the Makar Sankranti for three days on Bhogi, Sankrant and Kinkrant. The Nandi Dhwajas are presumed to be Bride and Groom for the marriage. This festival falls around 14 January every year. A fair popularly known as Gadda Jatra is arranged for fifteen days during this period.

The importance of Solapur is unique in the history of India in the sense that this district enjoyed freedom even before independence. The citizens of Solapur enjoyed independence for three days from 9 to 11 May 1930. The brief history runs like this: After the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi in May 1930, protests and demonstrations against British rule were held throughout India. Large scale rallies and protests were also held at Solapur. Many citizens lost their lives in police firings. Due to this an irate mob attacked the police stations. Out of fear the police and other officers ran out of Solapur. During this period the responsibility of law, order and security of citizens rested on the shoulders of Congress Party leaders. Then city congress leader Tulsidas Jadhav along with other congressmen maintained the law and order for a period of three days from 9 to 11 May 1930.In February 2009 a statue of Shri Tulsidas Jadhav was erected at Mechanic chowk to acknowledge his brave act. The unveiling ceremony was performed by Shri Sharad Pawar.

Secondly, the Solapur Municipal Council was the first Municipal Council of India to hoist the national flag on the Municipal Council building (Now Municipal Corporation) Solapur in 1930. The brief history runs like this: Taking the spirit of Dandi March from Mahatma Gandhi, the freedom fighters of Solapur decided to hoist the national flag on the Solapur Municipal Council building. Accordingly, senior freedom fighter from Pune Shri. Annasaheb Bhopatkar hoisted the National Flag on 6 April 1930 on Municipal Council building. This was the first and the unique incidence of such kind throughout the country. The British rulers, were irritated and declared martial law at Solapur and arrested many leaders and innocent citizens on false and trumped up charges. The freedom fighters Shri. Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri. Kurban Hussain, Shri. Jagnnath Shinde and Shri. Kisan Sarda were arrested on charges of killing two policemen of Mangalwar police station. The lower court sentenced the accused freedom fighters to be hanged until dead. The High Court also confirmed the same decision and these four freedom fighters were hanged till death on 12 January 1931. As a mark of respect to these freedom fighters, the statues of these freedom fighters have been installed in the heart of the city and the location has been named 'Hutatma Chowk'.

During the Indian independence movement, the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9, 10 and 11 May 1930. However, this resulted in the executions of Mallappa Dhanshetti, Abdul Rasool Qurban Hussein, Jagannath Bhagwan Shinde and Shrikisan Laxminarayan Sarada who were hanged on 12 January 1931, in the prison at Pune. This resulted in the city becoming recognized as "The City of Hutatmas".

In this city Vips is fan of ' LINKIN PARK' & Sal,ash is the fan of 'EMINEM'

Geography and climate

Climate data for Solapur
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	30.9 (87.6)	34.0 (93.2)	37.4 (99.3)	39.7 (103.5)	40.1 (104.2)	35.0 (95.0)	31.7 (89.1)	31.0 (87.8)	31.8 (89.2)	32.5 (90.5)	31.0 (87.8)	30.0 (86.0)	33.8 (92.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	16.0 (60.8)	18.0 (64.4)	21.6 (70.9)	24.8 (76.6)	25.3 (77.5)	23.4 (74.1)	22.4 (72.3)	21.9 (71.4)	21.6 (70.9)	20.9 (69.6)	17.9 (64.2)	15.5 (59.9)	20.8 (69.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	2.2 (0.09)	4.6 (0.18)	3.8 (0.15)	11.2 (0.44)	36.9 (1.45)	111.5 (4.39)	138.8 (5.46)	137.3 (5.41)	179.8 (7.08)	97.4 (3.83)	23.2 (0.91)	4.8 (0.19)	751.5 (29.58)
Source: IMD

Solapur is located at 17.68°N 75.92°E / 17.68; 75.92. It has an average elevation of 458 metres (1502 feet). It is bordered by Ahmednagar district on the North, Osmanabad district on the North and Northeast; Gulbarga district (Karnataka state) on the Southeast and South; Sangli district on the South and Southwest; Satara district on the West and Pune district on the Northwest. It is situated at a distance of 410 km from the Maharashtra State Capital of Mumbai by road and train. Solapur is at a distance of 245 km from Pune and 305 km from Hyderabad. Solapur is situated on Deccan plateau.

Solapur falls under the category of dry (arid and Semiarid) climate according to the Köppen climate classification. The city experiences three distinct seasons: summer, monsoon and winter. Typical summer months are from March to May, with maximum temperatures ranging from 30 to 40 °C (86 to 104 °F). The warmest months in Solapur are April and May. The typical maximum temperatures being 40 °C (104 °F) or more. The highest temperature ever recorded is 48°C in April 1988. Although summer doesn't end until May or even the midst of June, the city often receives locally developed heavy thundershowers in May (although humidity remains high). The monsoon lasts from June to end of September, with moderate rainfall. The city of Solapur receives an average rainfall of 545 mm per year. Winter begins in November and last until the end of February with the temperatures occasionally dropping below 10 °C (50 °F). Solapur lies very close to the seismically active zone around Killari (Dist. Latur), about 100 km east of the city.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Solapur had a population of 873,037. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Solapur has an average literacy rate of 71.2%, higher than the national average of 65%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 60%. ex ratio is 935 female per 1000 males. Solapur is seventh largest city in Maharashtra state . Marathi is the official and wildly spoken language, while Kannada, Telugu, Urdu, Hindi and English are spoken and understood widely.

Civic administration

The civic administration of the city is managed by the Solapur Municipal corporation, which was established on 1 May 1964. The corporation oversees the engineering works, health, sanitation, water supply, administration and taxation in the city. It is headed by a Mayor who is assisted by Municipal Commissioner and elected representatives . The city is divided into 98 wards and 6 zones. The corporation members also known as corporators are elected by the citizens of Solapur every five years. The corporators in turn elect the Mayor. Its activities include developing new layouts and roads, town planning and land acquisition. The electrical supply to the city is managed by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MAHADISCOM).

Economy

The Major contribution to the economy in Solapur is agricultural produce, fruits like grapes, pomegranate etc. The district also consists of medium and small scale industries. Solapur is also the leading centre for handlooms, power looms and cotton mills producing chaddars, (Solapur bed sheets), bath-towels having great durability and novel designs.

The industrial empire of the Kirloskars expanded to Solapur way back in 1900. They set up their factory near Tikekarwadi, thus announcing the industrialisation of Maharashtra to the world. The Foundry with an annual capacity of 40000 MT is a major supplier to Mahindras, Toyota, Piaggio, Escorts, TAFE etc. The company is spread over 74 acres and is home to many species of birds, animals and insects. There are 2 lakes within the premise and is home to the migratory birds all round the year. The company employs more than 500 employees and is a major revenue earner in the city. It contributes its might to the development of the city. The company is a part of KIRLOSKAR FERROUS INDUSTRIES LIMITED, with its head office at Koppal in Karnataka. The regd office of the company is at Pune.

The Solapur district has the largest industry in Maharashtra for Beedi production. Solapur is also known for its oilseed-market. The other leading industries include: Precision Camshafts Limited, Smruthi Organics Limited., CIMCCO, Balaji Amines Ltd., Laxmi Hydraulics Pvt. Ltd., Iconsys India(SiP Market Associate Group)

The dissolution of giant textile mills like Lakshmi Vishnu, Yeshwant, Juni-mill, Solapur etc. had a great set-back on the economy of the city as well as district.

In recent development BF-NTPC Energy Systems Ltd (BFNESL), a JV between forgings maker Bharat Forge Ltd and power generation company NTPC Ltd, has begun work on its manufacturing plant at Solapur in south-eastern Maharashtra. The foundation stone for the new plant was laid on 15th Mar by the Union Power Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde. It is expected to become operational by mid-2012 and involves an investment of Rs 300–350 crore.

Solapur is an under-developed city is due to lack of local and "political" will power.

Place to visit

• Shri. Siddheshwar Mandir Solapur.

•Shahjahur Dargah

• Sangam Katta

Educational institutions

Schools

Solapur has several schools to cater the educational need.

The famous, notable and oldest schools are

• Haribhai Deokaran High School, Solapur [HDHS]
• Little Flower High School
• Siddheshwar Prashala
• St Joseph High School

Colleges

Solapur has seen the surge of arts- commerce-science junior and senior colleges, engineering as well as medical colleges in past two decaes or so. The notable and earlier institutes include:

• A.D.Joshi Junior College,Solapur
• Dayanand Institutions. Founded in 1940.
• Sangameshwar college, Solapur
• V.G.Shivdare college of Arts,Commerce and Biotech.
• Walchand Institute of Technology
• Dr. V. M. Government Medical College
• S.E.S Polytechnic, Samrat Chowk, Budhwar Peth
• Solapur Social College
• S.P.M College of Diploma Engineering.
• Bhramadevdada Mane Institute of Technology, Belati, Solapur
• Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi College of Engineering Keagaon Solapur
• SPSPM Sinhgadh Institute, Solapur.
• Lokmangal Agricuiture College Wadala
• Lokmangal Agriculturbiotechnology College Wadala
• Lokmangal Krushi Tantra Vidalaya
• Bharati Vidyapeeth's AKIMSS
• Vidya vikas prathishtan college of engineering, solapur.
• A. G. Patil Institute of Technology, Solapur.
• Orchid college of engineering, solapur.
• D.S.T.S. Mandal's College of Pharmacy, Solapur (B.Pharm, M.Pharm & Ph.D Centre)

University

The colleges and the institutes in Solapur were earlier affiliated to [Solapur University], Solapur. The post-graduate study center of Shivaji University (Kolhapur) at Solapur was functioning with the three departments Polymer Chemistry, Applied Physics/ Electronics and Geology having the masters courses and M. Phil, Ph. D. research in these areas. The center was located on the old campus of Dr. V. M. Government Medical College that was later on relocated to Police Golibar Maidan. The center was transformed to the university to serve the students of Solapur district and was formally inaugurated on 3 August 2004.

• Solapur University

Notable personalities

• Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis was among the physicians dispatched to China to provide medical assistance during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938.
• T.V. Sardeshmukh – A literary critic and Academy award winner,
• B.S. Kulkarni, Naturalist, author of several books on Birds, discovered the Bird Maldhok IN 1972
• Dr. Jabbar Patel (movieman and director of movies like Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Jait Re Jait, Umbartha and plays like Ghanshiram Kotwal)
• Ms. Shashikala (actress in Marathi and Hindi Movies)
• M. F. Hussain – World Famous painter
• Atul Kulkarni- film actor
• Salil Ankola – member of Indian Cricket Team in 1996 world Cup, Hindi Film actor
• Sarla Yeolekar - Hindi-Marathi film actress
• Rahul Solapurkar - Hindi-Marathi film actor
• Polly Umrigar - One of the all time greats of Indian cricketer
• Vedhika Kumar - She is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films and belongs to Solapur, Maharashtra .
• Sushilkumar Shinde – politician
• Achyut Godbole - A famous writer on subjects of Science and Economy.
• Anand Shinde - Famous Singer.

Cultural heritage

Solapur has had a distinct multi-ethnic, multilingual community for a long time. People use languages like Telugu, Kannada, Wadari, Gujarati, Sindhi, Hindi and Dakni in addition to the main language of Marathi.

The city has its own way of celebrating marriages. Irrespective of common cultures nearby, wedding ceremonies are performed in a very dignified and minimalistic way irrespective of cast and crews.

Tangas (horse carts) are still in use (rarely) for public transportation. Due to their proximity and the availability of jobs, many young educated people work in Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Nuclear families are increasingly finding a place in Solapur's society.

It shares few similarities with cosmopolitan societies like continuously changing, Non-Xenophobic, Self-centric, Volatile and Educated. Still it possesses a high degree of inertia towards self reforms and personal initiatives towards social causes. Mahatmaji Rajgopal Somani, Famous Personality in Ramanuja Srivaishnav Sampraday.

Writers

The city of Solapur is having great tradition of noted writers like: Marathi : Kavivarya D.R Bendre, T.D Sardeshmukh, Nirmalkumar Phadkule, Johadkar Smt. Surekha Shah, Maruti Chittampalli, B.S. Kulkarni, R.N Pawar, Vijaya Jahagirdar, Vivek Ghalsasi, Ambadas Shinde, Rajendra Das, Balkavayitri-Samruddhi Haridas Ranadive, Savata Ghadage, Laxminarayan Bolli, Shriniwas Hemade, Aroon Tikekar, Sharadkumar Ekbote.

Music

The city is also well known for its rich cultural heritage of music. In the past, Malkajan of Solapur was very famous singer in whole country. Later, the names Prabhudev Sardar, Fayyaz, Bhimrao Kanakdhar, Sulabha Pishvikar, Padmakar Dev, Dattusingh Gaherwar,Bhalchandra Panchwadkar,Girish Panchwadkar,Akshay Panchwadkar Ramprasad Dubey became well known in the city. Among the today's generation Jadhav Bandhu – (Sundari Player) and Atindra Sarvadikar – (Vocal) are promising Young artists who were also noticed at National level. Ramprasad Dube was a notable music director. He composed two major albums based on biography of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Drama

Dr. Jabbar Patel, Sarala Yevalekar, Fayyaz, Deepak Deshpande, Meera Shendage, Prashant Shinge.

Superstitious practices

In an annual event, infants are thrown off the roof of the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah to thank God for blessing couples with a child. This ritual, which attracts many devotees from across the country, is believed to be good for the health of the child. The infants are initially carried over to the terrace in small bags by a devotee. One after the other, the infants are then dropped from there, and others standing below hold a blanket to catch the falling kid. The event was reported first in 2008. In 2009, the event received a lot of national and international press coverage and was criticised by many child and human rights groups.

Transport

Public transport in Solapur is primarily provided by buses operated by Solapur Municipal Transport (SMT) and auto rickshaws.

Rail:
Solapur is one of the largest train junctions on the Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Hyderabad lines and is one of the five divisions of the Central Railway Zone of the Indian Railways. It is connected by direct trains to many important cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada etc. Solapur is also a terminal point of the Solapur-Bijapur line. A current railways timetable for the Solapur Railway Station is available on the Solapur district website. Time table on the official Solapur Railway Station's website Train Time Table See also Solapur Railway Division.

Road:
Solapur is well connected by road with major cities of Maharashtra as well as the adjoining State Capital of Hyderabad and important cities in Karnataka by three National Highways – NH-9 connecting Pune with Vijaywada via Hyderabad, NH-13 connecting Solapur to Mangalore, Karnataka and NH-211 connecting Solapur to Dhule. There are also numerous state and country routes that pass through Solapur. And connected to some cities like Siddipet, Karimnagar, Warangal etc. daily.

Ratnagiri-Nagpur National highway NH-204 connects Solapur to important cities of Maharashtra like Nagpur, Sangli, Kolhapur and Nanded.

Airport:
Solapur Airport (IATA code: SSE) is located to the south of Solapur city.Currently its has no scheduled services. Solapur will be connected to other cities after completion of new airport in Boramani. Kingfisher Red used to operate flights from Solapur to Mumbai on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The service was terminated due to lack of passengers, inadequate security of the runway and other financial issues.

External links

• Solapur Business Directory.

• Baby Dropping Ritual - Dangerous tradition in Solapur, India