Kolhapur district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Kolhapur.

Template:India Districts Kolhapur district is in Maharashtra state. The city of Kolhapur is the district headquarters. As of 2011, the district had a population of 3,874,015, of which 33% were urban. Marathi and Kannada is spoken most often.

Kolhapur

Kolhapur is known for being a centre of art, education, industry, sports, food, headwear, footwear, jewellery and religion, and particularly wrestling. Wrestling is called "Kusti" here, and wrestlers are known as "Malla". This wrestling match is played in the square clay ground which is known as "Akhada".

According to legend it was settled by Kolhasur, a demon who was later killed by Mahalakshmi to relieve the local populace. Honouring the demon's dying wish, the city was named after him.

The physical setting of the Kolhapur district is divided into three main parts: Eastern ranges, Central ranges and Southern ranges. Eastern and Central ranges have black soil formed from lava, and at some places it has large tracts of fertile land. The western ranges are mostly hilly and have red soil. The majority area in the west is under thick forest coverage.

Panchaganga, Warana, Dudhaganga, Vedganga, Bhogavati, Hiranyakeshi and Ghataprabha are main rivers which flow towards east through western Ghats. The river Panchaganga is formed by the tributaries the Kasari, the Kumbi, the Tulsi and the Bhogavati. Krishna River flows in the east on the eastern border of the district, similarly Tillari River flows on the western border.

The popular Kolhapuri Chappal originated and is made here.

Karveer

This is a central tehsil and contains the city of Kolhapur, the district headquarters. Jaggery is known as Kolhapur's "molten gold".

Gadhinglaj

Gadhinglaj is said to be subdistrict place of Kolhapur district. This is the southernmost tehsil in the district and touches Karnataka state border. After each 30 minutes there is a bus from Kolhapur which goes via Nippani (Karnataka) city. Gadhinglaj is nearly 65 km from Kolhapur. There is a very popular senior college named Shivraj Mahavidyala. This is the central place to stay in and visit some fine destinations like Samangad (the historical fort built during Shivaji Era), the tomb of famous warrior Shri Prataprao Gujar who fought against the Adil Shahi army of Bahalul Khan with only six soldiers, the beautiful Ramtirth waterfalls (from June to December).shri-kalbairav temple gadhinglaj

Panhala

This tehsil is in the central part of the Kolhapur District. Panhala tahshil is famous for its forts and heritage. Kodoli is the largest and major industrial city in this tehsil. Panhala is a famous hill station/tourist destination in the district. Near Panhala hill station there is the Jyotiba Temple, which is a major tourist attraction. Warananagar is India's well known co-operative and industrial centre which is known as Warana Wired Village.

Bhudargad

Bhudargad is one of the tehsils in Kolhapur district. Gargoti is newly developed town in this tehsil, 50 km from Kolhapur city. Gargoti is an education center for the rural areas around. The mouni Vidhypith is one of the institute which runs many education programmes like diplomas in Engineering, Science, Commerce, Arts, graduate-level programes, D Ed, B Ed courses.

In Bhudargad tehsil the main river is Vedaganga, which starts at Tambyachiwadi. There is Patgaon dam on river Vedganga. It has natural beauty and forests around. Average rainfall is more than 1,500 millimetres (59 in).

Bhudargad Fort is one of the best hill stations in the Bhudargad tehsil. Medical plants are available in the Patgaon area which is helpful medical science to research and make medicine.

Rangna fort, 55 km from Gargoti, on the border of Sindhudurg district one of the best constructed fort by Chhtrapati Shivaji maharaj. It has natural beauty and hill forest around it, and amazing wildlife

First sugar factory on co-operative basis in the country run by women is situated near Tambale.

Kagal

Between 1775 and 1825 Kagal was more than once sacked and burned by the Rajas of Kolhapur. The oldest known mention of Kagal is in grants or sanads of the sixteenth century from the Bijapur government. No old buildings remain intact, but there are ruins of mosques and temples. The old fort was destroyed by Yasavantarao Sinde of Kolhapur in 1780. In its place about 1813 the late Hindurao Ghatge built a new fort 377 feet from east to west by 366 feet from north to south. It is enclosed by a ditch and a thick stone wall now in ruins. The eastern portion of the rampart was destroyed in 1858 by order of the British government. Besides a large mansion built within the town by Hindurao after the model of the famous palace of Deeg, and several good houses belonging to the relations of the Ghatge family.

This is the native place of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur. MLA and honourable state minister Hasan Mushrif is selected from Kagal. It has three main rivers: Dudhganga, Vedganga and Chikotra.

There are three sugar factories:

• Shri Chatrapati Shahu Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, whose chairperson is Vikramsigh Ghatage, maternal successor of Rajarshi Shahu maharaj of Kolhapur dynasty.
• Sadashivrao Mandlik Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, Hamidwada, whose founder and chairperson is Sadashivrao Mandlik.
• Dudhganga-Karkhana Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana, Bidri, whose chairperson is K.P. Patil.

Sadashivrao Mandlik, MP of Kolhapur is from this taluka (born in Murgud). Former MLA Sanjay Ghatge is from Vhanali. Bhadgaon: small village in kagal tehsil, 30 KM from kagal, Bhadgaon situated on vedganga river

Shirol

This Tehsil is on the eastern side. It touches Sangli district on east and north, Karnataka state on south and Hatkanangle tehsil on east. Jaysingpur and Kurundwad are two major towns in the tehsil. Narsobawadi (Nrisinhawadi) is a very famous religious place which is part of this tehsil and Khidrapur is famous for ancient temple.

Khidrapur has beautiful examples of temple architecture in India: the Kopeshwar (shiva) Temple. It was built by Shilahar King Gandaraditya, Vijayaditya and Bhoj-II between 1109 and 1178 A.D. The artistic temple of Kopeswar or Mahadev at Khidrapur is a treasure house of beautiful carved sculpture and a rare architectural marvel. It has been declared as a protected monument by the government. The entire temple rests on 'Gajpeeth' which is a semicircular platform resting on the back of 92 carved elephants.

Kothali is also one of the famous villages in this tehsil.

Hatkanagale

This is adjacent tehsil. Pethvadgaon and Ichalkaranji are its major towns. Ichalkaranji is famous for its cotton mills; it is often referred to as the Manchester of Maharashtra.

Ichalkaranji is well developed and one of the emerging cities of Maharashtra. Ichalkaranji is the one of the biggest industrial and textile centres. Ichalkaranji includes three engineering colleges, four diploma colleges, two Ded, six senior, and 14 Junior colleges.

Ajara

Ajara is a small rural town. It is a cool and calm place. Its rivers, dams, forests and temples make it beautiful.

It is on the banks of Hiranyakeshi and Chitra rivers. The famous Ramtirth waterfall and hill station Amboli are near from this place. It's on the Kolhapur-Amboli road. Ajara is the birthplace of the late Shree Shivajirao Sawant, who is famous for novels like Mrutyunjay, Yugandhar, Chhava. Ajara is famous for heavy rain and for production of Ghansal rice (variety of rice). This place is surrounded by tropical forests of Sahyadri.

Agriculture is the main occupation of the people, with rice and sugarcane the primary crops.

Writing about nature in Ajra, you cannot miss Ramtirth. It is one of the coolest and quietest places in Ajra. It has a very nice waterfall that gushes down during the rainy season. It is a scenic spot in Ajra. The river Hiranyakeshi flows through Ramtirth. Ajra boasts of a huge dam over the river Chitri. The Chitri dam is very beautiful. This dam is a big reservoir of water and is of great help to the people in Ajra and around. This is also a picnic spot for the people.

Ajra also has a mix of religions. The Ravalnath Mandir is well decorated. Ajra also has a number of mosques. Christians worship at Lady of Rosary Church.

Chandgad

This is the southern tehsil in the district and touches Karnataka, Goa, and Kokan. It is situated on the Tamraprani river. One of the beautiful and biggest rainfall city of Kolhapur. Kowad is the birthplace of Ranjit Desai, who is famous for novels like Shrimaan Yogi. Jangamahatti is the birthplace of P.L. Deshapande, also in this tahsil.

All the people are koli-mahadev tribal community, in village Kamewadi and Chinchane.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Kolhapur district has a population of 3,874,015, roughly equal to the nation of Liberia or the US state of Oregon. This gives it a ranking of 65th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 504 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,310/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 9.96%. Kolhapur has a sex ratio of 953 females for every 1000 males.