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Bikaner

Coordinates: 28°01′00″N 73°18′43″E / 28.01667°N 73.31194°E / 28.01667; 73.31194
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This article is about the city Bikaner in Rajasthan, India. For its namesake district, see Bikaner district. For other uses, see Bikaner.

Bikaner
Jangladesh
City
Lalgarh Palace, Bikaner
Laxmi Niwas Palace, Bikaner
Nickname: 
Bikana
Bikaner is located in Rajasthan
Bikaner
Bikaner
Bikaner is located in India
Bikaner
Bikaner
Coordinates: 28°01′00″N 73°18′43″E / 28.01667°N 73.31194°E / 28.01667; 73.31194
CountryIndia
StateRajasthan
DistrictBikaner
Founded byRao Bika ji
Government
 • BodyMunicipal corporation
Area
 • Total155 km2 (60 sq mi)
Elevation
242 m (794 ft)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total4,321,125
 • Density28,000/km2 (72,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • OfficialHindi, English
 • RegionalMarwari
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
3340XX
Telephone code+91 151
Vehicle registrationRJ-07
Websitebikaner.rajasthan.gov.in

Bikaner (pronunciationⓘ) is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan in northern India. It is located 330 kilometres (205 mi) northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division.

Formerly the capital of the princely state of Bikaner, the city was founded by Rao Bika in 1486[2][3][4] and from its small origins it has developed into the fourth largest city in Rajasthan. The Ganges Canal, completed in 1928, and the Indira Gandhi Canal, completed in 1987, facilitated its development.

The city celebrates its foundation day on Akshaya Tritiya by flying kites and eating special Rajasthani food that includes Bajre Ka Khichda and Imli ka Paani (Tamarind Water) among other snacks. The celebration lasts for two days, known as Chhoti Akha Teej and Badi Akha Teej. People can be seen flying kites during these two days right from the early morning at 5-6am till late sunset. Given the extreme desert weather, standing for long hours under the bright Sun is a torture in itself. Hence, a quick home-made drink of Tamarind Water really helps in controlling body temperature and prevents from heat stroke.

History

Further information: History of Bikaner

Prior to the mid 15th century, the region that is now Bikaner was a barren wilderness called Jangladesh.[5] Rao Bika established the city of Bikaner in 1488. He was the first son of Maharaja Rao Jodha of the Rathore clan, the founder of Jodhpur and conquered the largely arid country in the north of Rajasthan. As the first son of Jodha he wanted to have his own kingdom, not inheriting Jodhpur from his father or the title of Maharaja. He therefore decided to build his own kingdom in what is now the state of Bikaner in the area of Jangladesh. Though it was in the Thar Desert, Bikaner was considered an oasis on the trade route between Central Asia and the Gujarat coast as it had adequate spring water. Bika's name was attached to the city he built and to the state of Bikaner ("the settlement of Bika") that he established. Bika built a fort in 1478, which is now in ruins, and a hundred years later a new fort was built about 1.5 km from the city centre, known as the Junagarh Fort.[6][7][8]

Around a century after Rao Bika founded Bikaner, the state's fortunes flourished under the sixth Raja, Rai Singhji, who ruled from 1571 to 1611. During the Mughal Empire's rule in the country, Raja Rai Singh accepted the suzerainty of the Mughals and held a high rank as an army general at the court of the Emperor Akbar and his son the Emperor Jahangir. Rai Singh's successful military exploits, which involved winning half of Mewar kingdom for the Empire, won him accolades and rewards from the Mughal emperors. He was given the jagirs (lands) of Gujarat and Burhanpur. With the large revenue earned from these jagirs, he built the Chintamani durg (Junagarh fort) on a plain which has an average elevation of 760 feet (230 m). He was an expert in arts and architecture, and the knowledge he acquired during his visits abroad is amply reflected in the numerous monuments he built at the Junagarh fort.[6][8][9]

Maharaja Karan Singh, who ruled from 1631 to 1639, under the suzerainty of the Mughals, built the Karan Mahal palace. Later rulers added more floors and decorations to this Mahal. Anup Singh Ji, who ruled from 1669 to 1698, made substantial additions to the fort complex, with new palaces and the Zenana quarter, a royal dwelling for women and children. He refurbished the Karan Mahal with a Diwan-i-Am (public audience hall) and called it the Anup Mahal.Maharaja Gaj Singh, who ruled from 1746 to 1787 refurbished the Chandra Mahal (the Moon Palace).

During the 18th century, there was the internecine war between the rulers of Bikaner and Jodhpur and also amongst other thakurs, which was put down by British troops.[8]

Following Maharaja Gaj Singh, Maharaja Surat Singh ruled from 1787 to 1828 and lavishly decorated the audience hall (see illustration) with glass and lively paintwork. Under a treaty of paramountcy signed in 1818, during Maharaja Surat Singh's reign, Bikaner came under the suzerainty of the British, after which the Maharajas of Bikaner invested heavily in refurbishing Junagarh fort.[10]

Dungar Singh, who reigned from 1872 to 1887, built the Badal Mahal, the 'weather palace', so named in view of a painting of clouds and falling rain, a rare event in arid Bikaner.

General Maharaja Ganga Singh, who ruled from 1887 to 1943, was the best-known of the Rajasthan princes and was a favourite of the British Viceroys of India. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India, served as a member of the Imperial War Cabinet, represented India at the Imperial Conferences during the First World War and the British Empire at the Versailles Peace Conference. His contribution to the building activity in Junagarh involved separate halls for public and private audiences in the Ganga Mahal and a durbar hall for formal functions. He also built the Ganga Niwas Palace, which has towers at the entrance patio. This palace was designed by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, the third of the new palaces built in Bikaner. He named the building Lalgarh Palace in honour of his father and moved his main residence there from Junagarh Fort in 1902. The hall where he held his Golden Jubilee (in 1938) as Bikaner's ruler is now a museum.[8][10][11]

Ganga Singh's son, Lieutenant-General Sir Sadul Singh, the Yuvaraja of Bikaner, succeeded his father as Maharaja in 1943, but acceded his state to the Union of India in 1949. Maharaja Sadul Singh died in 1950, being succeeded in the title by his son, Karni Singh (1924-1988).[7] The Royal Family still lives in a suite in Lalgarh Palace, which they have converted into a heritage hotel.[8][10]

Transport

The internal transport system in Bikaner consists of autorickshaws. Bikaner railway station is on the Jodhpur-Bathinda line. Bikaner is connected to some of major Indian cities via broad gauge railway. The city has direct rail connections to Bengaluru, Sri Ganganagar, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Alwar, Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Bilaspur, Kanpur, Agra, Jalandhar, Baroda, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Surat, Gurgaon, Puri, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh, Kota, Kollam, Jammu, Jodhpur and Ahmedabad, Pune, Indore, Vijayawada.Connections can be made for other major Indian cities like Silchar, Indore,[clarification needed] Jhansi, Ranchi, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Faridabad.

Bikaner is well served with roads and is linked directly to Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Alwar, Ludhiana, Sri Ganganagar, Bhatinda, Ambala, Panipat, Ahmedabad, Haridwar, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and many other cities. National highways 11, 15, and 89 meet at Bikaner.

Bikaner has Domestic Civil Airport where daily flights to Jaipur[JAI] and Delhi[DEL] are currently in operation. Bikaner to Ahmedabad via Jodhpur flight will be scheduled soon.[citation needed]

Hospitality Facilities

  • Prince Bijay Singh Memorial Hospital , Ambedkar Circle
  • Fortis DTM, Rani Bazar]]
  • Nursing Home, Pawanpuri ]]
  • Arya Hospital, Bikaner South ]]
  • ASG Eye Hospital, Rani Bazar ]]
  • Acharya Tulsi Cancer Treatment Hospital,]]
  • Marwar Hospital, Tulsi Circle ]]
  • Kothari Hospitalities, Gajner Road ]]
  • Accupath Hospitals ]]
  • NW Railways Hospital ]]
  • ESI Hospital, NH15 ]]
  • Vardaan Hospital, Rani Bazar ]]
  • Sugnidevi Jaisraj Baid Hospital ]]
  • MN Hospital, Karni Singh Stadium ]]

Universities

  • Keshwanand International University Of Agriculture , Bikaner]]
  • Maharajah Gangasinghji University
  • RNB Global University ,Bikaner
  • University of Veternary And Animal Sciences ,Rajuvas
  • University of Bikaner

Colleges

  • Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner
  • Dungar College , Bikaner
  • Government Engineering College , Bikaner
  • Government Polytechnics College , Bikaner
  • Marudhara Engineering College , Bikaner
  • Binnani Girls College , Bikaner
  • Maharani Sudarshana College , Bikaner
  • BJS Rampuria Jains College , Bikaner
  • MN Institute of Applied Sciences
  • Shri Jain PG College , Bikaner

Climate

File:Sand dunes of the desert.jpg
Sand dunes near Bikaner, Rajasthan

Bikaner is situated in the middle of the Thar desert and has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh) with very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. In summer temperatures can exceed 45 °C, and during the winter they may dip below freezing.

The climate in Bikaner is characterised by significant variations in temperature. In the summer season it is very hot when the temperatures lie in the range of 28–53.5 °C (82.4–128.3 °F). In the winter, it is fairly cold with temperatures lying in the range of −4–23.2 °C (24.8–73.8 °F).[12] Annual rainfall is in the range of 260–440 millimetres (10–17 in).[12][13]

Climate data for Bikaner
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 32.9
(91.2) 		37.2
(99.0) 		42.8
(109.0) 		48.2
(118.8) 		52.4
(126.3) 		49.9
(121.8) 		47.8
(118.0) 		43.4
(110.1) 		43.9
(111.0) 		42.2
(108.0) 		38.5
(101.3) 		33.5
(92.3) 		52.4
(126.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 23.0
(73.4) 		25.5
(77.9) 		31.8
(89.2) 		38.2
(100.8) 		41.7
(107.1) 		41.6
(106.9) 		37.8
(100.0) 		36.6
(97.9) 		36.7
(98.1) 		36.2
(97.2) 		30.7
(87.3) 		25.3
(77.5) 		33.8
(92.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 14.3
(57.7) 		17.1
(62.8) 		23.4
(74.1) 		30.2
(86.4) 		34.3
(93.7) 		35.2
(95.4) 		32.8
(91.0) 		31.7
(89.1) 		30.7
(87.3) 		27.7
(81.9) 		21.5
(70.7) 		16.1
(61.0) 		26.3
(79.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5.6
(42.1) 		8.8
(47.8) 		15.0
(59.0) 		22.1
(71.8) 		26.8
(80.2) 		28.8
(83.8) 		27.7
(81.9) 		26.8
(80.2) 		24.7
(76.5) 		19.1
(66.4) 		12.1
(53.8) 		6.9
(44.4) 		18.7
(65.7)
Record low °C (°F) −4
(25) 		−2.5
(27.5) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		8.3
(46.9) 		13.7
(56.7) 		17.8
(64.0) 		20.5
(68.9) 		20.6
(69.1) 		16.5
(61.7) 		7.6
(45.7) 		0.6
(33.1) 		−2.8
(27.0) 		−4
(25)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5.5
(0.22) 		9.1
(0.36) 		8.6
(0.34) 		7.2
(0.28) 		26.4
(1.04) 		45.7
(1.80) 		108.6
(4.28) 		65.7
(2.59) 		36.7
(1.44) 		4.8
(0.19) 		0.8
(0.03) 		1.4
(0.06) 		320.5
(12.63)
Average precipitation days 0.8 1.0 1.5 0.9 2.6 3.2 6.6 5.6 3.0 0.6 0.3 0.5 26.6
Average relative humidity (%) 49 43 34 25 27 39 58 61 52 36 40 48 43
Source: IMD extremes upto(2010)

Junagarh Fort

Junagarh Fort, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India

The Junagarh Fort and its temples and palaces are preserved as museums and provide insight into the grandiose living style of the past Maharanas of Rajasthan.

Laxmi Niwas Palace

The Laxmi Niwas Palace is a former residential palace built by Maharajah Ganga Singh, the ruler of the former state of Bikaner. It was designed by the British architect, Col Samuel Swinton Jacob in the year 1902. The style of architecture is Indo-Saracenic. It is now a luxury Heritage hotel owned by a royal family of Bikaner.

Fort

Bika built a fort in 1478, which is now in ruins, and a hundred years later a new fort was built about 1.5 km from the city centre, known as the Junagarh Fort.[6][7][8]

Karni Mata Temple

Main article: Karni Mata Temple

The Karni Mata Temple or the Rat Temple of Rajasthan has situated 30  km away from the Bikaner city and is dedicated to Karni Mata, a famous mystic of her times, believed to be an incarnation of goddess Durga. The construction of the temple was completed in Mughal style, in the early 20th century by Maharaja Ganga Singh. The temple was further adorned by Kundanlal Verma of Hyderabad-based Karni Jewelers in 1999. The silver gates of the temple and the marble carvings were also donated by him.

The shrine of Karni Mata can be found in the town of Deshnoke 30  km south from Bikaner on the road to Jodhpur. Karni Mata is worshipped as an incarnation of Goddess Durga.

Mukam Bishnoi Temple

The Mukam Temple can be found in nearby Nokha. The Mukam is the holy place of 29 rules follower Bishnois.

Bhandasar Jain Temple

Bhandasar Jain Temple

Bhandasar Jain Temple is known for its beautiful leaf paintings, frescoes and ornamented mirror work. This temple was constructed by Bhandara Oswal in the 15th century. This temple is constructed using red sand stone with beautiful paintings on walls and pillars of the sanctum and mandapa. The temple is dedicated to the 5th tirthankar sumatinatha. The temple consist of garbhagriha, antarala, mahamandapa and ardhamandapa[14]

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

National Research Centre on equines, Bikaner Campus

The National Research Centre on equines, Bikaner Campus was established on 28 September 1989 for conducting research for improving the technologies for optimization of the production potential of the equines. The campus has state-of-art laboratories for conducting research in equine genetics, nutrition, medicine, reproduction and management. The Campus has the responsibility to generate technologies for augmenting equine performance in order to uplift the socio-economic status of poor equine owners. Conservation and propagation of equines through ecotourism has recently been initiated. The elite Marwari horses of Rajasthan, Kathiawari horses of Gujarat, Zanskari horses of Ladakh, Manipuri horses of Manipur and Poitou donkeys of France are maintained and bred here. An Equine Information Centre and a Museum have been developed for the depicting the basic and technical details about the horses. Cryopreservation of semen, artificial insemination, ultrasonography and endoscopy of equines is routinely carried out here.

https://www.facebook.com/Horse.Ecotourism/?ref=bookmarks
National Research Centre on Equines

Demographics

Religions in Bikaner
Religion Percent
Hindus
 
 78.67%
Muslims
 
 17.27%

As of the 2011 Census of India the population of Bikaner city was 644,406 placing it in the top 70 major cities of India and 5th in Rajasthan. The female to male ratio in the city was 904/1,000. The literacy rate in the city was about 79%, male literacy being 87% and female literacy being 71%.[1] Template:IndiaCensusPop

People from Bikaner

See also

References

  • Patnaik, Naveen. (1990). A Desert Kingdom: The Rajputs of Bikaner. George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd., London.
  1. ^ a b "Bikaner City Population Census 2011". www.census2011.co.in. Government of India.
  2. ^ "bkn.co.in". bkn.co.in. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  3. ^ "PRACHINA - Bikaner Cultural Centre & Museum, Prachina - Cultural capital of marwar, Bikaner Museum, Prachina Museum, Bikaner Royal family, Western influence in Bikaner, Contemporary Crafts, Bikaner Period Room, Ritual Crafts, Aristocratic Textile & Costumes, Royal Portraits, Glass and Cut Glass Objects, Decorative Wall Painting, Aristocratic Locomotive, Museum Galleries". Prachinamuseum.org. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  4. ^ kalaloda. "Bikaner History, India". Travelgrove.com. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Bikaner". Archived from the original on 19 August 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c Ring, Trudy; Robert M. Salkin; Sharon La Boda (1996). International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania. Taylor & Francis. p. 129. ISBN 1-884964-04-4. Retrieved 7 December 2009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b c Ward, Philip (1989). Northern India, Rajasthan, Agra, Delhi: a travel guide. Pelican Publishing Company. pp. 116–119. ISBN 0-88289-753-5. Retrieved 7 December 2009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f "History". National Informatics centre, Bikaner district. Archived from the original on 12 December 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Junagarh Fort, Bikaner". Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ a b c Ring p.133
  11. ^ Ring p.132
  12. ^ a b "Bikaner". Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Climate of Bikaner". Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  14. ^ http://asijaipurcircle.nic.in/Bhandasar%20jain%20temple.html
  15. ^ "Venugopal removed, T D Dogra is new AIIMS director, The Times of India". The Times Of India. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  16. ^ "SGT University". Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Information website about Akbar Khan, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India". Akbarkhan.co.in. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
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