Rajnandgaon district General information
Rajnandgaon district is a district, as well as the name of the primary town in the district, in the state of Chhattisgarh. The population of the city is 143,727 (2001 census). Asia's only Performing Art and Music University is located in the town of Khairagarh. The District Rajnandgaon is in the central part of Chhattisgarh. The District headquarter Rajnandgaon is on the Bombay - Howrah line of southeastern railways. The National Highway 6 (Great Eastern Road) also passes through the town of Rajnandgaon. The nearest airport to the District is at Mana(Raipur), about 80 kms away.
History
The District Rajnandgaon came into existence on 26th Jan' 1973, by way of division of District Durg. The Rajnandgaon state was ruled by Somvanshis, Kalchuris and Marathas. The Rajnandgaon was originally named as Nandgram. The Palaces in the town of Rajnandgaon reveals its own tale of the rulers, their society & culture and the splendid tradition during that time. The contribution of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi and Baldeo Prasad Mishra in the field of Hindi literature has a special mention. The District Kawardha was latter bifurcated from the District on 1st July 1998.
Rajnandgaon is home to the Gond, Kanwar, Halba and Baiga tribes, who make up one fourth of the area's population. They live in dense forestsin far-flung areas and their main source of livelihood is tendu leaf collection and cultivation of minor forest products.
Statistics
Total area 6396.28 sq.km.
Forest area 2987.14 sq.km.
Climate Tropical
Average Rainfall 1274 m.m.
Main Crop Paddy
Minerals Limestone, Chinaclay, Quartzite, Quartz, Granite,White Clay
Total Population 1283224
Total Male Population 634342
Total Female Population 648882
Sex Ratio 1023
Literacy percentage 77.2
Education
Rajnandgaon is also known for education facilities provided here. The rich cultural heritage of the district is highlighted with Indira Sangeet and Kala Vishwavidyalay at Khairagarh, a tehsil head quarter. The university has the distinction of being the only university in music and fine arts in India. The university offer various diploma, graduate and post graduate courses in vocal and instrumental music, dance forms, fine arts and folk dances. Many colleges offering courses in music and fine arts are affiliated to this university. Chhattisgarh's first private dental college is located here. For Engineering studies there is Chhattishgarh Institute of Technology, where courses in Computer science, Electronics and telecommunication, and Mechanical Engineering stream are offered. There is the Ashoka Institute of Technology and Management, where students can get engineering in Mechanical, Electronics and Telecommuniceation, Computer Science and Information Technology branch. Rajnandgaon also has an Ayurvedic college. Other than these special fields, Rajnandgaon has many colleges for studies of Science, Arts, Commerce etc. One such renown college is Digvijay college. One of the newly stabilized Sankalp Institute in Rajnandgaon giving new shape in education of Chhattisgarh: here is a residential cum boarding School Yugantar Public School.One of the most famous & one and only school affiliated to Cambridge University, London adding glow to education & with sanskar is - Sanskar City International School & Sanskar City Institute of Technology. There are English medium schools here such as Indian Public School, Neeraj Public School, Gayatri Vidya mandir,Weidner Memorial Senior Secondary School and Weseleyan English Medium School & a ICSE board school- Royal Kids Convent.
Established in 1883, Govt.Multipurpose Higher Secondry School is oldest school in Chhattisgarh.
Digvijay College is the historical building of palace of the king of Nandgram riyasat. The king was Mahant Raja Digvijay Das who was a Vaishnava king. Te college was established in 1953: this is the oldest college in Chhattisgarh.
As Rajnandgaon is slowly becoming one of the major Educational hub of Chattisgarh, prestigious institutions are gaining ground here. One of the promising institution of them is "Delhi Public School" which has already started off with workshops and free demo classes for students.is this true
River
The principal river of the District is Sheonath, a tributary of Mahanadi.The river originates in the border of Chowki block and flows in north eastern direction. The main tributaries of Sheonath are Kharkhara, Sonbarsa, Amner, Surhi, Karra, Murkati, Sankari, Fonk and Hanf.
Tribes:
The three blocks of the District namely Mohla, Manpur & Chowki are tribal blocks. The main tribes of the District are Gond, Kanwar, Halba & Baiga. The tribal population of the District is around 25.16% of the total population. These tribal areas are adjoining to Gadchiroli District of Maharastra and Baster District of Madhya Pradesh. The economic and social conditions of these tribes are similar to that of tribals of Baster. They mostly live in far flung areas and dense forests. The economic activities of these tribes are focussed on tendu leaf collection and minor forest products.
Sports
The District has a rich culture of sports, which has produced many national and international sports personalities. Rajnandgaon is well know as NURSERY OF HOCKEY and has a great history of organizing HOCKEY and CRICKET tournaments every year at international and national level respectively.
Hockey :-The Mahant Sarveshwar Das memorial all India Hockey tournament was started in the year 1941.The tournament generates great enthusiasm in the sports loving public of the district, in which all national teams as well as neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh club teams participate. Sh.A.R.Bestian did the district proud, by representing the region in 1970 Rome Olympics. Local players of SAI Training Centre Rajnandgaon have won the Bronze medal in School National, names of players are Mrinal Choubey, Anil Soni, Sanjay Yadav Laxminarayan and Sunil Navghare.
Cricket :- Rajnandgaon has the distinction of organising Ranji trophy matches since 1988. From the year 1996 the Rani Suryamukhi Devi all India cricket tournament is organised by District Cricket Association and Digvijay Stadium Samiti every year, in which many national teams participate.
Chess :- The District has brought glory in the field by Ku. Kiran Agrawal, an International Grand Master. She represented the country in many International tournaments.
Body Building :- Body builders Shri A.K.Singh brought laurels to the District in International and Shri Devendra Dewangan & Shri Tameshwar Banjare in National Championships respectively.
Basket ball :- Rajnandgaon Known as the Nursery of Hockey, has slowly started producing quality basketball players also. Since the starting of S.A.I. Training Centre at Digvijay Stadium Rajnandgaon under the able guidance of SAI basketball Coach many basketball players have represented the Country in various International basketball Championships namely Kamal Singh (Junior India), Shravan Kumar Bishnoi has represented the Country in Youth Asian Championship held at Yakuts(Russia) and China, also represented junior Indian team as Captain in invitation Tournament held at Kotakapura, attended Senior India camp held at New Delhi, Mukesh Mishra attended Junior India camp held at Bhavnagar (Gujrat), Devendra Yadav, Ku. Radha Soni and Ku. Manda Meshram have represented the country in South Korea, Kunal Waghela have attended Indian School Camp held at New Delhi.
Volleyball :- The field is led by by SAI Volleyball Coach Mr. K. P. Sreejit and International Volleyball player Ku. Rekha Padam. Many players have won Medals in National Volleyball tournament and many players have represented the state teams in various Nationals.
Places of interest
Dongargarh: This pilgrimage place, 40 km from Rajnandgaon, has the temples of Badi Bambleshwari (on a 1600 ft hilltop) and Choti Bambleshwari (at ground level). Thousands of pilgrims visit it during the navarathris of Kavar (during Dassera) and Chaitra (during Ramnavmi), to worship and enjoy the dya-and-night melas (fairs) organized in the temple premises. Dongargarh also has Chhattisgarh's only passenger ropeway.