Surguja district General information
Surguja district is located in the northern part of Chhattisgarh State of India. Borders of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh States are adjoining to the district. This district has over extension between south-eastern part of Vindhyachal-Baghelkhand region of peninsular India. It lies between 23o 37’ 25’’ To 24o 6’ 17’’ north latitude and 81o 34’40’’ To 84o 4’40’’ east longitude . 244.62 km long east to west and 167.37 broad norths to south, this land has as area of about 16359 Sqr Km.
History
The presence of various temples stone carvings and archaic remains show the evidence of existence of this region before Christ(B.C.). In 4Th B.C. Before the arrival of maurya dynasty,this region was in the Lord of Nanda clan. Before 3 B.C. this region was divided into tiny parts and their headman after quarrel among themselves. Then a Rajputa kings belongs to Rakshal clan in palamu district (Bihar) attacked and taken in his control. In 1820 Amar singh was the Kings of Surguja state who had been crowned as “Maharaja” in 1826. In 1882 Raghunath Sharan Singh Deo had taken his control over Surguja state who has been conferred as “Maharaja” by Lord Daffariu. After the contemporary victory of India he established Edward Middle School, Post Office ,Telegraph Office ,Medical stores ,jail and courts in Ambikapur capital of Surguja.
According to holy books Lord Rama had visited Surguja during his fourteen years of "Vanwas" period. There are many places in connection to epic of Ramayana. Many places are named after Lord Rama, Laxmana and Goddess Sita, they are Ramgarh, Sita-Bhengra and Laxmangarh. Verses of Poet Kalidas who wrote "Ramayan" are found at the Sita-Bhengra cave.
Major population comprises tribal population. Among these primitive tribes are Pando and Korwa , who are still living in forest, the Pando tribes believes themselves as the member of "Pandav" clan of epic Mahabharat. Korwa tribes believes to be member of "Kauravs" of Mahabharata.
Rivers
Main rivers of the district are Kanhar, Moran, Rihand and Mahan.
The Mahanadi Basin : This drainage system is called as southward river system . The general slope of west Surguja is towards south and about 25% drainage comes in this system. Southerly rivers of district are the Hasdo and Gej, which forms the part of the Mahanandi Drainage System.
This drainage system is called as southward river system . The general slope of west Surguja is towards south and about 25% drainage comes in this system. Southerly rivers of district are the Hasdo and Gej, which forms the part of the Mahanandi Drainage System.
The Kanhar : This river rises from Gidha-Dhodha on the Khudia plateau in jashpur tahsil of raigarh district and flowing northward ,forms the eastern boundary of district with palamau district of bihar state. This river flows for 100 Kms in district. It is fed by small tributaries – Suria,Chana,Sendur and Kursa on it's left bank and Galphulla, Semarkhar, Riger and the Cherna nallah on it's right bank .
A number of waterfalls are located along the track of the river. Pavai fall near Kothali village (Balrampur) is of about 61 meters. Hydro-electricity is proposed here since last two decades.
The Rihand : This river also referred as Rend or Rehar , rises in the region south west of the Mainpat plateau, which is about 1,100 meters above mean sea level, from Matiranga hills. The river flows north roughly through the central part of the district for 160 Kms. The Rihand and it's tributaries form a fertile plain in the central district stretching around Ambikapur to Lakhanpur and Pratappur. It's principal tributaries are the Mahan ,the Morana(Morni) ,the Geur ,the Gagar ,the Gobri ,the Piparkachar , the Ramdia and Galphulla .
A medium irrigation project is working on Ghungutta river, since 1981, near Darima Air Strip under taken by World Bank ,Which is about 15 kms from Ambikapur . The Mahan is a perennial river ,on which medium Multipurpose project is under consideration by Central water Comission.
Climate
The climate of district is characterized by a hot summer and well distributed rainfall during the monsoon season. With its general monsoonal character, the region according to thornthwait's classification falls in the Tropical Thermal belt assigns it the grassland type character.
According to trewartha's classification the Surguja falls in AW class which is based on temperature and vegetation. The symbol AW denotes Tropical Swanah region. The chief feature of this climate is long dry period average monthly temperature rising over 18 0C, through maximum summer temperature may even go up to 46 0C. In winter the temperature not go below 18 0C .The monsoon bring sufficient rains. The chief determinants of climate in the district are:
1. It's shape ,Size and extent and
2. Central system of high lands and uplands.
The location on tropic of cancer results tropical climate with high pressure belt throughout the year, but due to its height above MSL controls its high temperature. The district is about 700 km from ocean therefore oceanic effect still remains zero , Whereas it's location southward of Himalaya about 500 km protects it against cold winds blowing from northern belt.
Hills
Here the natural features directly help the division of area in physiographic divisions:
1. The Mountains (high lands)
2. The Plateaus and Hills (uplands)
3. The Central plain
Power
It was generally found that in princely state Ambikapur power station for supply of power to public appears to have been installed in 1915. In the year 1962 NTPC Korba supplies power to whole of Surguja through Chirmiri sub-station. Later Hydro-Electricity Chachai(Amarkantak) also supplies power to entire Surguja District.
Power networks of the district is partially developed in the central plains as all the power consuming units are railways, coal mines and 90% of Urban population centered in the plain. Remaining part of the district is blank by power network. In the study area 27 power transformers are installed serving entire district.
Communication
As Surguja is remote situated tribal area which was isolated from rest of the economy up to 1951, therefore it is necessary to provide adequate road, transport and other means of communication, as post and telegraph, telephone and STD facilities. Initially before independence in the study area all the branch post offices were managed by school masters. The mails were carried by a set of double runners between Kharsiaand Ambikapur, with in 36 hours and in other places, by single runner everyday and in some places one ultimate day.
A telephone line between Bohala(Ramanujganj) and Ambikapur was maintainted by the Durbar in 1929.
All the block head quarter have sub-post office. In this context one post office serves for about 7628 persons and in the same way one PO serves for about 9 villages. This one shows pressure of population over one post office services.
Telephones are the most important means of rapid communication between people to people, town to town , town to village and vise versa, inter-state, international services. The study area is connected through the National Trunk Line and by OFC(Optical Fiber Cable). Computers of the NIC, Ambikapur are direct connected to NIC-NET i.e. National Informatics Centre Network and rapid and quick interchange of messages and information becomes possible .
All the block head are connected
Places of interest
Deepadih: A Village of Samri Tahsil, formerly it was included in the chalgali tappa of the erstwhile Surguja State, It is situated about 41.6 kms. to the southwest of Samri. The nearest village to its east is Lamka. Depadih is connected with the tahsil headquarters by Kutchha roads.
About 1.5 kms. from the village there are a few ruined temples and tanks. According to some historians Depadih was ruled by a Dravidian monarch, named Samni Singh. According to local tradition Samni Singh was killed in a battle with his contemporary Tanginath.
Deogarh: A village of Ambikapur tahsil, Deogarh is situated on the bank of the Rihand amidst calm and quict scenic beauty. It lies about 1.5kms. to the west of the Bamlaya-Ambikapur Road. From Ambikapur its distance is about 40 kms. towards south. The place is also called Deoria, due to the great number of divinities scattered all around. There are several mounds, formed by the debris of temples, each crowned with a deity.
The archaeology of this place may date back to a very early age. Its Guuri-Shankar temple might have been constructed by a Nagavamsi ruler of the Bhara-siva dynasty during 110 B.C. to 78 A.D. About 475 persons lived in the village in 1971.
Ramgarh Hill: A high hill of the District with a peak, Ramgarh lies to the east of the great road from Allahabad to Rameshwaram, in the extreme south. Allahabad is about 384 km. from this hill. It rises abruptly from the surrounding plains of the former Rampur tappa of the District. The nearrest railway station viz. the Kharsia Railway Station (in Ramgarh District), is about 160 kms. away.
Kailash Caves: Kailash Caves is situated at Sabarbar which is again 60Kms to the east of Ambikapur. These caves were created by Saint Rameshwar Gahira Guruji. Temple of Lord Shiva-Parvati and also temple of different God-Goddess are there in caves. On occasion of Mahashivratri huge festival is organized here. Major attraction of this place are temple of Lord Shiva-Parvati,Yagya Mandap,Sanskrit school, Gahira Guru ashram,Badgdrat Beir and Badh mada.
Shivpur Shiv Temple: Pratappur is 45 kms far from Ambikapur, village Shivpur is 4 Kms from Pratappur. There located ancient Shiv temple in natural atmosphere. Big festival is organized on the occasion of Mahashivratri and Basan Panchami.
Budha Temple, Mainpat: Mainpat is called as Shimla of Surguja. Tibbettians are rehabilitated at mainpat, which run small industries of designer mat (Kalin) and woolen cloths. For worship they have made beautiful Buddha temple. They followers of Dalai Lama have developed beautiful atmosphere of humanity in Mainpat.Buddha Temple is a place to appreciate the art of Buddha vihars and people of tibbet.