Narmada district General information
Narmada district is a district in the state of Gujarat. The district headquarters are located at Rajpipla. The district occupies an area of 2749 km² and has a population of 514,404 (2001 census). It is the third-most backward district in Gujarat. It was 10.13% urban as of 2001. The Narmada dist. is situated between the bank of the Narmada and the bank of the Karjan.
There are four Talukas in this dist. their names are the Nandod taluka, The Dediapada and the Sagbara, the Tilakwada. Only the city of Raj. has the honour of having Municipality, all other villages have Gram Panchayats. There are almost 630 villages. Most of areas of the Dist. are tribal area. Most of the people of the villages are backward. They have to work hard for their bread and butter. Though the Government is trying very hard for the upliftment of the village people. The progress is very slow.
There are many attractive religious places like the temple of Harssiddhi Mata, the Hanuman Dharmeshwar and the temple of Gayatri Mata in the Rajpipla. There is a temple of Pandoury Mata in Devmogra near Dediapada.
The Narmada dam, the Karjan dam, the hill station of Malsamoth, the bear sanctuary and the hotel Rajwant of Rajpipla attract and invite one and all.
History
Rajpipla (Rajpeepla). Formerly Rewa Kantha Agency; merged in Saurashtra; now in Gujarat State.
Rajpipla State, which had an area of 1517 square miles, was founded in about AD 1470 by Chokarana, son of the Raja of Ujjain, who left that place after a quarrel with his father and established himself about 150 miles to the west in the hills at Pipla. Later the capital moved o Nandod. One of Chokarana's grandsons founded Bhavnagar State in Kathiawar. After the Mogul period of rule the State became tributary to Baroda which was close by to north and south, and even after British intervention in 1821 Rajpipla continued to pay annual tribute of Rs. 50,000 to the Gaekwar. It became part of the Political Agency of Rewa Kantha ("the banks of the Rewa, or Narmada River") until Independence when the last Maharana, as spokesman for his neighboring rulers, proposed they should merge with adjacent parts of Bombay Province to form the present Gujarat State which was created on 10 June, 1948.
The rulers were Gohel Rajputs; from 1821 to 1860 Maharana Verisalji was on the gadi, then abdicating in favour of his son Maharana Gambhir Singhji who died in 1897. Maharana Chhatra Singhji followed Gambhir Singhji until 1915, then by Maharana Vijay Singhji until independence.
Tourist Place
Vijay palace: was built for crown prince Vijay Sinhji in 1912 AD before he ascended the throne in September 1915. The palace looks rather like a villa in Italy with an Italianette fountain surrounded by palms in the forecourt, a classical colonaded semi-circular portico as the entrance, Corinthian pillars, Gothic arches, European domes and views of the river at the rear. The 7 acre grounds have been laid into formal gardens by a proffessional landscape architect.
Vadia palace: The finest palace of Rajpipla is the Indrajeet Padmini mahal, better known as Vadia palace as the entire village of Vadia was re-located and demolished to build the palace in the 1930s. The palace was set in a 151 acre estate, with well laid out formal gardens and mango-and-lime orchards, and the building itself covered almost an acre-4320 sq yards. It was financed by Maharajah Vijay Sinhji's winnings at the Epsom Derby and cost around Rs.40 lakhs(Rs.4 million). The building was designed by Shapoorji Curimbouy & co in a predominantly Indo-Saracenic style, with a few western features.