Davanagere district General information

Davanagere District, also known as Davangere District, is an administrative district of Karnataka state in southern India. The city of Davanagere is the district headquarters. Davanagere District lies in the Maidan region on the Deccan Plateau. The district lies above the historic Chitradurga. The prominent cities/towns in this district are Harihara, Honnali and Channagiri. Neighbouring districts are Shimoga District, Haveri District, Chitradurga District, and Bellary District.

Davanagere is derived from the word "DAVANA KERE" which means "Village of Lake" This City has historical background, as this village was with in the province of "Nolambavady" ruled by great Chalukya Kings. During 1173-1220, this province was ruled by Pandyas. Then Hoysalas ruled this province after defeating Pandyas. In 1342, Nolamba province was conquered by the great kings of Vijayanagara. After the downfall of Vijayanagara Kingdom, it came into the hands of local "Palyagars" of Chitradurga. This province was also ruled by Maratha Sardars as this town was given to Maratha sardar, Sri Devrao as "Jahagirs" by Hyderali. This part of land became very prosperous during the reign of Tippu Sultan and Mysore Maharajas.

Davanagere City is a district head quarter located on NH4 at a distance of about 260 Km away from Bangalore. During 1997, Davanagere was bifurcated from Chitradurga district and made district head quarter consisting of six taluks viz Davanagere, Harihara, Honnali, Chennagiri, Jagalur and Harapanahalli. This city is an important educational, commercial and industrial centre. Davanagere City is situated in the heart of the Karnataka state and it is located at 14° 28’ altitude and 75° 59’ latitude with an elevation of 602.5mts above the mean sea level. The City is well connected by a network of national and state highways and also Poona - Bangalore railway line. Davanagere City limit has been extended during 1995 including 8 villages and the area of the city is 68.63 SqKms. Davanagere City Municipal Council has come into existence during the year 1939. It is the biggest Municipality in the Karnataka state by having more than 1.00 lakh property.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census[1], Davangere had a population of 363,780. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Davangere has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74% and, female literacy is 64%. In Davangere, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Davangere is located on the Bangalore-Pune national highway NH4 which is part of the Golden Quadrilateral highway network. Davangere is also well connected by train, the nearest important airport is in Bangalore (5 hours by road). In the late 18th cent., Haidar Ali, ruler of Karnataka, gave Davangere to the Maratha leader Apoji Ram, who encouraged merchants to settle there, eventually developing into an area with large-scale textile industry and as a trading center for cotton and grain.

Several colleges affiliated with the Kuvempu University are situated at Davangere.

Transportation

Davangere is well connected by road to all parts of the country through NH - 4 (Previously Poona Bangalore Highway and now Bombay Chennai Highway). Railways also play a major role in connectivity. There are daily trains to Mumbai, Mysore, Bijapur and Bangalore. Tri weekly trains to New Delhi including Karnataka Sampark Kranti. Two trains per week to Jodhpur, Ajmer, Chennai, Kochuveli, Goa and many daily passenger trains mainly connecting the small places along the Bangalore - Hubli line.

There are proposals to start trains to Mangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Coimbatore via Davangere.

Local Transportation City public transportation is provided by private bus services. Auto-rickshaws (Three wheel) are also available for transportation.

Education and business

In - principle approval is given to start Davangere University comprising of all major institues in Davangere, Chitradurga, and Bellary districts. All infrastructured University in Davangere has been a dream of many prominent personalities and the budget presented for the year 2009 - 10 made the dream come true. Davangere is also known for its higher educational institutes, most of which are run by the Bapuji Educational Association & others. It has three major engineering colleges, two dental colleges, two medical colleges and a fashion design college. There are also a number of good business schools, arts colleges.There is a post graduate centre of Kuvempu university located at tolahunase village. The standard, recognised under-graduate and post-graduate medical education is available that made Davangere famous in medical education through out India. The student population is made up of people from different cities and states in India. There are a few foreign students studying at Davangere. BEA high School, DRR School, STJ high school, Vinayaka Trust High School(Gunddi School) are famous schools in Davangere.

Davangere was famous for textiles, with the DCM (Davangere Cotton Mills) brand being famous in India. Davangere was a major cotton textile exporter during the 1960s till the 80s. But most of the mills were shut down during the 90s and currently the major agro-industrial activity around Davangere revolves around Rice and Sugarcane, with a number of sugar mills in and around this area.

Davangere has a big shopping mall well famed all over Karnataka i.e B.S.Channa Basappa and Sons. This is a big garment shop of the city with its branches spread all over the city. Davangere houses major Cricket and Football Clubs which provides bulk of opportunities to youngsters of this locality. R Vinay Kumar from Davangere is a famous cricketer who plays for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy Cricket Team as leading pace-bowler, who also played for Royal Challengers in the first and second edition of IPL. Davangere is also famous for the weight lifting athletes. They have brought fame in many National and Internetional level sports meet. The High School ground in the heart of city is the buzzing place for most of the sports events. The stadium near Bapuji Hospital is a key place for cricket coaching camps.

Places of Interest

KUNDWADA TANK: Kundwada Tank is situated on the left side of Poona-Bangalore NH4 bypass road near Kundwada village of the Davanagere city. The catchment area of Kundwada tank is nearly 253 Acres. Recently, it was rennovated and treated as Summer Water Storage Tank. The capacity of the tank is 20 MLD. Water supply facility provided by the tank covers more than 50% of the city area from past 2 years. Kundwada tank adds to the beauty of the city. Now, Davanagere City Municipal Council has made a resolution to rename Kundwada Tank as " KUNDWADA TANK- RENNOVATED S. S. MALLIKARJUNA SAGARA "

Sri Durgambika temple: is very popular and biggest temple in the city. It is located in old Davanagere ie., Halepet in Shivajinagar. Surrounding this temple area is called "DEVARA HATTI". According to legend, around 200 years ago a stone brought from Duggatti village worshipped as Godess Durgamma known by different names such as Dugamma, Durgavva, Durgambika, etc., During 1932, the small temple was converted into a beautiful and biggest temple.

CHENNAGIRI RANGAPPA CLOCK TOWER: Sri Chennagiri Rangappa Clock Tower foundation stone was laid by Sir Mirja Ismail, the then Deewan of Mysore province during 1937 and it was inaugarated during 1961 by Sri. T Subramanya, the then Hon'ble LSG Minister of Mysore. The entire cost of construction of Clock tower was beared by Sri. Chennagiri Rangappa. The height of the Clock tower is about 75 feet.

ST. THOMAS CHURCH: St. Thomas Church was built during 1946 in P J Extension (Prince Jayachamarajendra Extension) 6th Cross and it was rennovated as a big church during 2002. The Roman Catholic Christians make regular vist to this church on every Friday and Sunday. The Christmas Fest is celebrated on a grand scale in the church.