Solapur

Categories: Cities and towns in Maharashtra


Solapur
Image:WikiprojectIndiacities solapur.png
Location of Solapur
Location 17.42° N 75.48° E
State Maharashtra
District Solapur
Mayor Shri Vitthal Jadhav
Altitude 457 metres
Area 14886 km²
Population (2001) 3855383
Density 259/km²
Codes
  • Postal
  • Telephone
  • Vehicle 		 
41300X
+0217
MH-13
Time zone IST (UTC +5:30)


Solapur is a district in Maharashtra, India. It is an important railway junction on the North-South train line. Also famous for its bedsheets 'chaddars', Solapur has a good number of small and medium scale industries. Solapur is a leading center for cotton mills and power looms. Solapur bed-sheets have earned fame and reputation for their novel designs and durability. The chief deity of the city is Shri Siddeshwar. The "Nandidhwaj" procession on Makar Sankranti fare is attended by millions of devotees. The fare is a spectacular site.


The presiding deity of Maharashtra, Lord Vitthal is at Pandharpur in this district. Swami Samarth of Akkalkot has followers from all walks of life. Solapur is famous as a textile town, especially owing to its talented weavers’ community. A melting pot with a confluence of Marathi, Telugu and Kannada languages, Solapur district leads in beedi production. Its great strides in the fields of education, literature and culture as well as rural prosperity brought in by the cooperation movement have made Solapur district an important segment of modern Maharashtra. The supreme sacrifice by the revolutionaries of Solapur has made it immortal. So much so that the Martyrs’ Memorial here is saluted daily by thousands of visitors. Kundalsangam, Karmala and Barshi have adopted the path of development through industry and education.


Contents

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Facts

Image:Solapur corporation.jpg
Solapur Corporation.

District - Solapur

Area - 14886 km²

Sub-divisions - Solapur, Madha (Kurduwadi), Pandharpur

Talukas - North Solapur, Barshi, Akkalkot, South Solapur, Mohol,Mangalvedha, Pandharpur, Sangola, Malshiras, Karmala, Madha

Distance from Mumbai - 450 km

Means of transport - Railway stations -Solapur, Mohol, Kurduwadi, Madha, Akkalkot Road ST Buses, SMT (Solapur Municipal Transportation, Auto-Rikshaws. Solapur station has daily train service to Mumbai via Pune known as Siddheshwar Express Also, daily shuttle from Solapur to Pune known as Hutatma Express

Population Total-38,55,383 (District) Male-19,90,661 Female-18,64,722

Literacy 71.50 % Total-23,65,053 Male-14,00,379 Female-9,64,674

Area under irrigation - 4,839.15 km²

Irrigation projects Major-1 Medium-2 Minor-69 Imp. Projs.- Bhima Ujjani

Industries Big-98 Small-8986

Languages/dialects - Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi

Folk-Arts - Lavani, Gondhal, Dhangari,Aradhi and Bhalari songs

Weather Temperature Max: 34.10 °C Min: 21.7 °C Rainfall-759.80 mm (Average)

Main crops - Jowar, wheat, sugarcane

Area under horticulture - 600 km²

Health infrastructure PHCs-67 Rural Hosp.-14 Dist. Hosp.-1 Big Hosp.-30

Tourist places - Kundalsangam, Pandharpur, Akkalkot, Akluj, Barshi, Karmala, Nanaj(North Solapur taluka)

Educational Institutions Universities - Solapur University Colleges-30 Primary schools - 2838 Secondary schools - 637

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History

Image:Solapur four statues.jpg
Solapur Four Statues (Chaar Hutatma)

Solapur is one of the biggest cities in Maharashtra, situated on the borders of the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It's an ancient historical and religious place with Shri Siddharameshwar as its "Gramadaiwata". Shri Siddharameshwar was a historical personality of the 12th Century whose "Karmayoga" on his own native land-Solapur, turned him into a God-figure in course of time. His religious, social, metaphysical contribution was no doubt great. He composed more than 65,000 "Vachanas" and consecrated 68 "Lingas" in Solapur. He had gained the "Siddhi". As Solapur was a draught prone area, Shri Siddharameshwar dug a lake with the help of 4000 "Sharanas" to solve the problem of potable water. The fact that this lake was open to the people of all cast, sects and religions proves the secular, progressive attitude of Shri Siddharameshwar who was far ahead of his time. This revolutionary saint entombed himself alive (Shivyogsamadhi) at Solapur. On the tourist map of Maharashtra, Solapur is recognized by the beautiful temple of Lord Siddharameshwar, situated at the heart of city.

During the Indian independence movement, the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9th, 10th and 11th May 1930. This acquired name and fame for Solapur in the history of India. But it had to pay a grate price of that freedom in the form of the martyrdom of Shri Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri Kurban Hussein, Shri Jagannath Shinde and Shri Kisan Sarda who were hanged on 12th Jan 1931, in the prison at Pune. Thus the city came to be recognized as "The City of Hutatmas".

Being an important industrial city, Solapur is a leading center for cotton mills and power-looms. Solapur bed-sheets, terry-towels and chaddars have earned international fame and reputation due to their novel designs and durability.

Solapur is 433 km away from Mumbai and 244 km from Pune. By rail, it is 456 km from Mumbai. Solapur is well-connected with metro-cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

Pandharpur, with its Vitthal-Rakhumai temple on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river, that has carved a niche in the hearts of Marathi speaking people, is only 70 km from Solapur. Akkalkot, just 38 km from Solapur is known to be a holy place on account of the shrine of Akkalkot Swami and is visited by his followers. Tuljapur in Osmanabad district, 40 km from Solapur, has the seat of the goddess Tulja-Bhawani, well known as the family deity of Maharashtra State. Across the border in Gulbarga district of Karnataka State, is Ganagapur, another place of pilgrimage. Bijapur, a district in Karnataka, 109 km from Solapur is widely known for its 'Gol-Gumbaj', a marvel in architecture and Badami in the same district for its mind boggling temples carved inside the rocks.

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Places of interest

Image:Siddheshwar.jpg
Siddheshwar Lake .
Image:Vithoba idol.jpg
Vithoba Idol .


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Media

Solapur is served by numerous newspaper publications, television stations and radio. The Times of India,Economic Times, the Indian Express are the major English language newspapers sold in the city. Popular Marathi newspapers include Sakal,Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Nava Kaal, and Saamana. In addition to these papers, newspapers are printed in Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu and Kannada.

There is a local All India Radio Solapur station broadcasting in the AM band which operates at 1602 kHz or at 187.2 meters.

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See also

List of Solapur telecom companies

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Famous personalities


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Important Telephone Numbers

  • Collector Office | 2627001, 2627006
  • Commissioner of Police | 2600660, 2600650
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Movie Halls

  • Prabhat
  • Kalpana (only English / Dubbed )
  • Meena
  • Asha
  • Uma
  • Chitra Mandir
  • Chhayaa
  • Kala Mandir
  • Gentyaal
  • Laxminarayan (70 mm screen)
  • Shalimar (mostly adult movies)
  • Padma (mostly Telugu movies)
  • Srinivas (mostly Telugu movies)
  • Sujata (mostly Telugu movies)
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External links

Official websites

News

Weather

Maps

Pictures

Reference

Education

Important Industries

Hotels

Blogs


Districts of Maharashtra
Ahmadnagar | Akola | Amravati | Aurangabad | Bhandara | Bid | Buldana | Chandrapur | Dhule | Gadchiroli | Gondiya | Hingoli | Jalgaon | Jalna | Kolhapur | Latur | Mumbai | Mumbai (Suburban) | Nagpur | Nashik | Nanded | Nandurbar | Osmanabad | Parbhani | Pune | Raigarh | Ratnagiri | Sangli | Satara | Sindhudurg | Solapur | Thane | Wardha | Washim | Yavatmal

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