Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is one of the states of India which was carved out of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on 1^st November 2000. Raipur is the capital of Chhattisgarh. This state spreads over an area of 1, 35, 190 square kilometers. This region was formerly called as Dakshin Kosala. The name Chhattisgarh came into existence during the period of Marathas in 18^th century.

History of Chhattisgarh

The various dynasties that ruled over Chhattisgarh between 6^th century and 12^th century are Sarabhpurias dynasty, Panduavanshi dynasty, Kalchuri dynasty and Nagvanshi dynasty. The Marathas ruled for more than a century from 1741 AD to 1845 AD. Raipur became an important city during British rule. An issue was raised to form a separate state under the name Chhattisgarh in 1920. It was discussed in the Annual session of the Indian Congress. It got its separation during the time of the National Democratic Alliance and the Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act 2000 was passed on 25^th August 2000.

Geography and Natural Resources of Chhattisgarh

Hills cover the northern and southern parts of the state with plains in the central region. 44% of the state is covered by forest and 12% of the India’s total forest resources are in Chhattisgarh. The state animal is Wild Buffalo, the state bird is Hill Myna and the state tree is Sal. The rivers Rihand, Indravati, Jonk, Arpa, Hasdo and Shivnath flow through this state. The state enjoys tropical climate and summer months, April to June are very hot. Chhattisgarh get a rainfall of 50.9 inches every year. The temperature ranges from 30 degree Celsius to 47 degree Celsius in summer and 5 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius in winter. The region receives an average rainfall of about 1400 mm.

The natural resources available in this region are diamond, gold, bauxite, lime, tin, lime, granite and coal. The limestone deposits are found in Raipur district, Bilaspur district, Durg and Bastar districts. The cumberlite pipe deposits are found in Pailikhand and Deobhog region and gold deposits are found in Sonakhan region of Raipur.

Districts of Chhattisgarh

There are 90 constituencies of the Legislative Assembly and 11 Lok Sabha constituencies and 5 Rajya Sabha members are there in the state. There are 27 districts in Chhattisgarh as of June 2012 divided under five divisions namely Bastar division, Durg division, Raipur division, Bilaspur division and Surguja division. Given below is the Chhattisgarh state map with all 27 districts marked.

List of Districts of Chhattisgarh

People and Culture of Chhattisgarh

According to the 2011 census, the population of Chhattisgarh was 2.55 crore. This accounts to 2.11% of the total population of India. The male female ration is 1000: 991. The density of population is 189 people per square kilometers. 94.7% of people were Hindus, 2% were Muslims and 1.9% were Christians according to the 2001 census report. 34% of the toal population is scheduled tribes and 12% are scheduled castes. The density of population is 289 people per square mile.

The official language of the state is Hindi and Chhattisgarhi dialect is also spoken widely. There is a popular belief of witchcraft in this region and the women have strong belief in supernatural forces. The Oriya culture is prevailing in the borders of Orissa. The women wear lehengas, stoles and shawls and men wear sherwanis and shirts. The traditional dances of Chhattisgarh are Panthi, Rawat Nacha, Pandwani, Soowa and Karma.

This state is called as the rice bowl of India and the staple foods are rice and rice flour. Some of the varieties of rice are lal bhaji, chech bhaji, kohda, bohar, bhaji, gulgula, pidiya, dhoodh fara, khurmi fall, etc. Some of the fairs and festivals celebrated in this region are Bastar Dassera, Bastar Lokotsav, the First Fruits, Teeja festival, Pola festival, Fagun Wadai, Hareli Festival, Koriya Mela, Champaran Mela and Boramdeo festival.

Chhattisgarh Education

The literacy rate of Chhattisgarh is 71.04% as per the records of 2011. In a time period of ten years it has increased from 64.66% to 71.04%. Among this the male literacy rate is 81.45% and the female literacy rate is 60.59%.

Some of the universities and important colleges in Chhattisgarh are Indian Institute of Management Raipur, National Institute of Technology, All India Institute of Medical Science, Hidayatullah National Law University, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Pandit Sundarlal Sharma University, Sarguja University, Guru Ghasidas Central University, Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, etc.

Economy of Chhattisgarh

The agricultural income is obtained from the crops like jower, gram, soyabean, sunflower, pulses, millets, paddy and maize. The important industries located here are Bhilai Steel Plant, Jindal Steel and Power, Indian Oil Corporation, Simplex Casting Ltd, Chouhan Housing Pvt Ltd, NMDC, SECL, NTPC and Bharat Aluminum Company Limited. 20% of India’s steel and cement are manufactured at this place. The large supply of power helps in the economic development. The industries are located at Bhilai and Raipur region. The worker participation rate in Chhattisgarh is 47.7%. More than 80% of the people are involved in farm related activities.

Chhattisgarh Transport

For every 100 square kilometer of area, Chhattisgarh has 24.6 kilometers of road. For every village it has 1.3 kilometers of road. The National Highway 78 and 11 other National Highways having a length of 2225 kilometers passes through Chhattisgarh. However it still has to improve in its road infrastructure and the government is implementing various schemes for the same.

Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh is the headquarters of the South East Central Railway. There are 48 railways stations in the state and the main junctions are Durg Junction, Raipur, Sambalpur, Korba, Jagdalpur, Bilaspur, Champa, Bhilai Power House and Ambikapur junctions. The major airports in the state are Raipur Airport, Bilaspur Airport and Jagdalpur Airport. Other small airstrops are Nandini airport, Baikunth Airstrip, JSPL’s Airstrip, Kondatarai Airstrip, Korba Airstrip, Darima Airstrip, Agdih Airstrip and Dondi Airstrip.

Chhattisgarh Tourism

Chhattisgarh region is considered to be one of the richest bio-diversity areas of India as it has many unexplored waterfalls, caves, forests and hill plateaus. There are 3 national parks and 11 wildlife sanctuaries located here, the important among them being Kanger Valley National Park, Barnawapara, Sitandadi, Udanti, Achanakmar Sanctuaries, etc. The other destinations promoted for wildlife tourism are Chitrkot falls, Tirathgarh falls, Kailash Caves, Kutumbsar Caves, Bagicha and Chaiturgarh.

Some of the places of pilgrim tourism are Rajim, Champaranya, Dongargarh, Sheorinarayan, Girodhpuri, Dantewada, Ratanpur, Sirpur, etc. Barsoor, Malhar, Ratanpur and Surguja are archaeological sites worth visiting.