Kurukshetra district

Kurukshetra district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. The town of Kurukshetra, a sacred place for the Hindus, is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district occupies an area of 1530.00 km². The district has a population of 964,655 (2011 census). This district is part of Ambala division. Kurukshetra is also the land of Srimad Bhagawad Gita. Jyotisar is the place in Kurukshetra where Krishna is believed to deliver the sermon of Gita to Arjuna in the Mahabharata.

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Kurukshetra.

Kurukshetra district
District of Haryana
Location of Kurukshetra district in Haryana
CountryIndia
StateHaryana
HeadquartersKurukshetra
Tehsils1. Thanesar, 2. Shahabad 3. Pehowa, 4.Ladwa
Area
 • Total1,530 km2 (590 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total964,655
 • Density630/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
 • Urban
26.10
Demographics
 • Literacy76.31
 • Sex ratio888
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Lok Sabha constituenciesKurukshetra (shared with Yamuna Nagar and Kaithal districts)
Vidhan Sabha constituencies4
Websitehttp://kurukshetra.gov.in/

Origin of name
The Kurukshetra war depicted in a manuscript of the Mahabharata

The district derived its name from the ancient region of Kurukshetra, which literally means the land of the Kurus. It is believed that the Kurukshetra war described in the Mahabharata Puranas and the war was fought here and Shree Krishna preached the Bhagavat Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield before the war.

History

The district was carved out from the erstwhile Karnal district in 1973. Later some parts of this district were transferred to Kaithal and Yamuna Nagar districts at the time of their creation.

Divisions

Kurukshetra district comprises two sub-division: Thanesar and Pehowa. Thanesar sub-division comprises two tehsils, Thanesar and Shahabad and two sub-tehsils, Ladwa and Babain. Pehowa sub-division consists of Pehowa tehsil and Ismailabad sub-tehsil. The significant towns in this district are Kurukushetra, Thanesar and Pehowa. Due to its location at the Punjab border it has a substantial Sikh population also.

International Gita Mahotsav

Kurukshetra is not just the land known as the land of Mahabharta; it is also known for the Philosophy of Life and Karma given to Arjuna by Lord Krishna . For more than 5000 years now, Srimad Bhagawad Gita has emerged as the one scripture which is free from the tags of religions and communities. It is equally reverend all over the world for the message of Selfless Karma which is much relevant in all ages.

Kurukshetra has been celebrating Gita Jayanti (the Birthday of Gita Updesha) for decades. For long it was known as Kurukshetra Utsav and in 2016, the Haryana Government decided to give it a global fervor and organised International Gita Mahotsav at Kurukshetra from 1 December to 11 December. The Gita Jayanti was celebrated on 10 December as per the traditional calendar. In 2016, over 01 Million people visited the events.[1] Kurukshetra in again getting ready to host the 2017 International Gita Mahotsav from 17 November 2017. The Gita Jayanti will fall on 30 November.

Demographics
Religion in Kurukshetra district (2011)[2]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 73.47%
Sikhism
 
 24.55%
Islam
 
 1.66%
Christianity
 
 0.20%
Jainism
 
 0.04%
Buddhism
 
 0.02%
Not Stated
 
 0.05%

According to the 2011 census Kurukshetra district has a population of 964,655,[3] roughly equal to the nation of Fiji[4] or the US state of Montana.[5] This gives it a ranking of 452nd in India (out of a total of 640).[3] The district has a population density of 630 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,600/sq mi) .[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.81%.[3] Kurukshetra has a sex ratio of 889 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 76.7%.[3]

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 81.94% of the population in the district spoke Hindi and 17.47% Punjabi as their first language.[6]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901175,735—    
1911158,807−1.01%
1921164,560+0.36%
1931169,002+0.27%
1941197,157+1.55%
1951219,455+1.08%
1961341,906+4.53%
1971465,222+3.13%
1981542,423+1.55%
1991669,346+2.12%
2001825,454+2.12%
2011964,655+1.57%
source:[7]

Education

Kurukshetra University was established as a unitary residential university at Kurukshetra in 1956. The Regional Engineering College at Kurukshetra was established in 1963, which was later renamed as National Institute of Technology. Kurukshetra has recently got two reputed institutions in the form of National Institute of Design and National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT). Apart from these, the Institute of Hotel Management at Jyotisar is also known.

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References
  1. Kurukshetra, Kurukshetra Development Board. "International Gita Mahotsav 2016, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India". internationalgitamahotsav2016.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. http://www.census2011.co.in/census/district/211-kurukshetra.html
  3. "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  4. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Retrieved 1 October 2011. Fiji 883,125 July 2011 est.
  5. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2011. Montana 989,415
  6. 2011 Census of India, Population By Mother Tongue
  7. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901

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