Shimoga
Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga,[2] is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city is popularly nicknamed as "Gateway to Malnad".[3] The population of Shimoga city is 322,650 as per 2011 census.[1]
Shimoga | |
---|---|
City Corporation | |
Shivamogga | |
Images, from top down, left right Indian lion in the Tyavarekoppa Tiger and Lion Reserve Statue of Keladi Shivappa Nayaka Sculpture of Mahishasura Mardhini Shivappa Nayaka palace | |
Shimoga Shimoga | |
Coordinates: 13°56′N 75°34′E | |
Country | |
State | Karnataka |
District | Shimoga |
Region | Malenadu |
Government | |
• Type | City Corporation |
• Body | Shivamogga Mahanagara Palike |
Area | |
• Total | 70.01 km2 (27.03 sq mi) |
Elevation | 569 m (1,867 ft) |
Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 322,650 |
• Rank | 10th (Karnataka) |
Languages | |
• Official | Kannada |
Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
PIN | 577201 - 577205 |
Telephone code | 91-(0)8182-XXXXXX |
ISO 3166 code | IN-KA |
Vehicle registration | KA-14 |
Climate | Aw |
Website | www |
The city is 569 m above sea level and is surrounded by lush green paddy fields, arecanut and coconut groves. It is located 267 kms from the state capital Bangalore and 195 kms from the port city Mangalore[4]
History
The name of the city is derived from the term "shivmoga". A version of etymology is due to the story that Lord Shiva drank the Tunga river water using "Mogge", hence the name Shiva-mogga". Another version of etymology is that the name is derived from the term "Sihi-Mogge", meaning "sweet pot".
The district formed the southern tip of the Emperor Ashoka's Mauryan Empire in the third century BC. It was ruled during later centuries by the Kadambas (4th century), Chalukyas (6th century), Ganges, Rashtrakutas (8th century), Hoysalas (11th century), and the Vijayanagara rulers (15th century). The city got an independent identity under the Keladi Nayakas' rule during the 16th century. From the late 17th century, the city had been a part of the Kingdom of Mysore until the independence of India in 1947, when the Mysore state merged into the Republic of India.
During the Satyagraha movement, Mahatma Gandhi also visited the place to instigate the fight for national freedom.[4]
On 1 November 2006, the government of Karnataka announced the renaming of Shimoga to "Shivamogga", along with nine other cities in the state. The central government approved (12 cities) the request in the October 2014 and the city was renamed on 1 November 2014.[5][6][7][8]
Education
Shimoga is one of the important centers for the high school and the pre-university education in Karnataka. Notable institutes in Shimoga for pre-university (PU) education include: Sri Aurobindo PU College, PACE PU College, Acharya PU College (Nandana Education Trust,[9] Deshiya Vidhya Shala (DVS) Independent College.
The village of Gajanur hosts a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (central school) which is a boarding school. Kuvempu University is located in Shankarghatta, at a distance of 20 km from Shimoga.
Government High School is the oldest education institution in Shimoga.[10] It was started by the British in 1853.[10]
Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences is the medical sciences college at Shimoga and managed by Government Departments. Subbaiah Institute of Medical Sciences is located at Purale.[11] Sharavathi Dental College is also located in Shimoga. It also has two engineering colleges, Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering and PES Institute of Technology and Management. Tegginamath Arts Education Society Ayurvedic medical is located in Nidige.[12]
Demographics
As of 2011 Indian Census, Shimoga had a total population of 322,650, of which 162,018 were males and 160,632 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 32,691. The total number of literates in Shimoga was 254,531, which constituted 78.9% of the population with male literacy of 81.4% and female literacy of 76.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Shimoga was 87.8%, of which male literacy rate was 90.8% and female literacy rate was 84.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 40,737 and 9,192 respectively. Shimoga had 76009 households in 2011.[1]
Geography
According to the Shimoga City Municipal Corporation,[14] the city has a total area of about 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi). Most/all these hills are part of the Western Ghats, a region known for plentiful rainfall and lush greenery and declared during 2012 as a World Heritage site. Tunga River flows through Shimoga.
Climate
The climate is tropical wet and dry (Köppen climate classification) summer average temperature 20–35 °C (68–95 °F). This means that the winter and the early part of summer are typically dry periods. The majority of the rainfall occurs between June and early October. Shimoga is a part of a region known as Malnad (land of hills) in Karnataka. Yearly, the rainfall aggregates up to 3295mm of precipitation.[15] January and February are the driest months, July the wettest, and April is the warmest month with an average high temperature of 35.5 degrees Celsius (95.9 degrees F).Coldest months of Shimoga are July, August, November and December with average high temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees F).[15] In summer (April–May), temperature crosses 36 °C at Shimoga.[16]
Climate data for Shimoga (1981–2010, extremes 1950–2005) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 35.0 (95.0) |
38.8 (101.8) |
41.4 (106.5) |
39.7 (103.5) |
44.0 (111.2) |
40.0 (104.0) |
34.7 (94.5) |
35.0 (95.0) |
38.0 (100.4) |
35.0 (95.0) |
34.4 (93.9) |
34.0 (93.2) |
44.0 (111.2) |
Average high °C (°F) | 31.5 (88.7) |
33.6 (92.5) |
36.0 (96.8) |
36.4 (97.5) |
34.9 (94.8) |
30.1 (86.2) |
28.2 (82.8) |
27.8 (82.0) |
29.6 (85.3) |
30.4 (86.7) |
30.1 (86.2) |
30.0 (86.0) |
31.6 (88.9) |
Average low °C (°F) | 15.3 (59.5) |
16.5 (61.7) |
19.5 (67.1) |
21.5 (70.7) |
22.2 (72.0) |
21.5 (70.7) |
20.9 (69.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
20.3 (68.5) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.2 (64.8) |
15.8 (60.4) |
19.3 (66.7) |
Record low °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
9.0 (48.2) |
11.7 (53.1) |
11.5 (52.7) |
15.0 (59.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
15.7 (60.3) |
13.0 (55.4) |
11.5 (52.7) |
11.7 (53.1) |
8.0 (46.4) |
6.0 (42.8) |
6.0 (42.8) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.2 (0.01) |
0.3 (0.01) |
5.9 (0.23) |
34.8 (1.37) |
41.1 (1.62) |
109.0 (4.29) |
158.2 (6.23) |
129.0 (5.08) |
70.8 (2.79) |
140.4 (5.53) |
30.4 (1.20) |
11.2 (0.44) |
731.1 (28.78) |
Average rainy days | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 8.4 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 5.3 | 6.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 53.3 |
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 42 | 40 | 36 | 43 | 53 | 74 | 78 | 79 | 73 | 69 | 59 | 48 | 58 |
Source: India Meteorological Department[17][18] |
Civic Administration
Shimoga is governed by a Municipal Corporation called the Shivamogga City Corporation. The total area under the it is 70.01 sq kms, with a population of 3,22,650 (Census 2011).[19] Shimoga has been selected under the Smart Cities Mission of the Indian Government under Round 2 of selections.[20] Shimoga was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation from a Municipal Council in 2013.[21] The latest Mayoral elections of Shimoga City Corporation were held in January 2020 in which BJP leader Suvarna Shankar was elected the Mayor and Surekha Muralidhar was elected as the Deputy Mayor. Since they were elected by elected representatives belonging to their party, we can say that the corporation has direct elections.[22] The Corporation has a Council of 35 elected members.[22] In 2018, Smt. Charulatha Somal took charge as the Municipal Commissioner of Shimoga City Corporation.[23]
Industries
APMC of Shimoga is main marketing point of arecanut, the major commercial crop grown in the district and well as in neighbouring districts like Uttara Kannada. Shimoga has the biggest areca nut market, and known for procuring high quality areca nuts. Other agricultural produces like rice, chili, coconut etc. are also marketed in APMC.
Shimoga IT Park is an information technology hub built just outside Shimoga near the future Shimoga Airport. The IT Park consists of a 100000 sq ft office building with 24/7 electrical capacity, diesel backup generators, and high speed T1 data connections for use by IT industries such as data centres, call centres, aerospace, robotics, etc.[24]
Transportation
Shimoga is well connected by road to major cities like Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubli. Two major National Highways pass through the City.
The city has two railway stations, and there are trains that run to and from Bangalore, Mysore, Tirupati and Chennai.
Shimoga Airport is under construction in Sogane, 6 km south of Shimoga.[25] The nearest international airports are Kempegowda International Airport and Mangalore International Airport.
Notable people
- Kuvempu, a National poet, jnanapeetha winner , vishwa manava , rasa rishi ,yugada kavi ,kannada's wordsworth , valuable gem of kannada
- D. H. Shankaramurthy, Former Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly
- B. S. Yediyurappa, a politician and Present Chief Minister of Karnataka
- K. S. Eshwarappa, a politician and former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka
- Khadi Shankarappa, a freedom fighter
- Shekhar Naik, a former captain of the Indian blind cricket team
- Shimoga Subbanna, a playback singer
- Kiccha Sudeep, an actor and director in Kannada cinema
See also
References
- "Census of India: Shimoga". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- "Bangalore becomes 'Bengaluru'; 11 other cities renamed". The Economic Times. PTI. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/2018/may/06/85-per-cent-unused-funds-leaves-shivamogga-scruffy-1810855.html
- "Shimoga | Shivamogga | Sightseeing Shimoga | Wildlife Shimoga". Karnataka.com. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- "Bangalore, Mysore, Other Karnataka Cities to be Renamed on 1 November". International Business Times. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- K. Jeevan Chinnappa (18 October 2014). "Centre nod for Karnataka's proposal on renaming cities". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "It's Bengaluru for Pranab". The Times of India. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- Nagesh Prabhu. "New name for cities". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "Nandana Education Trust". Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.)
- "Shimoga school turns 150". The Times of India. 29 October 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "Contact Us". Subbaiah Institute of Medical Science. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "About Us". Tegginamath Arts Education Society. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "culture of shivamogga". shivamoggaonline.in. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "Shimoga Municipal corporation". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- d.o.o, Yu Media Group. "Shimoga, India - Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast". Weather Atlas. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- "Shimoga weather". World Weather Online. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
- "Station: Shimoga Climatological Table 1981–2010" (PDF). Climatological Normals 1981–2010. India Meteorological Department. January 2015. pp. 705–706. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- "Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)" (PDF). India Meteorological Department. December 2016. p. M103. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- shivamoggacitycorp.org http://shivamoggacitycorp.org/. Retrieved 10 April 2020. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - "City Wise Projects under Smart Cities Mission :: SMART CITIES MISSION, Government of India". smartcities.gov.in. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- "Tumkur, Shimoga and Bijapur cities to be upgraded as Municipal Corporations". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 2 September 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 April 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
- Reporter, Staff (29 January 2020). "BJP candidates elected Mayor, Deputy Mayor". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- NewsKarnataka. "Charulatha Somal takes charge as Commissioner of Shimoga City Corporation". NewsKarnataka. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- Veerendra P. M. (26 May 2014). "Two years on, Shimoga Information Technology Park awaits entrepreneurs". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X.
- "Airport at Shimoga likely to come up at Sogane". The Hindu. 8 April 2006. ISSN 0971-751X.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shimoga. |
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Shimoga. |