Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a district in the Indian states and territories of India, state of Karnataka. Uttara Kannada District is a major coastal district of Karnataka, and currently holding the title of the largest district in Karnataka. It is borde ...

district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the

Kanara Kanara, also known as Karavali is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The region comprises three civil districts, ...

coast of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urban area of , It is known for their beaches and green tourism.

Etymology

Karwar, also known locally as "Kādwād", derived its name from the nearby village of "Kade-Wādā". In the local

Konkani language Konkani () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language ...

, ''Kade'' means "last" and ''Wādā'' means "precinct". Hence, ''Kade-Wādā'' ("the last neighbourhood") referred to the southernmost Konkani-speaking village. During the

Crown rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, the name "Karwar" was spelt as "Carwar". The ancient name was "Baithkhol"—from an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

term ''Bait-e-kol''— meaning the "bay of safety". This is in the Indian history for maritime trade wherein black peppercorns,

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera '' Elettaria'' and '' Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They ar ...

, and

muslin cloth Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured. Muslin of uncommonly delicate handsp ...

were exported from this Kādwād port and after the war with Veer Henja Naik (1803), the port activities were shifted to Baithkhol. Thereafter, the port of Kādwād was isolated and Kurmagad Fort was activated by the Portuguese.

History

Karwar township was built by the British in the year 1857 after the Mutiny. Kawar is popularly known as the "Kashmir of Maharashtra". Prior to 1857, Karwar did not exist as a town. Honnavara was the district headquarters of Canara district consisting up to

Mangalore Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka– ...

to Kodibag Karwar, uptill Kali river; and Karwar village (''Kādwād'') existed as hamlets like Habbuwada, Kajubag, Kodibag, Kone, Baad, Kathinkon, Sunkeri, Shirwad, and Binaga. After that the river bank towards the north was under the rule of Sadhashiv Nayak and

Maratha Confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of ...

. After the mutiny of 1857, the British made division of Canara District into two parts as

South Canara South Canara was a district of the Madras Presidency of British India, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the capital in Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the most heterogeneous areas ...

with headquarters at

attached to

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

and North Canara with headquarters at the newly built town Karwar, which was attached to

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

. It is a planned city like Panaji, Mumbai, Dharwad, and Bengaluru. After the rule of Indian Government from 1947, Karwar is more or less neglected politically and kept without major developments.

Ancient History

Portuguese traders knew Karwar as ''Cintacora'', ''Chitrakul'', ''Chittakula'' or ''Sindpur''. In 1510, the Portuguese captured and burnt a fort at Karwar. They called it ''Fort Pir'', ''Forte de Piro'' or ''Pito'' due to the presence of a Muslim Dargah (tomb of a Sufi saint, Shahkaramuddin). In 1638 the English trading Courteen Association established a factory at Kadwad village, 6 km east of Karwar and traded with merchants from Arabia and Africa. The common commodities were

muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured. Muslin of uncommonly delicate hands ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

, cassier and coarse blue cotton cloth. In 1649 the Courteen Association merged with the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

, and Karwar became a

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

. The East India Company built fighting ships in the Karwar harbour. For example, the ''Britannia'' (1715) which had 18 guns was built to defend

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

from attacks by Maratha

Koli Koli may refer to: Places * Koli, Finland, a hill in Finland * Koli National Park, a national park in Finland * Koli, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Koli Airfield, a former airfield in the South Pacific Other uses * Koli peopl ...

admiral

Kanhoji Angre Kanhoji Angre (Marathi: कान्होजी आंग्रे, anʱod͡ʒiː aːŋɡɾe, also known as Conajee Angria or Sarkhel Angré (August 1669 – 4 July 1729) was a chief of the Maratha Navy in present-day India. Kanhoji became k ...

. In the 1700s, Karwar was a part of the

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

. Having marched from Bednore in the south, visiting on his way the sacred temple at Gokarna, Shivaji seized Ankola and the next day came to Karwar (then known as Kadwad). Both the East India Company and Sher Shah, the sardar of Bijapur, were very much alarmed at this sudden development. They collected huge amount and offering it to Shivaji, praying that they may be spared. Satisfied at the recognition of his authority, Shivaji crossed the Kali River and conquered Sadashivgad on 21 February 1665. In 1784, at the time of the

Treaty of Mangalore The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tipu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War. Background Hyder Ali became dalwai Dalavayi of Mysore by ...

between

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

and the East India Company, Karwar and Sadashivgad were spelt ''Carwar'' and ''Sadasewgude'' respectively. After the defeat of the Marathas in the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha ter ...

, Karwar was captured by the British. Kot Siveshvar, another fortress, was built near Karwar (in Siveshvar village) by the Sultan of Bijapur to counterattacks from the north. At the ruins of Fort Siveshvar are a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

graveyard and a tunnel at the eastern gate. The

Bengali poet Bengali poetry is a rich tradition of poetry in the Bengali language and has many different forms. Originating in the Bengal region of South Asia, the history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: poetry of the ear ...

and

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

, who visited Karwar in 1882, dedicated a chapter of his memoirs to this town. At 22 years, Tagore stayed with his second brother,

Satyendranath Tagore Satyendranath Tagore (1 June 1842 – 9 January 1923) was an Indian Bengali civil servant, poet, composer, writer, social reformer and linguist from Kolkata, West Bengal. He was the first Indian who became an Indian Civil Service officer in 18 ...

, who was a district judge in Karwar. From 1862 until the re-organization of the Indian states after Independence, Uttara Kannada district was a part of the Bombay Presidency. During this period, major public works carried out included improvement of roads, building of a wharf, wharf road and a sea wall at the Karwar port as well as the construction of a multi-floor storage building, staff housing, a post office, '' kutcheri'' (kutcherries or

zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...

's offices) and a Christian burial ground."Report of proceedings at the conference held at Poona, 1865."
Department of Public Works, Bombay Presidency, 1866 p. 251 (Original held at Oxford University). Accessed at Google books, 5 April 2014. At the same time, the local Konkani-speaking people had close connections with Mumbai and Goa. Many Marathi middle schools were established in Karwar and Joida taluks, despite the fact that all local populace mostly were Konkani native speakers. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Karwar was an Indian Naval training site.Hiranandani G. M
"Transition to Eminence: The Indian Navy 1976–1990."
Lancer Publishers, 2005. , 9788170622666.

Post-Independence

Post-Independence Karwar was made a part of newly formed Mysore state following requests by the people of Karwar. Karwar during the 1950–60s played import role against the Konkani language agitation, helping cement Konkani as an independent language during Konkani conferences held in Karwar. The city played an important role in Konkan culture and Konkani culture hosting many Konkani conferences to promote the language. There have been demographic shifts since the state reorganizations act, and Karwar is no longer the stronghold for Konkani culture and has been overtaken by Panaji (or Panjim), Goa (after Goa achieved statehood) and by Mangalore .The city is also neglected by the state government and devoid of development. Spots of attractions are usually underfunded, relatively little money is allowed for development and people have to constantly rely on the neighboring state of Goa to carry out their needs.

Geography

Karwar is a seaport on the west coast of peninsular India. To the east are the Western Ghats. Karwar is situated on the banks of the Kali river which flows west to the Arabian sea from its headwaters at Bidi village in the Western Ghats. The Kali river has a length of about and is the main source of irrigation in the region. Baitkhol port at Karwar is a natural harbour with land side hills and ocean side islands protecting it from cyclonic weather. The four fathom mark lies close to the shore. The tidal range is .

Biodiversity

Several small

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

covered islands lie off the Kali river estuary including Anjediva Island and Devagadaguda Islands. The sub-tidal regions of the islands have a high biodiversity, although the waters off Karwar have recorded higher than normal faecal coliform counts.Sahoo D. and Pandey P. C
"Advances in Marine and Antarctic Science."
APH publishing 2002 , 9788176483476.

Climate

Karwar lies on a coastal strip known as the ''Monsoon Coast''. Karwar has hot and humid summers () from March to May where the temperature may peak to . The

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

is warm throughout the year. Winters from December to February are mild () and seldom plummet to . The windy

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

period from June to September has an average rainfall of over .

Demographics

The total population in Karwar is 1,57,739 as of 2014 by Indian Government. As of 2014, Karwar had an average literacy rate of 89%, higher than the national average of 74%: male literacy was 94%, and female literacy was 84.85%.Zilla Panchayat Uttara Kannada District Overview 2014 http://www.zpkarwar.kar.nic.in/docs/publication/English/EnglishPart2.pdf In Karwar, 10% of the population were children under 6 years of age.

Language

Border issues

Karwar taluka is majorly Konkani by ethnicity. It was part of the

during the British colonial rule, before the reorganization of states. The native Konkani speakers had close connections with Bombay which extended to matrimonial relations too. Many Marathi-medium schools were also established in Karwar and Joida talukas for no specific reason. Marathi films were often released in Karwar. The visit of Marathi drama troupes from Bombay and Poona was an annual feature. However, Konkani-speaking people were disenchanted when Marathis began to claim Konkani as a dialect of Marathi. They disputed it and asserted that Konkani had independent status as a language. It was the native Konkani-speaking people led by late P. S. Kamat who argued before Mahajan Commission that Karwar was an integral part of Karnataka. There have been recent assertions by both Maharashtra and Goa that Karwar should belong to their states.

Religion

Most people in Karwar are

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. Christianity was introduced to Karwar by the Portuguese while ruling Goa in the 16th and 17th centuries and contemporary

Karwari Catholics Karwari Catholics ( Konkani: ''Karwarchem Katholik'') are Indian Christians following the Roman Rite, hailing primarily from the Karwar township and the surrounding North Kanara district, situated on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, I ...

are descendants of those early Christians.

seafaring traders migrated to Karwar from the Deccan (Bahamani) kingdoms. Karwar was called ''Baithkol'' meaning the "house of safety" or ''Bait-e-kol'' meaning "place of safety" in Arabic. Muslim villages in Karwar include: Shiveshvar, Chittakula, Sawar Pai, and Hotegali. Islamic tradition holds that two brothers, descendants of Ali, the son-in-law of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

, settled in Shiveshvar and made the village a place of Islamic learning. In Shiveshvar, there are three shrines dedicated to Muslim saints: Gaiby Pir, Nizam Pir, and Shamshuddin pir-in Kot.

Some famous Historic Mutt & Temples

Shri Samsthan Shri Kshetra Baad Math (Gurumath, Karwar)Shree Mahadeva TempleShri Shejjeshwara Temple

Primary industry

Karwar is an agricultural region. The common crops are rice, groundnuts, green vegetables, onions, watermelons, and flowers. Other primary industries include

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...

, horticulture,

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (insect), Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees ar ...

, gathering and lumbering and the growing of

homeopathic Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...

medicinal plants. The coastal location of Karwar lends to fishing and fisheries which are concentrated in Harikanth, Konkan Kharvis, Gabiths and Ambigas. The common types of fish are mackerel, sardines, hardheads and prawns. Fishing is done from land with nets or from boats such as ''pandy'' (motor launch) and ''dhoni'' (dug out canoes). There is also mechanised trawling. The

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

of the Kali estuary is suitable for prawn farming.

Secondary industry

Members of the

Daivadnya Brahmin The Daivadnyas, (also known as Daivadnya Brahmins or Daivadnya Sonars or Konkanastha Rathakara), are a Konkani Gold-smith community, who claim to have descended from Vishwakarma, Hindu architect god and part of larger Vishwakarma community ...

caste are engaged in jewellery design, manufacturing and

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

ing. Leather works are common. Since 1638 when William Counten opened a mill, Karwar town has been a producer of fine

. In the 1660s the factory was prosperous, exporting the finest muslins in Western India; the weaving country was inland to the east, at Hubli and other centres, where as many as 50,000 weavers were employed. Besides the great export of muslin, Karwar provided pepper, cardamoms, cassia, and coarse blue cotton cloth (dungan). I In Binaga township, a chemical company Aditya Birla Chemicals (earlier owned by Ballarpur Industries Ltd / Solaris Chemtech), manufactures caustic soda lye and flakes,

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid. It is a component of the gastric acid in the dige ...

, phosphoric acid, kestra pipes and

bromine Bromine is a chemical element with the symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is the third-lightest element in group 17 of the periodic table ( halogens) and is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a simi ...

Tertiary industry

At Kaiga, away, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India operates an 880 MW

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ...

. The Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. operates a dam and 150 MW power house between Kadra and Mallapur townships, approximately from Karwar town.

INS Kadamba

The

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

operates a naval base at a bay near Binaga township. It is the navy's third largest base. The base was founded as part of Project Seabird. Casurina beach near Binaga (now called Kamat Bay) and Arga beach were incorporated into naval property. The public has access to the base during Navy Week in December and in visiting educational groups. The naval base includes a civilian support community at Amadalli, a ship lift and an hospital.

INS Kadamba INS Kadamba or Naval Base Karwar or Project Seabird is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka. The first phase of construction of the base, code-named ''Project Seabird'', was completed in 2005 and the base was commissioned on ...

is the homeport of India's largest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

INS Vajrakosh

INS Vajrakosh INS Vajrakosh is a missile and ammunition base of the Indian Navy at Karwar, Karnataka and is the third naval establishment. It was commissioned on 9 September 2015 by the Defence Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar. Objective ''INS Vajrakosh'' ser ...

, commissioned on 9 September 2015, is the latest establishment of the Indian Navy at Karwar which will serve as special storage facility for specialised armaments and missiles. INS Vajrakosh will have all the required infrastructure and will be manned by specialists to provide specialised servicing facilities for these sophisticated missiles and ammunition.

Aditya Birla Chemicals

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) (ABCIL) is a unit of the Aditya Birla Group. ABCIL has also acquired chlor-alkali and phosphoric acid division of Ballarpur Industries Ltd / Solaris Chemtech Industries Limited, based in Karwar, Karnataka.

Transport

Karwar International Airport

The proposed Karwar Airport will be built by the

at Alageri village near Ankola, in

. The

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, is a public sector enterprise under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastruct ...

(AAI) will operate a civil enclave at the naval air base which is part of the Navy's Rs 100 billion Phase 2 of

Project Seabird INS Kadamba or Naval Base Karwar or Project Seabird is an Indian Navy base located near Karwar in Karnataka. The first phase of construction of the base, code-named ''Project Seabird'', was completed in 2005 and the base was commissioned on ...

. After the construction Karwar will be the second city in Karantaka to have all 3 major modes of transport (Air, Sea, Land)

Konkan railway

The

Konkan Railway The Konkan Railway (abbreviated KR) is one of the 19 railway zones in India with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The first passenger train ran on Konkan railway tracks on 20 March 1993, between Udupi and ...

connects Karwar to most major towns and cities. Karwar has three railway stations:

Karwar Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, India. Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urba ...

, Asnoti and Harwada. The nearest Goan station is Canacona, 36 km away. lies 68 km to the north. and 253 km to the south.

Port

Karwar port is located at Baithkol, Karwar Bay. Hills and coastal islands make the port a natural harbour, sheltered from the Arabian sea. The port which is operated by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appoint ...

, services the hinterland of northern Karnataka, Goa and southern Maharashtra. The length of the port is . The quay has two berths, with a draft capacity of . Karwar port also berths coastal vessels and there is a jetty for fishing vessels."Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 India & Bay of Bengal Enroute."
National Geospatial-intelligence Agency, ProStar Publications, 2005 p. 53 , 9781577856627. The Government of Karnataka has planned to develop Karwar port on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis to provide six additional berths, a container terminal, and a rail link to Shirwad railway station. The port is able to handle all types of commodities, including "B" and "C" class petroleum products. There port has liquid storage tanks for bitumen, furnace oil, molasses, and HSD. A ban of iron ore mining and export in Karnataka state reduced congestion at the port. The port has arrangements for berthing coastal vessels, and a jetty for fishing boats. In 2012 the

carried out maintenance dredging in the port, the approach channel and the nearby anchorage. The port may be closed from 16 May to 15 September (the monsoon season). Part of the 2008 Hindi film '' Golmaal Returns'' was filmed at Karwar port.

Tourism

Rabindranath Tagore beach

Heading for a new journey at Tagore Beach

:"The sea beach of Karwar is certainly a fit place in which to realize that the beauty of Nature is not a mirage of the imagination, but reflects the joy of the Infinite and thus draws us to lose ourselves in it. Where the universe is expressing itself in the magic of its laws it may not be strange if we miss its infinitude; but where the heart gets into immediate touch with immensity in the beauty of the meanest of things, is any room left for argument?" –

Karwar in Tagore's memoirs
online-literature.com

Places of interest

Seaside

* Kali River Garden, Kodibag * Rock Garden, Karwar * Binaga Beach * Devbagh Beach * Kali Bridge * Karwar Beach * Kurumgad Island * Majali Beach * Oyster Rock Lighthouse, a round white masonry construction with red trim protects ships from the rocks of Devgad Island, the largest off the Kali Estuary. * Tilmatti beach, A black sand beach

Hinterland

* Anshi National Park * Kadra & Kodsalli dam * Chaitanya Park * Chendia and Nagarmadi falls (a small waterfall which passes under a large rock) * Devkar Falls * Guddahalli Peak * Habbu Mountain * Hyder Ghat Pass * Mudgeri Dam * Shirve Ghat * Makkeri

Historic sites

* Kot Shiveshvar * Shri Narasimha temple, Siddar * Sadashivgad Fort * Shahkaramuddin dargah, Sadashivgad (tomb of a Sufi saint) * Maritime museum

Culture

Cuisine

Karwar is known for its seafood cuisine. Fish curry, with cashews, coconut and rice is a staple dish. Karwar curries use ginger and turmeric but not always garlic.Tennebaum T. D
"A Sense for Spice : Recipes and Stories from a Konkan Kitchen."
Westland , 9789382618492. Crabmasala

Local festivals

* Kurumgad jatra * São João where garlands of freshly picked fruits leaves and flowers are worn and people jump into wells, ponds, rivers, and lakes. * Anjedweep island festival * Karavali Utsav, an annual three of four-day festival at Rabindranath Tagore beach. It is organised by the Uttara Kannada District Administration as a cultural and social event. Many shops and stalls are installed at Tagore beach. People from all parts of the district and from all over the state and neighboring Goa state attend. Many cultural events are held in the evenings where regional, national and international artists including

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

stars, Kannada film stars, Goan artists and local artists perform. *Karwar utsav in summer season where local artistes and celebrities come and perform.

Media

Media outlets include: * Karwar eNews, online local newspaper. * ''Karavali Munjavu'', Kannada language daily newspaper.http://www.munjavu.com Munjavu daily newspaper website * Zilla Varta Kendra media centre. * District Library, near the district court and next to Mitra Samaj. * All India Radio (Akashwani Kendra), Gurumath Road, Kajubag.

Education

Karwar has Government and private engineering college and Government medical college. The city has private and Government schools and institutions for PU, diploma and ITI courses.

Notable residents

Rama Raghoba Rane Major Rama Raghoba Rane, PVC (26 June 1918 – 11 July 1994) was an officer in the Indian Army. He was the first living recipient of the Param Vir Chakra along with Karam Singh, India's highest military decoration. Born in 1918, Rane ...

, (1918–1994). The only Param Vir Chakra Award winner from Karnataka. * Jayshree Gadkar, a Marathi movie actress of the 1960s, born to a Konkani speaking family in Kanasgiri, near Sadashivgad. *

singer

Anuradha Paudwal Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. She has been described in media as one of the most prominent Bhajan singer and also as one of the most successful playback singers ...

, born in Karwar as Alka Nadakarni in a Konkani speaking family and brought up in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. *

Gajanan Kirtikar Gajanan Kirtikar is Leader of Shivsena and a Member of Parliament (MP) from Mumbai North West (Lok Sabha constituency) in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He has been a Member of Legislative Assembly from Malad assembly constituency in Mumbai from 1 ...

, Member of parliament from

Mumbai North West (Lok Sabha constituency) Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency is a constituency represented in the Lok Sabha of the Parliament of India, having approximately 1.6 million voters. Assembly segments Presently, Mumbai North West constituency comprises six Vidhan Sa ...

Krishna Kalle Krishna Kalle ( kn, ಕೃಷ್ಣಾ ಕಲ್ಲೆ; 18 December 1940 – 15 March 2015) was an Indian playback singer in Marathi, Hindi, and Kannada films. Childhood Kalle's family was from Karwar, Uttara Kannada. She was born and grew u ...

, Playback singer in Marathi, Hindi, and Kannada films. The above are few notable residents for KARWAR

Villages of Karwar

Karwar comprises the following blocks or villages: * Ambrai * Amadalli * Angadi * Arga * Asnoti * Baad * Baitkol * Balni * Bhaire * Bhagatwada * bargadda * Bhandishitta * Binaga * Birtulbag * Bore * Chendia * Chittakulla * Devalmakki * Devabag * Dhol * Gopashitta * Goyar * Gotegali * Halebag * Halekote * Halga * Hankon * Hapkarni * Harwada * Hosali * Hotegali * Kadra * Kadwad * Kaiga * Kajubag * Kalaswada * Kanasgiri * Karkal * Kathinkon * Kerwadi * Kharga * Kinner * Kodibag * Kolage * Kurnipet * Lower Makeri * Majali * Maingini * Mallapur * Mudgeri * Nandangadda * Nargeri * Sadashivgad * Sakalbalni * Sanmudageri * Shejebag * Shejwad * Shirwad * Siddar * Sunkeri * Thoralebag * Todur * Ulga * Umlijug

References

External links

Karwar City Municipal Council

Zilla panchayat Karwar
{{Hydrology of Karnataka, state=expanded Cities and towns in Uttara Kannada district Port cities in India