Kukshi is a town in Dhar district of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, India. Kukshi has population of around 37,482 making it a Tier-3 city and a Semi-Urban centre. It is a Nagar Parishad. Kukshi is famous for the business of cotton, mirchi, gold and silver, and ready made garments.

Geography

Kukshi is a part of the

Nimar Nimar is the southwestern region of Madhya Pradesh state in west-central India. This region has sub-regions which include Nimad, Khandya and Bhuwana. The region lies south of the Vindhya Range, and consists of two portions of the Narmada and ...

(Nemar) region of Madhya Pradesh. It is 350 km from

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

and 170 km from

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. It lies west of the Narmada River valley and south of the Vindhyas. Kukshi is the biggest tehsil of the

Dhar Dhar is a city located in Dhar district of the Malwa region in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of the Dhar district. Before Indian independence from Great Britain, it was the capital of the Dh ...

district. It is surrounded by the districts of

to the north,

Khargone Khargone is a city and administrative headquarters of an Khargone district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city is located on the bank of the Kunda river and is known for its cotton and chilly (chili pepper) production. It is also ...

(West Nimar) to the northeast,

Barwani Barwani or Badwani ( hi, Baḍwāni) is a municipal town in Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh, India, that is situated near the left bank of the Narmada River. It is the administrative headquarters of Barwani district and has also served a ...

to the southeast, and

Alirajpur Alirajpur is a city in the Alirajpur tehsil in Alirajpur district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Alirajpur State was formerly a princely state of India, under the Bhopawar Agency in Central India. It lay in the Malwa region of Madhya Pr ...

and Jhabua to the west.

Climate

Kukshi has a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

climate, which is made up of a hot, dry summer (April–June) followed by monsoon season (July–September), and a cool, dry winter. The average rainfall is about 45 inches per year. The temperature varies from around 10 °C in the winter to 45 °C in the summer.

Demographics

As of 2011 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, Kukshi had a population of 37,482. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Kukshi has an average literacy rate of 79.9%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 86.9%, and female literacy is 72.8%. In Kukshi, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age. Being nearest to the

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

(~100 km),

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

(~ 60 km) and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

(~150 km) borders there are also inhabitants from these states, too. Most of the population is dependent upon farming and trading.

Economy

Kukshi is one of the biggest towns of the Dhar district and business Hub of Dhar District. The primary source of income is

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. It falls in the

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

belt providing very good business opportunities. Cotton produced in Kukshi tehsil and its villages are of international quality, having long, fine threads. Kukshi also provides a trading opportunity to Bhils who live in the surrounding areas to come for their shopping needs. The main businesses in town are Jewelry, Cloth, steel utensils, Cotton Mills, Cement factories, Tile factories, Torch accumulator and torch factories, cement pipes, stone crushing, electric poles and a cement barricade factory. Kukshi has numerous educational institutes such as Sardar Patel college, Pushpam Academy School Kukshi, Allegiance Academy, Child welfare School, Datahari Public School, Unique Academy, Kanya Parisar. Kukshi has also pioneered in the field of IT Industry. People like Mr. Huzefa Dawoodi have laid the foundation stone of Computer Education in the city. Apart from Husain Computers, there are many other institutes in the city, providing Computer Education and Peripheral services.

Culture

The residents of Kukshi belong to a variety of religions. Religious places are located in almost every part of city. Some of the famous and most-visited temples & mosques are Gayatri Mandir, Swaminarayan Mandir, Shani Mandir, Echhappurna Hanuman Mandir, Ganesh Mandir, Shiv Mandir, Ranchhod Rai (Khakchok) Mandir, Ram Mandir, Aai Mata Mandir, Satyanarayan Mandir, Ambika mandir etc. Of these, Sarkari Mandir temple is presumed to be a very old temple and Datahari Mandir also. Its name, ''data''+''hari'', indicates that this temple was built to show unity among peoples of two important religious groups then: Hindus and Muslims. Gayatri Mandir is considered as a very pleasant location in city as the temple is on an island in a pond accessed by a bridge. There are seven mosques in Kukshi. Markaz e Ahle Sunnat Jama Masjid, Badpura is a central entity for all of them. Hafiz Muhammed Ashfaque Ashrafi (Badey Hafiz Sahab) is the head preacher of that mosque. Ghause Aazam ka aastana (Mazaar) and Baaley Shah data ka aastana are most significant among all of the other spiritual Islamic places in town.

Neighborhoods

The neighborhoods (

Mohalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. History Historically, mahallas were autonomous social in ...

s) were considered as a block for a particular community in early days.

Places of interest

The nearby attractions of Kukshi are: #

Bagh Caves The Bagh Caves are a group of nine rock-cut monuments, situated among the southern slopes of the Vindhyas in Bagh town of Dhar district in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. These monuments are located at a distance of 97 km from Dhar ...

#
Talanpur tirth
- Sri Parshvanath Rajendra Jain Swetamber Pedhi and Sri Talanpur Digamber Mandir Pedhi at Talanpur are located 4km west of Kukshi town # Bawangaja # Koteshwar #
Shahid Chandra Shekhar Azad Sagar(Faata dam)
#(Badkeshwar)

References

{{Indore Division Cities and towns in Dhar district