Surendranagar is an administrative district in

Saurashtra region Saurashtra, also known as Sorath or Kathiawar, is a peninsular region of Gujarat, India, located on the Arabian Sea coast. It covers about a third of Gujarat state, notably 11 districts of Gujarat, including Rajkot District. It was formerly a s ...

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 ...

state in India. It has a population of approximately 1.7 million people. Surendranagar city, along with the twin city of

Wadhwan Wadhwan, also spelled Vadhwan, is a city and a municipality in Surendranagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located on the banks of the Bhogavo River, around 3 km from Surendranagar and 111 km from Ahmedabad, Wadhwan is a ...

, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, and is known as "Camp".

Economy

In the past, Surendranagar was used by colonialists as a hill station, because of its dry environment that was beneficial for some physical as well as mental ailments. Surendranagar's dry air is still believed to be the best place in Gujarat to cure

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

patients. District capital Surendranagar, which lies under

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

body is suffering from poor condition of roads and the two Causeways which join both the sides of city divided by Bhogavo River.

body of city is considered to be a candidate for status of

Municipal Corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ...

for a long time but due to some political reasons it never happen. It has the second highest number of educational institutes per capita. Many newspapers are published from Surendranagar in Gujarat.

Businesses

Many small and medium enterprises and industries are present, including confectionery,

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

, pharmaceuticals, engineering plastics, bearings and spindles, and salt production. Wadhwan City is a major trade and processing centre for agricultural products, cotton, salt, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and plastics, textile bearings, ceramics, and sanitary ware.

Natural resources

Nearly 25 percent of India's salt supply comes from mining in the Surendranagar area. There are miles of ''Agar'' ( Salt pans), especially in the

Kharaghoda Kharaghoda is a census town in Surendranagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Under the Bombay Presidency of British Raj, Kharaghoda was a part of the then Ahmedabad district, and had the terminus of a branch railway line. A governmen ...

area. High-quality salt is produced in Zinzuwada, a desert area.

Textiles

Surendranagar is a hub of

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 ...

and

ginning A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

activities in India, with a large number of ginning and pressing units. It is one of the largest producers of quality ''Shankar'' cotton in world. The Surendranagar Cotton Oil and Oilseeds Association Ltd.,( Government of India recognised) is a world-famous futures trading exchange for cotton. It was established in 1964 and is the first Cotton Future Trading Exchange in India. Surendranagar City is also home to a big textile and clothing market, specialising in

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

s. Large clothing showrooms are located in the city on Jawahar Road and Vithal Press Road.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Surendranagar district has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 1,756,268, with 909,917 males and 846,351 females roughly equal to the nation of

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

or the US state of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. This gives it a ranking of 274th in India (out of a total of 640). Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 15.89%. Surendranagar has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...

of 929

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 73.19%. The divided district has a population of 1,585,268. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are 168,183 and 21,151 which is 10.61% and 1.33% of the population respectively. Hindus are 1,455,009 while Muslims are 104,495 and Jains 22,679. Caste wise residents include

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

, Patels,

kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas the ...

, Vankar as well as significant numbers of Bharvad,

Rabari The Rabari people (also known as Desai, Rabari, Raika, and Dewasi people) are an ethnic group from the Rajasthan also found in Gujarat Kutch region. Origin Myth The Rabari myth of origin is kshatriya that Shiva put them on earth to tend to the ...

, Luhar Suthar,

Kansara The Kansara caste is a Hindu caste whose traditional occupation is the making of metal utensils; they inhabit the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Etymology The Kansara derived their name from ''kan̩su'' ( gu, કાંસુ, ). Histo ...

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan, it is traditionally ma ...

and Sathwara. At the time of the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, 98.77% of the population in the district spoke

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

as their first language. Main Jain Temple, which is in the heart of the city, of Sri Vasupujyaswami Bhahvan is more than 100 years old.

Politics

Culture

Raj-Rajeshwari Temple, on National Highway Number 8 near Limbdi, is a large area of residences, hospitals, and schools. The temple features an exhibition of yoga performed by ''Rishiji''. This temple has temples to three major gods—

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, and Mahesh—inside. It is the only such temple in Gujarat. The temple is noted for its architecture. ''(lack of info. Cannot find it via googlemap)'' Trimandir - A very big temple known as the ‘Trimandir’ by Param Pujya

Dada Bhagwan Dada Bhagwan (7 November, 1908 – 2 January, 1988), also known as Dadashri, born Ambalal Muljibhai Patel, was a spiritual leader from Gujarat, India who founded the Akram Vignan Movement. He was religiously inclined from the early age. He worked ...

houses Lord

Simandhar Swami Simandhar is a '' Tīrthaṅkara'', an arihant, who is said to be currently living in another world in the Jain cosmological universe. Residence in Jain cosmology ''Tirthankara'' Simandhar Swami resides at ''Mahavideh Kshetra'', another la ...

, Shiv Swaroop, Krishna Bhagwan, other celestial deities. The famous kund known as "Gangavo" is located in Dedadara village. It was built in the 11th century.

Legends

Ranakadevi

According to legend, during the siege of Junagadh,

Jayasimha Siddharaja Jayasiṃha ( ), who assumed the title Siddharāja (), was an Indian king who ruled western parts of India. He was a member of the Chaulukya (also called Solanki) dynasty. Jayasimha's capital was located at Anahilapataka (modern Patan) in pres ...

fell in love with the queen of

Khengara Khengara was a Chudasama king of Saurashtra region of western India who reigned from 1331 CE to 1351 CE ( VS 1387 to VS 1407). His capital was at Junagadh. Reign Khengara succeeded his father Mahipala I in 1331 CE. He expelled the Muslim gove ...

, Ranakdevi. He attacked Junagadh and killed Ra'Khengar to claim the fort and the queen, but she refused and fled. She escaped from the city towards the River Bhogaavo. After a long chase, she gave up and instead of becoming the queen of Junagadh she sacrificed her life by forming

sati Sati or SATI may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi * ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike *Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer *Sati, a character in ''Th ...

on the banks of Bhogavo River, near the city of

. However, before she died she cursed that the river would not flow beyond that spot. There is a temple in honour of Ranakdevi on the banks of the river.

Notable people

* Anil Chavda a Gujarati poet, was born here. *

Dalpatram Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi (21 January 1820 – 25 March 1898) was a Gujarati language poet during 19th century in India. He was the father of Nanalal Dalpatram Kavi, a poet. He led social reform movements in Ahmedabad, and wrote articles again ...

(1820-1898) a

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label= Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old ...

poet was born in Wadhwan city of Surendranagar district. *

Jhaverchand Meghani Jhaverchand or Zaverchand Kalidas Meghani ( – ) was an Indian poet, writer, social reformer and freedom fighter. He is a well-known name in the field of Gujarati literature. He was born in Chotila where the Government College has been rename ...

(1896–1947) poet, litterateur, social reformer and freedom fighter. Born in Chotila. * Shahabuddin Rathod a Gujarati comedian, hails from this district. * Vipul K. Rawal a Hindi film writer was born in Surendranagar. * Sukhlal Sanghvi (1880–1978)

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

scholar and philosopher. Born in

Limbdi Limbdi is a taluka in Surendranagar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. History The area formed a part of the 9-gun salute state during the British Raj, when it was governed by members of a Jhala (clan), Jh ...

. p. 4215

References

External links

Official website

Surendranagar Collectorate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surendranagar District Districts of Gujarat