Bantwal taluk is a

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ...

Dakshina Kannada Dakshina Kannada district is located in the states and territories of India, state of Karnataka in India, with its headquarters in the coastal city of Mangaluru. The district covers an area nestled in between the Western Ghats to its east and the ...

district. The headquarters is the town of

Bantwal Bantwal () is a city and taluk centre in Dakshina Kannada Districts of Karnataka, district, Karnataka, India, and the headquarters of Bantwal taluk. It is located East of Mangalore, Mangalore city center. BC Road-Kaikamba of Bantwal is one of ...

, an eastern suburb of

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

. Prior to 1852, Bantwal Taluk was the largest taluk in the entire of

Canara Kanara or Canara, also known as Karāvali, is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern Konkan coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka. The subregion comprises thr ...

Province (then comprising

North Canara Uttara Kannada is a fifth largest district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi districts to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to ...

Udupi Udupi () also known as 'Odipu' () is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Udupi district, and one of the fastest-growing cities in Karnataka. Udupi is one of the top tourist attractions in Karnataka an ...

and

Kasaragod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and the administrative headquarters of the Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kera ...

Districts) with 411 villages and a total population of 1,69,416. In 1852, a portion of it was formed into the Taluk of Puttur."A Gazetteer of Southern India" published in 1855 Bantwal was an entrepot for the produce of the province on its way to the

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Country and had derived a great benefit of late years from the extension of the coffee trade. It contained about thousand scattered houses inhabited by

Billava The Billava, Billoru, Biruveru or Bhil, Bhillava people are an ethnic group of India. They constitute 18% of the total Karnata population. They are found traditionally in Tulu Nadu region and engaged in toddy tapping, Agriculture, cultivation an ...

, Bunts, Bhandary, Ganigas, Kulals,

Goud Saraswat Brahmins Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue. They claim to be Saraswat Brah ...

, Konkani Catholics and a few Jains.

Geography

Bantwal is located along the coast of river Netravathi. Every year due to heavy rains the river floods. The taluk is flanked by the state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

in the south, and the towns of

Belthangady Belthangady is a town panchayat and the headquarters of Belthangady taluk of the Dakshina Kannada (South Canara) district of Karnataka state in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the ...

and Puttur in the east, the city of

in the west and

Karkala Karkala ( ) ( ) is a town and the headquarters of eponymous Karkala taluk in the Udupi district of Karnataka state in India. It lies near the foothills of the Western Ghats, Karkala has a number of natural and historical landmarks, and is a m ...

in the north. It covers an area of about 720 square kilometres. National Highway 73 cuts through B. C. Road. The highway serves as the conduit for several arterial routes leading to neighbouring towns with

. Mangalore is connected with other cities in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

such as

and

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

National Highway 275 (India) National Highway 275 (NH-275), also commonly referred to as Bengaluru–Mysuru access-controlled Expressway, part of the Bengaluru–Mangaluru Economic Corridor (EC-34), is a national highway that starts from Bengaluru and goes through Mysuru ...

and

National Highway 75 (India) National Highway 75 (NH 75) is one of major National Highway in India. passing through states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. This national highway was earlier known as National Highway 48 (NH-48) before rationalisation of highwa ...

respectively. It is well connected to

Uppala Uppala is a town and headquarters of the Manjeshwaram Taluk in the Kasaragod district, Kerala, India. It is geographically located midway from Kasaragod to Mangalore. Easy geographical access and lack of major towns nearby are the key reasons ...

through Uppala-Mudipu-Bantwal Highway. The Grama Panchayats in Bantwal taluk are Golthamajalu, Kolnadu, Sajipa Muda, Kurnadu, Maani, Navooru, Pudu, Sangabettu,

Amtady Amtady is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India.Village code= 2700300 Amtady, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka It is located in the Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The people in the village are peace loving ...

, Maavinakatte,

Sarapady Sarapady is a small village in Karnataka State, India on the banks of the Nethravathi river in the Bantwal taluk, Dakshina Kannada District. There were plans of building a dam near it which necessitated the evacuation of the villagers from Sar ...

, Thumbe, Veerakumba and

Vittla (Vittal) Vitla also Vittal is a town in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, India, around 18 km from Bantwal in Bantwal Taluk. It is also 14 km from Puttur and 40 km from Mangalore. Vitla was an assembly constituency of Karnataka ...

Bantwal_Nethravathi_River_Panoramic_View_in_front_of_Sri_Thirumala_Venkataramana_Swamy_Temple

The

Netravati River The Netravati River or Netravathi Nadi has its origins at Bangrabalige valley, Yelaneeru Ghat in Kudremukha in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, India. This river flows through the famous pilgrimage place Dharmasthala and is considered o ...

passes through the taluka. Water supply to

city is provided by a vented dam at Thumbe to

Netravathi The Netravati River or Netravathi Nadi has its origins at Bangrabalige valley, Yelaneeru Ghat in Kudremukha in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, India. This river flows through the famous pilgrimage place Dharmasthala and is considered on ...

. There is a bridge over the Netravati river at Panemangalore. Some other places in Bantwal taluk of interest are Kadeshivalaya, Ajilamogaru, Alike, Karanje, Naraharibetta,

Nandavara Nandavara is a village near the town of Bantwal, in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India. It is located around 25 km from Mangalore, on the banks of the Netravati River The Netravati River or Netravathi Nadi has its origins at Bangraba ...

, Modankap, Agrar and Loretto.

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 census of India, Bantwal taluk had 76,405 households and a population of 395,380. The taluka had a sex ratio of 1010 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 77.58%. 41,635 (10.53%) of the population was under 6 years of age. 115,898 (29.31%) lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 4.87% and 5.29% of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 census, 51.36% of the population spoke Tulu, 9.89%

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, 8.15%

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

and 4.64%

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as their first language. 23.79% of the population spoke a language recorded as 'Others' on the census, i.e.

Beary The Beary (also known as Byari) are a community concentrated along the southwest coast of India, mostly in the Mangalore district of the south Indian state of Karnataka. The Beary community of Tulunadu is one among the earliest Muslim ...

References

{{Reflist Geography of Dakshina Kannada district Taluks of Karnataka