Bicholim (

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 ...

: ''Dicholi''; IPA: ), is a small town and a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

North Goa district North Goa district is one of the two districts that constitutes the state of Goa, India. The district has an area of , and is bounded by Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra state to the north and by Belgavi district of Karnatak ...

in the state of Goa,

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is the headquarters of the ''Concelho'' (county) of Bicholim, one of seven that make up the '' Novas Conquistas'' (New Conquests), territories added to Goa comparatively later than the first three of the '' Velhas Conquistas'' (Old Conquests). The town is located about from the state capital of Panaji. It is in the mining heartland of Goa.

History

As per '' Hiregutti plates of Bhoja Asantika'', a locality named ''Dipaka visaya'' in the copper plates dating 5th century CE, is identified with modern-day ''Divchali'' or Dicholi. It was under the rule of an independent

Warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

(PrabhuDesai's of Sankhali/Sanquelim) It was taken over by Portuguese in late 18th century as part of New Conquest.

Geography

Bicholim is located at . It has an average elevation of 22 metres (72 feet).

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Dicholi had a population of 16,986. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dicholi has an average literacy rate of 82%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

constitutes a major chunk in the economy of Bicholim with about 36% of the population working for a single

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

ore mine owner, formerly Souza Mineralia Pvt. Ltd. owned by M.M.P. DeSouza who formed a partnership with the Dempos, the Dempo clan took over the mines underhandedly and it is now taken over by Sesa Goa which has been merged into Vedanta Resources of Anil Agarwal. Wednesday is the market day where people in and around Bicholim gather in the main market region for trading small goods/commodities.

Government and politics

Bicholim is part of Bicholim (Goa Assembly constituency) and North Goa (Lok Sabha constituency).

Socio-political

Bicholim has three primary schools, four secondary schools, a polytechnic institute, a number of hospitals, temples, churches and mosques, and a protected site, pandava caves. Some of the prominent temples are the Shanta Durga temple and the Mahadeva Temple. The Shanta Durga temple is close to the banks of the river, which is a tributary of river Mandovi. The church of Our Lady of Grace dominates the town square. The high school run from the precincts of the church complex is one of the prominent schools of Bicholim. A historic

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

Nimuz ghar (possibly Namaz Ghar) stands on the hilltop prominently overlooking the town of Bicholim. The monument was built to commemorate the victory of the combined

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

and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

forces over the Portuguese. Another prominent landmark of the town is the Tribunal started by the Portuguese to deal with civil and criminal cases after the Nova Conquista. As in other communities of Goa, Ganesh Chaturthi or Chawath is a celebrated with its own unique touch in Bicholim. A folk dance called "Ghode Modni" which has a cavalry theme is a specialty of Bicholim.

Bicholim Industrial Estate

Set up by the Goa Industrial Development Department, the Bicholim Industrial Estate located on the banks of Mandovi tributary is home to more than 50 industrial workshops and manufacturing units specializing in a range of products and services such as Pottery,

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

fabrication, plastics,

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

equipment, rolling mills, bus body, etc.

Cudnem Village

Cudnem or Kudne is a large village situated on the left bank of the Cudnem River. It is located in Bicholim of North Goa district, Goa with total 763 families residing. The Cudnem village had a population of 3,308 of which 1,714 are males while 1,594 are females according to 2011 Indian census.

Jainism

There are remains of Ancient Jain temples in Gujirwada in Cudnem village. Broken idols of

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

were discovered during an excavation in 1986 by the directorate of archeology and archives. The Jain temple of Cudnem was constructed in the 10th century and was in ruins in the 15th century. The idols of

were also found in Chandreshwar temple in Kothambi village, situated on the right bank of the River Mandovi. Naroa is situated on the left bank of the River Mandovi. Broken sculptures of the Jain

Suparshvanatha, belonging to the period of the Goan Kadamba ruler Shivachitta Permadi Dev, were discovered in an old Jain temple in Jainkot, Naroa. The sculpture of Parshvanatha, the 23rd

History

Geography

Demographics

Economy

Government and politics

Socio-political

Bicholim Industrial Estate

Cudnem Village

Jainism

See also

Notes

References

External links