Kushalanagar or Kushalanagara is a city located in the

Kodagu district Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative List of districts of Karnataka, district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged ...

of the Indian state of

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 ...

. Surrounded by Kaveri river, it is the gateway to

. It also serves as the headquarters of Kushalanagar Taluk. By population, Kushalanagar is the second largest town in

after Madikeri and the fastest developing town in the district. Kushalnagar is an important commercial centre in Kodagu.

Etymology

According to popular myth, the name was given by

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

who was camped there when he received news of the birth of his son Tipu and called it as ''Kushyal nagar'' (="town of gladness") But in reality, Tipu was born around 1750 while Hyder Ali entered Kodagu for the first time in the 1760s. After the British conquest of Coorg it was known as Fraserpet after Colonel James Stuart Fraser who was the Political Agent in

Coorg Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State ...

around 1834.

Geography

Kushalanagar is located at . It has an average elevation of 844 metres (2726 feet). Kushalanagar is situated in the eastern part of

Kodagu Kodagu district () (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative List of districts of Karnataka, district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State at which point it was merged ...

district. The town is generally flat, although a few areas are hilly.

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

river surrounds the town in all directions except the west. It is roughly 85 kilometres west of

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 ...

, 220 kilometres west of

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 ...

and 170 kilometres east 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 ...

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 ...

, Kushalanagara had a population of 23,200. The sex ratio in Kushalnagar town as per 2011 census is 980 (Somwarpet Taluk is 1027). Whereas Male population in Somwarpet Taluk was 49.22 percent (90783) and female population was 50.78 percent (93667). Kushalanagar has an average literacy rate of 89.53%, higher than the state average of 75.36%. In kushalnagar, 93.52% of male are literate while for females, the number is 85.87%. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age Kushalnagar along with its cluster of nearby villages including Mullusoge, Baichanahalli, Gummanakolli, Kudlur and Madapatna forms one of the most densely populated areas in the district with combined population of 39,393. The conurbation of Kushalnagar measures nearly 35km², making it largest urban settlement in the district.

Economy

Kushalnagar is an important commercial centre in Kodagu. KIADB Industrial Area is located in Kudloor of Kushalnagar where multiple coffee processing industries are located.

Education

Kushalanagara has an average literacy rate of 89%. The town has six private Schools, one government school (from kindergarten to degree), one polytechnic school, and city has one government engineering college affiliated to VTU. A

Sainik School The Sainik Schools () are a system of Military high schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society () under Ministry of Defence (MoD). They were conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of Indi ...

is located in the outrange of the town, where students receive military training.

Tourist places

# Harangi Dam # Nisargadhama # Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary # Dubare Elephant Camp # Mallalli Falls # Chiklihole

Transport

KSRTC has a bus station here. They connect the town to metropolitan cities like

and KIAL,

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

Hubli Hubli (officially Hubballi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad district of ...

and many other smaller cities. The nearest railway stations are K R Nagar at a distance of 60 kms and

at the distance of 85 kms. There is no railway service in Kodagu. A railway line from Mysore to Kushalnagar has been planned but has been opposed by environmental activists. The nearest airport is at Mysore, and the nearest international airport is

Kannur International Airport Kannur International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Kannur, the Mahé district, Mahé district of Puducherry and the rest of northern Kerala in India. It is located in Mattanur, east of Kannur and east of Thalassery. ...

. The

Airports Authority of India The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civi ...

has proposed a construction of a new mini airport named Kushalnagar airport in the town to boost tourism from other parts of the state.

References

{{Kodagu (Coorg) topics Cities and towns in Kodagu district