Palwal is a city 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 ...

. It is the headquarters of Palwal district, the 21st district of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

state in northern

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 a centre of the

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, 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 ...

trade in the area. It is part of Braj region. It is also a part of National Capital Region.

Etymology and legend

The origin of Palwal is related to the local legend related to the Mahabharata, according to which the town is named after an asura called ''"Palwasura"'' who was slain by Balarama, the brother of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

. To commemorate this event an annual festival called ''"Baldev Chhat Ka Mela"'' is held here, and a ''"Dauji temple"'' in honor of Balrama is situated in Banchari village 25 km from Palwal on Grand Trunk Road.

History

The local tradition identifies Palwal with the Apelava town mentioned in the Mahabharata, which was later restored by Vikramaditya. Matia Fort or ''Palwal Fort'' was built during Sher Shah Suri's reign. Excavations have unearthed evidence of a grand palace at the bottom of the fort. As of 2021, it lies in ruins.Sohan Singh Khattar and Reena Kar, 2021
Know Your State Haryana
Arihant Publications, pp 308. A historical building by the name 'Gandhi Seva Ashram' and a Museum was made in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi. The Gandhi Museum is close to Palwal Railway Station.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

was arrested on 10 April 1919 at Palwal railway station while going to Punjab against the Rowlatt Act. Keeping this memory alive lasting on October 2, 1938, Netaji

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

had kept it. Gandhi exhibition was established in Gandhi Seva Ashram in the year 1962. In it, history related to Gandhiji was preserved. Pictures for the exhibition were brought from the National Gandhi Museum of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Later, they started getting damaged, they were upgraded and the exhibition site was changed to the museum.

Post-independence

On 15 August 1979, Gurgaon district was further divided to form a new Faridabad district, and Palwal became a part of it. On 15 August 2008, Palwal became the administrative headquarters of the newly formed Palwal district, the 21st district of Haryana.

Geography

Palwal is located at . It has an average elevation of . Palwal is from

, from

Faridabad Faridabad () is the most populous List of cities in Haryana by population, city near NCT of Delhi in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of National Capital Region (India), Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite citie ...

, from

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

and from

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

.The latitude of the town is 28° 40' N and longitude is 76° 59' E. The area of town is .Palwal Geography
Yamuna Action Plan official website.

Demography

References

External links

* *{{usurped,
History of Haryana
} Cities and towns in Palwal district