Ramtek is a city and

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 ...

Nagpur district Nagpur district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is a Districts of Maharashtra, district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nagpur is the district administrative centre. The district ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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 ...

Religious significance

Ramtek hosts a historic temple of

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where

, the

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 ...

god, rested while he was in exile, Hence it is named Ramtek. According to

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

, the

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Agastya Agastya was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, he is a noted recluse and an influential scholar in diverse languages of the Indian subcontinent. He is regarded in some traditions to be a Chiranjivi. He and his wife ...

was situated close to Ramtek. The present temple was built by Raghuji Bhonsale, the Maratha ruler of Nagpur in 18th century after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chhindwara. This place is also related to the Sanskrit poet

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviv ...

. It is believed that Kalidasa wrote

Meghadūta ''Meghadūta'' (, literally ''Cloud Messenger'') is a lyric poem written by Kālidāsa (c. 4th–5th century CE), considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets. It describes how a '' yakṣa'' (or nature spirit), who had been banished by ...

in the hills of Ramtek.

Jain Temple

Ramtek is also known for its ancient Jain temple with various ancient statues of Jain

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 ...

. The main idol of Shantinatha, the sixteenth Tirthankara has a legend associated with it. It became more popular when one of the leading

Digambar ''Digambara'' (; "sky-clad") is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being ''Śvetāmbara'' (white-clad). The Sanskrit word ''Digambara'' means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing n ...

Jain Acharyas,

Acharya Vidyasagar Acharya Vidyasagar (10 October 1946 – 18 February 2024) was an influential Indian Digambara, Digambara Jain Acharya (Jainism), ''acharya'' (monk), credited with having brought about a revival in educational and religious activities in Digam ...

visited and stayed with his sangh in Ramtek in 1993, 94, 2008, 2013 and 2017 for the four months of

chaturmas Chaturmasya (; Pali: ''Catumāsa''), also rendered Chāturmāsa, is a holy period of four months, beginning on Shayani Ekadashi (June-July) and ending on Prabodhini Ekadashi (October-November) in Hinduism. This period also coincides with the m ...

during the rainy season. With his inspiration, a big Jain temple has been constructed. The place was ruled by Gond rulers before being captured by the Bhonsale rulers of Nagpur in the eighteenth century.

Education

Ramtek has an engineering college KITS which comes under Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University,

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

as also the Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University. The college Shri Narendra Tidke College of Arts and Commerce is also located in Ramtek.

Geography

Ramtek is located at . It has an average elevation of 345 metres (1131 feet). It is located at a distance of around 50 km from

. Khindasi lake is one of the important tourist attractions at Ramtek.

Attractions

Khindsi Lake near Ramtek offers water sports activities. Ramdham on the Jabalpur National Highway is a theme park with replica temples. Ramdham was later expanded into a water park, resort, adventure zone, agro zone, bird zone by the name of Lighthouse Water Park & Resort.

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 ...

, Ramtek had a population of 22,517. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Ramtek has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 68%. In Ramtek, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

{{Geographic Location , Centre = Ramtek , North = Deolapar , Northeast = Madhya Pradesh State Border,

Seoni Seoni, formerly spelled Seeonee, is a city and a municipality in Seoni district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This tribal household dominated district was formed in the year 1956. Rudyard Kipling used the forests of the Satpura Ran ...

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

, East = Tumsar( Bhandara district) , Southeast = Bhandara , South = Mauda , Southwest = Kamptee,

, West = Parseoni , Northwest =Madhya Pradesh State Botde,

Chhindwara Chhindwara is a major city in India and a Municipal Corporation in the Chhindwara district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city is the administrative headquarters of Chhindwara District. Chhindwara is reachable by rail or road fro ...

Cities and towns in Nagpur district Nagpur district Talukas in Maharashtra Places in the Ramayana