Barwani

Barwani (बडवानी ), also known as Badwani, is a city and a municipality in Barwani District in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The city is situated near the left bank of the Narmada River, and is the administrative headquarter of Barwani District. It has served as the capital of the former princely state of Barwani. It can be reached by road only. Nearest airport and railway station are located at Indore 150 KM from Barwani. Bawangaja, a Jain pilgrimage place, is 8 km from Barwani.

Origin of name

The name Badwani originated from the forests of BAD which had surrounded the city in old times. WANI is the old word for the Garden. Hence city got its name BADWANI which means Garden of Bads. Barwani is still pronounced as Badwani but it spells Barwani.

History

Barwani was formerly the capital of the eponymous princely state. The rulers, whose title was Rana, were Rajputs of the Sesodia clan, descended from the ruling dynasty of Udaipur. Although the state lost most of its territory during the Maratha invasion in the 17th century, it never became tributary to any Maratha chief. Under the British Raj, Barwani was a state of the Bhopawar agency, a division of the Central India Agency. The state lay in the Satpura Range south of the Narmada River. It had an area of 3051 km² (1178 square miles) and a population, in 1901, of 76,136. The inhabitants were predominantly Bhil tribals. The forests were under a British official. After India's independence in 1947, the Rana of Barwani acceded to India, and Barwani became part of the Nimar District of Madhya Bharat state. Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956.

Geography

Barwani is located at . It has an average elevation of 178 metres (583 feet). The great Narmada River flows through Barwani (just 5 km from city). The temperature of Barwani in April and May goes as high as 48'C, making it the hottest place in India.

Barwani is surrounded by the great hills of Satpura and in the raining days it becomes one of the most beautiful places in central India. The city is also called the Paris of Nimar. The Nimar region is split into East and West Nimar. Nimar, in local terms, means "area beyond the Neem Trees". Barwani lies in West Nimar. The annual rainfall of Barwani is around 15 inches, though since 2006, it has increased a lot. Barwani is famous for its Papitas and Bawangaja (a Jain holy place 8 KM from Barwani).

Transportation infrastructure

The city is not well connected via rail, and air transport services. However, has good connectivity via roads.

Airport

The nearest airport is Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Indore, which is 150 KM from Barwani, provides connectivity to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Raipur and Nagpur in India with major airlines operating on these routes.

Railways

Barwani has Western Railway Reservation Counter (Ratlam Mandal) at Ambedker Park on Rajghat Road. The nearest railway station is situated at Indore, which is one of the major commercial railway station of western railway. Another nearer railway station is Khandwa on the Central Railway, which is 180 km from Barwani via State highway No 26. On the Western Railway, Ratlam, Dahod and Meghnagar are closer though not well connected by road.

Roads

Barwani is fairly well connected to other parts of Madhya Pradesh and India with national and state highways. Although no national highway passes through. The city is connected to the Agra-Bombay national highway no.3 by Khandwa-Baroda interstate highway no.26 at the distance of 45 KM at Julwaniya. There are bus services to and from all of the major and minor cities near Barwani, including Indore, Khandwa, Ujjain, Dewas, Dhar, Ratlam, Khargone, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Baroda.

Demographics

India census, Barwani had a population of 73,222. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Barwani has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 57% of the males and 43% of females literate. 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Temples

Bada Ganpati temple

Shree Savliya temple

Vaishno devi temple

Hanuman temple at segaon

Kalka mata temple

Mahalaxmi temple

Santoshi Mata and Ram-Krishna Temple

Moti mata temple

Shani and Sai Temple

Satyanarayan Temple

Gayatri Temple

Shri Siddhanath Mahadev Temple

Ramkulleshwar Temple

Shani Mandir

Health care

Barwani is prominent in Nimar and Malwa regions for its health care facilities with a District hospital and many other hospitals. Which includes District Hospital, Mahamartunjaya Hospital, Asha Gram Trust, Saraswati Eye Hospital, Samraddhi child care hospital and Sai Hospital with its well equipped Neonatal intensive care unit. Barwani District Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals in central India.in

Education

Colleges

Aadinath Institute of Information Technology & Management, Barwani

Government PG College, Barwani

Government Girls College, Barwani

Barwani Polytechnic College, Barwani

Schools

Paramount Academy (CBSE)

Panjataniyah English Medium Higher Secondary School

Harsukh Digamber Jain Higher Secondary School

Gov. Boys Higher Secondary School No.1

Gov. Boys Higher Secondary School No.2

Gov. Girls Higher Secondary School

Saraswati Shishu/vidhya Mandir

Rotery Higher Secondary School

Barwani Public School

St. Mary's High Secondary School

St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School

Knowledge-Rain High school

Puspkunj High School

Rajkumar Khendalwal Memorial HSCH school

K.V.Barwani [central school]

Gov.boys Midlle School

Gallery

Trivia

Before Independence, Barwani was known as NIMAR KA PARIS (Paris of Nimar)

Rajghat (Ghat at Narmada River in Barwani) has Samadhi of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Barwani has a Historic Symbol known as TIR-GOLA. It is located at Khandwa-Baroda Road, in front of Sagar Vilas Palace and was built in the memory of late son of Raja Ranjit Singh. It is visible in Google Earth's 3D building layer.

The only other temple of Maata Vaishno Devi, in the world, is situated at Barwani.

Notable Persons

Dr.Anil Kakodkar, India's eminent nuclear scientist, and the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy was born in Barwani.

*Mr Ratnadeep Sharma, Film director also belongs to barwani

References

Category:Cities and towns in Barwani district Category:Indian Princely States