Bhadravathi

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Coordinates: 13.87° N 75.72° E

Bhadravathi
Bhadravathi
State  - District(s)	Karnataka  - Shimoga
Coordinates	13.87° N 75.72° E
Area  - Elevation	- 597 m
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Population (2001)  - Density	160,392  -
Codes  - Postal  - Telephone  - Vehicle	- 57730x  - +08282  - KA-14

Bhadravathi is a town in the Shimoga District of Karnataka state, India. It is situated at a distance of about 255 kilometres from the state capital Bangalore and at about 18 kilometres from the district headquarters, Shimoga. It is also the headquarters of the Bhadravathi Taluk. The town is spread over an area of 67 km² and has a population of 160,662 as per the census held in 2001.

Contents 1 History 2 Demographics 3 Geography 4 How to reach 4.1 Road 4.2 Rail 4.3 Air 5 Industries 5.1 Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL) 5.2 Mysore Paper Mills Limited (MPM) 6 Tourist attractions 6.1 Temples 6.2 Wildlife sanctuaries 6.3 Rivers and Dams 7 Noted people 7.1 Noted people who were born in Bhadravathi 7.2 Noted people who have worked in Bhadravathi 8 Other info 8.1 Radio station 8.2 Cricket stadium 8.3 Current Scenario

[edit] History

Bhadravathi derives its name from the Bhadra river which flows through the city. It was earlier known as Benkipura(or Venkipura), which in English means city of fire. In recent history, Bhadravathi rose into prominence with the establishment of Mysore Iron and Steel Limited (now known as Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited) in 1918. This is a large Iron and Steel manufacturing facility and constitutes a major part of the town. Bhadravathi's reputation as an industrial town was further enhanced with the establishment of a paper manufacturing firm, the Mysore Paper Mills Limited in 1936.

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census^GRIndia, Bhadravati had a population of 160,392. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Bhadravati has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 54% of the males and 46% of the females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] Geography

Bhadravathi lies in the central part of the Karnataka state, in the south-east corner of the Shimoga district. The latitude and longitude coordinates of Bhadravathi town are 13°50'N and 75°42'E

Bhadravathi Taluk borders Shimoga Taluk of Shimoga district to the west, Honnali Taluk of Davangere district to the north, Channagiri Taluk of Davangere district to the east and Tarikere taluk of Chikmagalur district to the south. The total area of Bhadravathi Taluk is around 690 km². Bhadravathi Taluk has a population of 338,989 as per 2001 census.

Bhadravathi is at an altitude of around 1900 ft (580 m) above sea level

Bhadravathi is mapped at high resolution in Wikimapia and can be viewed here

[edit] How to reach

[edit] Road

From Bangalore, one can take NH-206 which passes via Tumkur, Tiptur, Arasikere, Kadur, Birur & Tarikere to reach Bhadravathi. Buses that go from Bangalore to Shimoga stop at Bhadravathi and take around 6 hours to complete the journey.

[edit] Rail

The Birur-Bhadravathi railway line passes through the city. Many trains run daily from Bangalore to Shimoga that stop at Bhadravathi. Alternatively, one can catch a train that goes to Birur and engage another train/bus from Birur to Bhadravathi. It takes around an hour to reach Bhadravathi from Birur by bus. Recently a daily train is being run from Mysore to Shimoga which can be used to reach Bhadravathi from Mysore.

[edit] Air

The nearest airport is Hubli which is at a distance of around 170 km from Bhadravathi. Hubli has daily flights from Bangalore and Belgaum. Airports at Bangalore and Mangalore are also viable alternatives that can be used to reach Bhadravathi.

[edit] Industries

[edit] Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL)

Started under the able guidance of Sir M Vishweshwaraya , VISL (earlier known as Mysore Iron and Steel Limited) has been pioneer in production of high quality alloy and special steels and pig iron. VISL has an installed capacity of 77,000 tonnes of alloy and special steels and 205,000 tonnes of hot metal. VISL has received the ISO: 9001:2000 certificate for steel production through rolled and forged routes and pig iron production. VISL can be seen here in Wikimapia.

This is also India's first steel plant (started around 1923)

[edit] Mysore Paper Mills Limited (MPM)

MPM is a Karnataka Government Enterprise started in the year 1936. It is in the business of producing Writing and Printing Paper (WPP), newsprint and sugarcane crushing. It also has a sugar mill, and the bagasse obtained from it is used as a raw material for producing WPP.

MPM can be seen here in Wikimapia.

[edit] Tourist attractions

[edit] Temples

• Lakshmi Narasimha Temple in the Old Town area of Bhadravathi, built by Hoysalas in the 13th century. A Superb Temple which is currently maintained by the Archealogical Department of the state of Karnataka (More details- See History above).

[edit] Wildlife sanctuaries

• Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary was started in 1951 as Jagara Valley Game Sanctuary covering an area of about 252 km². It was combined with the surrounding Lakkavalli forests in the year 1972 and given its present name of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. It now spans an area of 492 km². It has two component areas Muthodi and Lakkavalli. Some of the wild animals found in this sanctuary are tiger, leopard, wild dog, jackal, elephant, gaur, sloth bear, sambar, spotted dear, monitor lizard, barking deer, wild boar, common langur, bonnet macaque, slender loris and the Malabar giant squirrel. Some of the bird species found here are shama, Malabar whistling thrush, various species of bulbuls, woodpeckers, hornbills and pigeons, drongos and paradise flycatcher. The sanctuary has been recently adopted under a tiger-conservation project called 'Project Tiger' which is an initiative from the Indian Government. Best season to visit is from October to February.

[edit] Rivers and Dams

• Bhadra River Project Dam across Bhadra river at Lakkavalli, a distance of 20 km from Bhadravathi City.

This was one of the great example for the finest Engineering beauty.The whole design was done by Sir.M.Vishweshwaraiah then Engineer of Karnataka State. The dam mainly serves the purpose of irrigation in and around Bhadravathi and Tarikere Taluk.

[edit] Noted people

[edit] Noted people who were born in Bhadravathi

• Gundappa Viswanath - Noted Cricket player of Indian cricket team in 1970s

[edit] Noted people who have worked in Bhadravathi

• Sir M Vishweshwaraya - Founder of VISL

[edit] Other info

[edit] Radio station

A radio station belonging to All India Radio is located in Bhadravathi. It broadcasts radio programs on Medium Wave channel at 675 kHz frequency (444 metres). This radio station can be viewed here in Wikimapia

[edit] Cricket stadium

VISL Cricket Stadium is located in the New Town area of Bhadravathi town. History was made when a Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was held here from 6 February to 9 February 1992. This match featured stalwarts including the current Indian captain Rahul Dravid, Kirmani, Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad who were all representing Karnataka, the eventual winners of the match. However, the first Ranji Trophy match was held in 1988 between Karnataka and Goa. This stadium can be seen here in Wikimapia.

[edit] Current Scenario

The town has been rescued from the throes of recession by the global resurgence of the steel industry. It would be interesting to see whether VISL (Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited) survives after the boom subsides. There are Good Educational Institutions nurturing well talented students .There is an Impressive talent pool available in Bhadravathi. There is an Opportunity for the IT People to utilize the talent pool available in Bhadravathi.