Palanpur

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?Palanpur Gujarat • India
Palanpur
Coordinates: 24°10′N 72°26′E / 24.17, 72.43
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 209 m (686 ft)
District(s)	Banaskantha
Population	110,383 (2001)

Coordinates: 24°10′N 72°26′E / 24.17, 72.43 Palanpur is a city and a municipality in Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the administrative center of that district. The town is well-connected by road and rail; the nearest airport is at Ahmedabad, about 135 km away.

Legend has it that Palanpur was first settled by a certain Prahladan, belonging to the Paramara clan of rajputs, who received the surrounding area as appanage from his elder brother who ruled from what is now Mount Abu. It is known as Prahladanpur in history of Jainism. Palanpur town later became the seat of the eponymous princely state in British India.

1 Local highlights
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Princely Palanpur
5 See also
6 Trivia
7 References

[edit] Local highlights

The town was once heavily fortified with seven gates providing the only means of thoroughfare; these are now in ruins. Of much more recent vintage are the other monuments that dot the town: the 'Keertistumbh' or "victory tower" was erected in the 1930s, as were the Jorawar palace and the Balaram palace. The well-known temple of Balaram Mahadev is situated about 20 km from Palanpur. The Jessore sloth-bear sanctuary, a reserve forest sprawling over 180 km². and home to several endangered species such as the Indian sloth-bear, leopard, wild boar and porcupine, lies about 45 km from the town.There is the famous Temple Ambaji which is 55 km from here. It is also the ancestral birthplace of the majority of India's diamond trading families. India's modern diamond cutting industry was founded by several Palanpuri Jain families who, in 1909, met to devise a means of lifting their village from poverty, eventually settling on the diamond trade. Because of its remote location, the families started their businesses in Bombay and, later, Surat. However, they still maintain close ties to their ancestral home. India's diamond industry, still dominated by Palanpuri Jains, now processes the majority of diamonds used in jewellery. Earlier Palanpur was known as flower city because of scents available here. Palanpur is well known in Gujarati literature with its shayars like Shunya Palanpuri, Agam Palanpuri, Shail Palanpuri. Famous gujarati poet Chandrankant Bakshi is also belong to Palanpur. This city is also a birth place of several personalities such as Bharat Shah (a Bollywood film Producer and Financer), B.K.Gadhavi(A former Member of Parliament of Congress Party).

[edit] Geography

Palanpur is located at 24.17° N 72.43° E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 209 metres (685 feet).
Palanpur is also a city of temples.Jains, Hindus and Muslims have their famous pilgrim places in city.The Motu(big) and Nanu(small) Dehrasar (jain temple) are especially famous in Jains.
The Pallaviya Parshwanath Temple (Mota Dehrasar) was built by King Prahaladan (Founder of Palanpur city). It's Temple of 23rd Lord of Jainism, Lord Parshwanath. This place comes under 108 Parshwanth Temples, which gets special attention to the devotees of Jainism.

Palanpur is famous for it's relation to Jainism. Great Jain saint Jagadguru Shri Hirsurishwarji was born in this city. His house is located just opposite to Mota Dehrasar. Even the famous Jain saint Acharya Shri Somsundarsurishwarji was born in this city, who was the main inspiration behind world famous Jain Temple of Ranakpur, which is known for it's crafting.

Hindus offers their 'pooja' in Pataleshwar Mahadev (An ancient temple of Lord Shiva, it's said to belong some 16th century. It's also believed to be the birth place of King Siddharaj Jaisinh, who've ruled Gujarat from Patan.). Hindus have another famous temple called Mota Ramji Mandir, A temple dedicated to Lord Rama. [1]

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Palanpur had a population of 110,383. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Palanpur has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 61%. In Palanpur, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] Princely Palanpur

Princely flag of Palanpur

Palanpur was the seat of a princely state ruled by the Lohani clan of Afghans. While the earlier history of the family is obscure, the family has apparently lived in India since at least the 16th century; a forbear of the family is reputed to have wed the foster-sister of the mughal emperor Akbar and received Palanpur and surrounding areas as dowry. However, the family comes into historical prominence during the period of instability that followed the demise of Aurangzeb in the early 18th century. It was overrun soon afterwards by the Marathas; the Lohanis followed the trend of seeking recourse in the HEIC against them and finally entered the subsidiary alliance system in 1817, along with all other neighbouring states.

The state encompassed an area of 1766 km² (682 mi²) and a population, in 1901, of 222,627. The town of Palanpur housed a population of only 8000 people that year. The state commanded a revenue of approximately Rs.50,000/- per year, and paid a tribute to the Gaekwad, the Maratha ruler of Baroda, of Rs.2,564/- per year. It was traversed by the main line of the Rajputana-Malwa railway, and contained the British cantonment of Deesa. Wheat, rice and sugar-cane were the chief products. Watered by the Sabarmati river, the state was heavily forested in its northern reached (the present-day Jessore sanctuary) but undulating and open in the south and east. The country was on the whole somewhat hilly, being at the edge of the Aravalli Range.

Palanpur Agency: Palanpur also lent its name to a political agency, or collection of native states, on the border between present-day Gujarat and Rajasthan. The agency oversaw some 17 princely states and estates in the area, encompassing an area of 6393 square miles (16,558 km²) and a population, in 1901, of 467,271.

[edit] See also

Palanpur Agency (article)

[edit] Trivia

The family of Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad hails from Palanpur.
An extraordinary proportion of people working in India's and Antwerp's diamond industry are native to Palanpur.
Famous Bollywood financer Bharat Shah hails from Palanpur.