| Bastar district बस्तर जिला |
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Location of Bastar district in Chhatisgarh |
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| State | Chhatisgarh, India |
| Administrative division | Bastar |
| Headquarters | Jagdalpur |
| Area | 8,755 km2 (3,380 sq mi) |
| Population | 1,302,253 (2001) |
| Population density | 108 /km2 (280 /sq mi) |
| Literacy | 45.48 per cent |
| Tehsils | 4 |
| Lok Sabha Constituencies | 1 |
| Assembly Seats | 7 |
| Official website | |
Bastar District is a district of the state of Chhattisgarh in central India. Jagdalpur is the district headquarters. The district has an area of 8755.79 km². Bastar District is bounded on the northwest by Rajnandgaon District, on the north by Kanker District, on the northeast by Dhamtari District, on the east by Nabarangpur and Koraput districts of Orissa state, on the south and southwest by Dantewada District, and on the west by Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra state.
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Bastar and Dantewada districts were formerly part of the princely state of Bastar. (Dr.Sanjay Alung ड़ा.संजय अलंग-छत्तीसगढ़ की पूर्व रियासतें और जमीन्दारियाँ)Earlier studies of the region were conducted by Verrier Elwin a colonial anthropologist, who went native. The state is described in Nandini Sundar, Subalterns and Sovereigns. After Indian independence in 1947, the princely states of Bastar and Kanker acceded to the Government of India, and were merged to form Bastar District of Madhya Pradesh state. The district, which had an area of 39,114 km², was one of the largest in India.
In 1999, the district was divided into the present-day districts of Bastar, Dantewada, and Kanker, which constitute Bastar Division. In 2000, Bastar was one of the 16 Madhya Pradesh districts that formed the new state of Chhattisgarh.
The Chitrakoot and Teerathgarh waterfalls are situated close to Jagdalpur. Bastar is famous for its traditional Dasara (Dussera) festival.
The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor.[1]
Administratively, the district is divided into four tehsils, Jagdalpur, Kondagaon, Keshkal, and Bastar The district has two municipalities, Jagdalpur and Kondgaon. Jagdalpur, the administrative headquarters, is a beautiful city having population of about 1.5 lakhs (150,000).
According to the 2011 census Bastar district has a population of 1,411,644 ,[2] roughly equal to the nation of Swaziland[3] or the US state of Hawaii.[4] This gives it a ranking of 348th in India (out of a total of 640).[2] The district has a population density of 140 inhabitants per square kilometre (360 /sq mi) .[2] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 17.83 %.[2] Bastar has a sex ratio of 1024 females for every 1000 males,[2] and a literacy rate of 54.94 %.[2]
In 1981 Bastar had a population of 1,842,854 with 1,249,197 of the residents being members of scheduled tribes. This also represented about 70% of the population.[5] However these figures are for the pre-1999 Bastar District which had the same boundaries as the modern Bastar Division.
Languages spoken include Bhatri, which falls within the Oriya language group but only shares about 60% lexical similarity with Oriya, spoken by about 600 000.[6]
Some areas where Dhokra Handicraft is most widely practiced are the areas of kondagaon,Raigarh and Sarguja. The Ghadwa community of Chhattisgarh is known to be the expert in this particular craft. Many products are made from such art such as vessels, jewellery and the images of the local deities and some decorative. The method of preparation of the products is quite simple and also called as the lost wax technique that happens to be perfect for the tribal settings.
The Bastar district specializes in the preparation of items from the Dhokra Handicraft. This process calls for a great deal of precision and skill. The artifacts prepared from Dhokra technique of this art use the cow dung, paddy husk and red soil in the preparation, beeswax being the most important one. Apart from contouring, wax wires are also used for decoration purpose and for giving a finishing touch to artifacts. From the Bell Metal Handicraft of Chhattisgarh in India, the real genius and creative faculty of the artisans come into picture and thus make for some of the most wonderful pieces of art.
The Dhokra and Bell Metal Handicraft can be found all over the world but the way in which the artisans of Chhattisgarh carve the things by the impression of their sheer dexterity is worth watching. Some of the handicraft items are so appealing that the tourists take them back as souvenirs. Shilpguru Jaidev Baghel And State awarded Sushil Sakhuja are famous sculptor from bastar who are taking bastar art in the world map.
| Kanker district | Dhamtari district | Nabarangpur district, Orissa | ||
| Narayanpur district | ||||
| Bastar district | ||||
| Dantewada district | Koraput district, Orissa |
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