| Gauribidanur | |
| — city — | |
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| Coordinates | |
| Country | India |
| State | Karnataka |
| District(s) | Chikballapur |
| Population | 80,673 (2011[update]) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+05:30) |
| Area |
• 694 metres (2,277 ft) |
Gauribidanur (Kannada: ಗೌರಿಬಿದನೂರು) is a historical town in Kolar district; now a part of Chikballapur district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is about 75 km from Bangalore, and 25 km from the Educational Hub of Muddenahalli-Kanivenarayanapura. Bordering neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Telugu is spoken widely along with the native languages of the state, Kannada & Urdu. . The name Gauribidanur could have originated from the terms- Ghori [Grave] and Bidanur [a common name for towns in the old mysore state]. It has been said that Tipu Sultan had some of his soldiers buried here. To this day a mosque built by him stands with some old graves. Some other sources indicate the name Gauribidanur is derived from Gowri [A Hindu Goddess] and Bidanur.
Not long ago, this town used to be the hub of lot of cultural activities and sports. With the advent of television, people seem to have forgotten the good old days. The old school, Acharya high school churned out many talented people from all walks of life. Homi Bhabha and Mahatma Gandhi visited this school way back in its infancy and was labelled a model school in the country.
Dr H Narasimhaiah is one of the famous sons, who was born in Hossur village of this taluk. Born into a poor family he struggled in his early years and rose to become the Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University. It is only because of his efforts and commitments about his hometown that led the people towards education. "The Infosys Science Center" which is in Hossur village, is just like a miny Vishweshwaraiah technological museum and students all over the district used to visit hossur. The science center is present in the National High School campus of Hossur.
Hossur is the first village in Karnataka which was improved in its infrastructure and other basic needs by "Swasthigrama Yojane". The money spent on this plan was about 1 crore rupees.
Formerly sugarcane and paddy were the main crops of this taluk. In recent times, silkworm rearing, groundnuts, maize and sunflower are the main crops owing to the lack of groundwater and rainfall. In fact there still is a dormant sugar factory which was set up as a co-operative unit. Uttara Pinakini river has water flow only during the rainy season. If the rainfalls are scarce, the river bed is dry.
Vidurashwatha an important pilgrim centre which is 6 km from Gauribidanur, is also in this taluk. This place is also known as the second Jallianwallahbagh of Indian freedom struggle, as there was a police firing on a peaceful congregation of people on the river banks of Uttara Pinakini where many died. Viduraswatha is also the last railway station before entering Andhra Pradesh in the Bangalore-Hyderabad railway line.Also it lies on the NH-234 (Mangalore - Villupuram).
This place was also a hub of sporting activities. A national level basketball tournament was being held annually here hosted by the local Dawn Youngsters Basketball Club. Teams from all over India used to participate in this annual event. The local Nav Bharat Ball Badminton club also conducted an annual invitational tourney here.
Gauribidanur also has scientific facilities nearby. BARC and TIFR have set up research labs here owing to its suitability in terms of geography and soil contents. BARC hosts several highly sensitive seismometers that can record minutest disturbances in the Earth's crust across the globe. TIFR has a centre for research on gravitational fields. Another important presence is that of an enormous radio telescope, hosted by Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Raman Research Institute actually an array, spread across many hectares and this is primarily used in reception and analysis of cosmic signals.
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Gauribidanur is located at .[1] It has an average elevation of 694 metres (2276 feet). 55 km from MUDDENAHALLI
As of 2011[update] India census,[2] Gauribidanur had a population of 80,673. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Gauribidanur has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 77%, and female literacy is 67%. In Gauribidanur, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Due to unregulated Sand-mining, the bed of Pinakini River in the vicinity of the town has been denuded of all sand. Despite protests from local environmental groups and citizens- because of collaboration between politicians, the local police and some village groups- the sand mining has proceeded leading to extensive and irreversible environmental damage.