Godhra

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Godhra Gaudhara(ગૌધારા )
town
Godhra
Coordinates: 22°46′38″N 73°37′13″E / 22.777266°N 73.620253°E / 22.777266; 73.620253Coordinates: 22°46′38″N 73°37′13″E / 22.777266°N 73.620253°E / 22.777266; 73.620253
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District	Panchmahal
Elevation	73 m (240 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	121,852
Languages
• Official	Gujarati, Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	389001
Telephone code	02672

Godhra is a town and originally the name came from gou which means "cow" and dhara which has two meanings: one in Sanskrit which means "hold" or "land" and the other in Hindi which means "flow". So, identically it means The Land of the Cow, a municipality in Panchmahal district in Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Panchmahal district.

Religious Importance

Godhra is also one of the religious places in the India which has four bethaks (temples) for Vaishnav Sampraday. There are two main seats of are of Lord Gokulnathji, and one each for Lord Gusaiji and Lord Mahaprabhuji. Godhra is the only city in India that has all three seats (orbhaitaks) of the Mahaprabhuji, Gusianji,and Gokulnathji. Godhra also has three beautiful Jain temples. The main idol (or Mul Nayak) in the Jain Temple is that of Tirthankar Bhagawan Shantinath.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[1] Godhra had a population of 121,852. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Godhra has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79.5%, and female literacy is 64.5%.

Religions in Godhra
Religion			Percent
Hindus			85%
Muslims			12%
Jains			3.4%
Others†			1.6%
Distribution of religions †Includes Sikhs (0.2%), Buddhists (<0.2%).

Education

There are several primary and high schools like; Anaj Mahajan Sarvajanik Shikshan Mandal, Nalanda school English & Gujarati medium, St. Arnolds High School, Sharda Mandir, Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidyamandir, Rotary English Medium School, Nityam International School, Nityam Vidhya Vihar School, Kangaroo Pa Pa Pagli School, M & M Mehta High School, Kendriya Vidyalaya Godhra, The Iqbal Union High School, The Saifee Jamali English High School.There is a technical school and also various colleges in Godhra for Homeopathy studies, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts, Diploma in Engineering, ITI, Bachelor of engineering, and a Law College.

History

Godhra, the land of cows. In mythological terms it can be called as land which is used for the grazing of cow. Cows used to come here from Pavagadh for grazing. The historical name of Godhra is "Godhrahk", which was established by Parmar king named " Dhudhul Mandalik" in A.D.1415.Five hundred years ago, the respectable Saint Shrimad Vallabhacharya in his morning ritual speech gave the example of his dream city. He explained how the city which was seen in dream by her daughter was handed over by a Muslim resident to a Hindu family.

About Godhra

Godhra is the location of Gandhi Ashram. Bharat Ratna Shri Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel began practicing as a barrister at Godhra; Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel personally met for the first time in Godhra in 1917.
Godhra is also a birthplace of Shri Rang Avdhoot Maharaj, a famous spiritual advisor or guru.
Narendra Modi also dwelt in Godhra for a long time before he became Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Mesri river, Ramsagar lake and in far east, Kanelav lake represents nature's beauty.
Personalities like Poet Punjalal Dalwadi, Manilal Mehta, Vamanrao Mukaddam, Mama Phadke are the jewels of past.
Late Morarji Desai worked here as a commissioned officer.
Late Shri Piloo Mody who was known internationally for special Member of Parliament from Godhra.

References

↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.