Mandleshwar

Mandleshwar Mandala
city
Mandleshwar Location in Madhya Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 22°11′N 75°40′E / 22.18°N 75.67°E / 22.18; 75.67Coordinates: 22°11′N 75°40′E / 22.18°N 75.67°E / 22.18; 75.67
India	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District	Khargone
Founded by	Mandan Mishra
Elevation	153 m (502 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	11,345
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Mandleshwar is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Khargone district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is a town of historical and religious importance situated on the banks of Narmada River, 8 km east of Maheshwar, and 99 km south of Indore.

History

There are many old temples containing history and art in themselves, including Chhappan-Dev, Shree Ram Temple, Shree Datta Temple, Ganga-Zira, and Kaashi Vishweshwar Temple. Vasudevanand Sarswati (a great saint) lived here for a long period. Dhawal-kunda, Hathani, Sahastradhra, Ramkund are some other places of historical importance. It is said that Swami Vivekanand lived here for some days when he was going to Raipur. Still the marks of British time are present here; SDM, DSP Office, fort, and ghat tell us the story of that time. It was also the headquarters of the Nimar Agency and cantonment under the British from 1819 to 1864. It fell to the Marathas in the 18th century and in 1740 was granted by Malhar Rao Holkar to a Brahman, Vyankatram Shastri. In 1823 it became the headquarters of the District of Nimar, which until 1864 was managed by the agent to the governor general at Indore.

Mandleshwar is just 8 km. from Maheshwar, which was the capital of Holkar states. Mandleshwar in Central India is on the bank of the Narmada River at a narrow point wherein the monsoon the stream often rises 60 feet above its normal level becoming a roaring torrent.

The Narmada is one of the most holy rivers of India and at Mandleshwar there are many beautiful tanks temples and ghats.'Mandleshwar' has a flight of 123 steps leading down to the river and expanding below into a wide ghat. This ghat is called as Ram Ghat, where a chain of temples including Ram Temple, Hanuman Temple and Dattatraya Temple and Ratneshwar temple are located. These temples are really beautiful. One of the beautiful Ram Temple is built some 75 years ago at Hanuman Gadhi in Mandleshwar, which is worth seeing. There is Maheshwar Dam to produce 400 MW electricity promoted by S. Kumars under the company Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporarion Limited. Vinoba Bhave, the great political saint of India, also came here during his Bhudan Yatra. Indira Gandhi visited here in 1971 to inaugurate the water supply system plant run by PHED Madhya Pradesh government. A Town on the banks of river Narmada, this has an ancient history, the great scholar and vidvana Mandan Mishra lived here and had a Debate with Adi Shankarsacharya, one can still see the Gupteshwar mahadev Temple where this debate took place. Chhappan-Dev, Ganga-Zira, Dhawal-kunda, Hathani, Shstradhra, Ramkund are some other historical places of town. the best thing about this town is the kind of peace one can feel here on the banks of River Narmada, that can never be felt any where in the universe. There is a Datta Temple here in the town where in every year the on 28 April the Abhishek Pooja is done in the name of Albert Einstine, and once in a year in the name of Lenin which is interesting. the town also have a Ram Mandir Established in the name of Brahmachaitanya Maharaj Gondwalekar, which is worth seeing. No doubt there is something in the air of this town that makes one feel the relationship between the man and the almighty god.

Geography

Mandleshwar is located at 22°11′N 75°40′E / 22.18°N 75.67°E / 22.18; 75.67.^[1] It has an average elevation of 153 metres (501 feet). Mandleshwar in Central India is on the bank of the Narmada River at a narrow point where in the monsoon the stream often rises 60 feet above its normal level becoming a roaring torrent. It fell to the Marathas in the 18th century and in 1740 was granted by Malhar Rao Holkar to a Brahman, Vyankatram Shastri. In 1823 it became the headquarters of the District of Nimar which until 1864 was managed by the Agent to the Governor General at Indore. The Narmada is one of the most important rivers of India and at Mandleshwar there are many beautiful tanks temples and ghats.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[2] Mandleshwar had a population of 11,345. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Mandleshwar has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 59%. In Mandleshwar, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

The major part of Mandleshwar's economy is based on agriculture. The town is an important retail marketing and trade centre. The farmers of this town are very laborious and hard working. Mandleshwar is now also noted for hydro power generation. The Maheshwar Hydro-electric Project (10 X 40 MW) is being constructed by the MW Corp an entity promoted by the Kasliwal family's S. Kumars group. The project site lies between Mandleshwar and village Jalud. In future an agriculture hub will be established here then certainly the economy of this town will do progress. Mandleshwar has many possibilities for industrialisation also as 24 hours supply of electricity, good connectivity of roads and enough water plus manpower are there which will be helpful for those who are interested to invest.

Education

Charak institute of pharmacy (CIP) is a pharmacy institute of Madhya Pradesh. The institute is situated in Mandleshwar, belonging to tehsil Maheshwar and comes under judiciary of Khargone district. Khargone District was also known as West Nimar district. There is an Engineering college Sardar Patel Institute of Technology and Management(SPITM). Mandleshwar has become an educational hub Khargone and Barwani districts. Mandleshwar has one government degree college, three private colleges, one pharmacy institute, one engineering college, Sardar Patel International School (SPIS) Mandleshwar, two government higher secondary Schools and 9 other public schools. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel College(SVPC) is very popular among the students of this area because of its excellent performance. There is an organization named "Maa Umiya Sansthan" which consists of a Higher Secondary School affiliated to M.P. Board, Bhopal, a Girls Degree College,B.Ed College and a girls hotel which caters to students from various places in India. The oldest School of the town is Mahatma Gandhi Govt Higher Secondary (MGHSS) which was established in 1947, and was the only school within a 50 km radius at that time. One engineering college named Sardar Patel Institute of Tech. and Management on Choli Road has come in existence.The first pass-out batch of SPITM found good jobs Soon an international School named Sardar Patel International School is being opened by the promoters of SVPC And SPITM to accelerate the educational speed of the Nimar region. The standard facilities given to every student here are excellent enough .This international school(SPIS) makes Mandleshwar the most popular and important centre for education. SVPC, SPITM and SPIS have shown fabulous performance in the field of education. The promoters say, " The facilities a student gets in bigger cities , ought to be provided at local level so that a student can develop his personality harmoniously without leaving home". The committed promoters of these institutions are rapidly achieving their goals. The 'SPIS(Sardar Patel International School)' aiming at making a child's future bright, has recruited the most qualified and excellent staff for its mission of educating children through the value based way of life.

Culture

There are festivals such as Holi, Diwali, id, Christmas, Gurunanak Jayanti. Narmada Jayanti, Gangour Navratri, and Ganesh Chaturathi are festivals of Mandleshwar. but Gangaur is most popular festival of mandleshwar.

How to reach Mandleshwar

Mandleshwar can be reached by road from Indore, Dhamnod, Omkareshwar, Barwah, and Khargone and direct bus services are also available from Ujjain and Indore.

References