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 situated on the banks of Narmada River, 8 km east of Maheshwar, and 99 km south of Indore.

History

There are old temples, including shree gupteshwar mahadev mandir Chhappan-Dev, Shree Ram Temple, Shree Datta Temple, Ganga-Zira, and Kaashi Vishweshwar Temple. Vasudevanand Sarswati (a saint) lived here for a long period. Dhawal-kunda (island in river), Hathani (Island in river), 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. Marks of British time are present such as SDM, DSP Office, fort, and the ghat. 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 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 where, during the monsoon, the stream often rises 60 feet above its normal level.

The Narmada is one of the most holy rivers of India and at Mandleshwar there are 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 temples including Ram Temple, Hanuman Temple and Dattatraya Temple and Ratneshwar Temple are located. The Ram Temple was built 75 years ago at Hanuman Gadhi in Mandleshwar. There is Maheshwar Dam to produce 400 MW electricity promoted by S. Kumars under the company Shree Maheshwar Hydel Power Corporation Limited, there is approx. 1 km long bridge across Narmada river. Vinoba Bhave, the advocate of nonviolence and human rights, also came here during his Bhudan Yatra. Indira Gandhi visited here in 1971 to inaugurate the water supply system plant run by the Public Health Engineering Department and the government of Madhya Pradesh. The scholar and vidvana Mandan Mishra lived in the town and had a debate with Adi Shankarsacharya; the Gupteshwar mahadev Temple where this debate took place remains. Chhappan-Dev, Ganga-Zira, Dhawal-kunda, Hathani, Shstradhra, Ramkund are some other historical places of town. There is a Datta Temple in the town where every year on the 28 April the Abhishek Pooja is done in the name of Albert Einstein, and once a year in the name of Lenin. The town also has a Ram Mandir established in the name of Brahmachaitanya Maharaj Gondwalekar.

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). 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.

Demographics

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

Economy

Mandleshwar's economy is largely based on agriculture. 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 the village Jalud. Mandleshwar has a 24-hour supply of electricity, connectivity by roads and sufficient water.

Education

Charak institute of pharmacy (CIP) is a pharmacy institute of Madhya Pradesh. The institute is situated in Mandleshwar, belonging to tehsil Maheshwar and coming under the 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 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. These include Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel College (SVPC). 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. There is one engineering college named Sardar Patel Institute of Tech. and Management, on Choli Road. The first pass-out batch of SPITM found jobs. Recently an international School named Sardar Patel International School (SPIS) has been opened by the promoters of SVPC and SPITM to aid the education of the Nimar region. 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".

Culture

There are festivals at Mandleshwar such as Holi, Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Gurunanak Jayanti, Narmada Jayanti, Gangour Navratri, and Ganesh Chaturathi. Gangaur is the most popular festival.

Access

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