Solapur

Solapur, city (1991 pop. 620,846), Maharashtra state, W central India, on the Deccan plateau. Once a fortress town, Solapur is now a district administrative center, a great textile-manufacturing city, and a market for oilseeds and tobacco. It passed to the Mughals in 1668, to Hyderabad in 1723, to the Marathas in 1795, and to the British in 1818. A 14th-century Muslim fort is in the city.

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Solapur

Solapur is a city and a municipal corporation in south eastern Maharashtra, India near the Karnataka border and is the administrative headquarters of Solapur District.Solapur is a melting pot with a confluence of Marathi, Telugu and Kannada languages.It is an important junction on the north-south railway line. Solapur is a town with an array of small and medium scale industries. Solapur is a leading center for cotton mills and power looms. Solapur bed-sheets ('chaddars') have earned fame and reputation for their novel designs and durability. The chief deity of the city is Shri Siddeshwar.The "Nandidhwaj" procession on Makar Sankranti fair is attended by millions of devotees.

Solapur is transport hub connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is well connected by Road and Rail to major districts and cities. Akkalkot is the site of Akkalkot Swami Maharaj Math, visited yearly by huge number of people from Maharashtra and neighbouring Karnataka. Also a annual fair is held in the month of January wherein huge croud comes from various parts of country, which is called as Gadda Fair in vernacular language.

Introduction

The Solapur District was ruled by various dynasties such as Andhrabhratyas, Chalukyas, Rashtrkutas, Yadavas and Bahamanis. 'Solapur' is believed to be derived from two words 'Sola' meaning sixteen and 'pur' meaning village. The present city of Solapur was considered to be spread over sixteen villages viz. Aadilpur, Ahmedpur, Chapaldev, Fatehpur, Jamdarwadi, Kalajapur, Khadarpur, Khandervkiwadi, Muhammadpur, Ranapur, Sandalpur, Shaikpur, Solapur, Sonalagi, Sonapur and Vaidakwadi. Recent research work however shows that the name SOLAPUR is derived not from the congregation of sixteen villages.It is evident from the inscriptions of Shivayogi Shri.Siddheshwar of the time of the Kalachuristis of Kalyani, that the town was called Sonnalage which came to be pronounced as Sonnalagi. The town was known as Sonnalagi even up to the times of Yadavas. A Sanskrit inscription dated Shake 1238, after the downfall of the Yadavas found at Kamati in Mohol shows that the town was known as Sonalipur. One of the inscriptions found in Solapur fort shows that the town was called Sonalpur while another inscription on the well in the fort shows that it was known as Sandalpur.

During the Muslim period, the town was known as Sandalpur. It is therefore most probably that that during the course of time the name Solapur was evolved by dropping 'na' from the name Sonalpur. Subsequently the British rulers pronounced Solapur as Sholapur and hence the name of the district.

The present Solapur district was previously part of Ahmednagar, Pune and Satara districts. In 1838 it became the Sub-district of Ahmednagar. It included Barshi, Mohol, Madha, Karmala, Indi, Hippargi and Muddebihal Sub-divisions. In 1864 this Sub-district was abolished. In 1871 this district was reformed joining the Sub-divisions viz. Solapur, Barshi, Mohol, Madha and Karmala and two Sub-divisions of Satara district viz. Pandharpur, Sangola and in 1875 Malshiras Sub-division was also attached. After the State reorganisation in 1956 Solapur was included in Mumbai State and it became a full fledged district of Maharashtra State in 1960.

The importance of Solapur is unique in the history of India in the sense that this district enjoyed the freedom even before independence. The citizens of Solapur enjoyed the independence for three days from 9th to 11th May 1930. The brief history runs like this. After the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi in May 1930, protests and demonstrations against British rule were held throughout the India. Large scale rallies and protests were done at Solapur also. Many citizens lost their lives in the police firings. Due to this the irate mob attacked the police stations. Out of fear the police and other officers ran out of Solapur. During this period the responsibility of law, order and security of citizens was on the shoulders of Congress Party leaders. Then city congress President Shri. Ramkrishna Jaju, with his other congressmen maintained the law and order for a period of three days from 9 to 11 May 1930.

Secondly, the Solapur Municipal Council was the first Municipal Council of India to host the national flag on the Municipal Council building (Now Municipal Corporation) Solapur in 1930. The brief history runs like this. Taking the spirit of Dandi March from Mahatma Gandhi, the freedom fighters of Solapur decided to host the national flag on the Solapur Municipal Council. Accordingly, senior freedom fighter from Pune Shri. Annasaheb Bhopatkar hoisted the National Flag on 6 April 1930 on Municipal Council. This was the first and the unique incidence of such kind throughout the country. The British rulers, due to irritation declared martial law at Solapur and arrested many leaders and innocent citizens on false charges. The freedom fighters Shri. Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri. Kurban Hussain, Shri. Jagnnath Shinde and Shri. Kisan Sarda were arrested on charges of killing two policemen of Mangalwar police station. The lower court sentenced the punishment of hanging till death for these freedom fighters. The High Court also confirmed the same decision and these four freedom fighters were hanged till death on 12 January 1931. As a mark of respect to these freedom fighters, the statues of these freedom fighters have been installed in the heart of the city and the location has been named as Hutatma Chowk. Solapur is one of the biggest cities in Maharashtra, situated near the borders with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is an ancient historical and religious place with Shri Siddharameshwar as its "Gramadaiwata". Shri Siddharameshwar was a historical figure of the 12th century whose "Karmayoga" on his own native land-Solapur, turned him into a God-figure over the course of time.There was a great saint Shri.Siddarama,who preached the teachings of Shri.Basaweshwara. A young girl, inspired by the teachings of this saint wished to marry the saint. Shri.Siddaram being a brahamachari denied to marry her and gave permission to marry with his Yogadanda. The same marriage function is celebrated every year on the Makar Sankranti for three days on Bhogi, Sankrant and Kinkrant. The Nandi Dhwajas are presumed as Bride and Groom for the marriage. This festival falls around 14th Jan. every year. A fare popularly known as Gadda Jatra is arranged for fifteen days during this period

Siddharama was a great conributor to Lingayata religion and he is considered as one of the six prophets of Lingayat religion. He had gained the "Siddhi". As Solapur was a drought prone area, Shri Siddharameshwar dug a lake with the help of 4000 "Sharanas" to solve the problem of potable water. He entombed himself alive (Shivyogsamadhi) at Solapur.

Also a sufi sant Hazarath Shaha zahoor wali dargah, which almost more than 750 years old.All religious people attend this Dargah for blessing from sufi sant.

Solapur is very famous for Textile Industries, Solapur Chaddars and Towels are Famous not only in India but also in other countries, to make Solapur proud. It has many communities, one of them is which speaks Telugu and is called Padmashali’s The word Padmashali has very deep meaning in Hindu mythology. The Vaishnava group interpret in essence the word Padmashali is coinaage of two words, viz., padma and shali. The word "Padma" is sahasradala padma, meaning the highest order of human intelligence. In body chakras "Padma" refers to sahasrara. The word "Shali" in Sanskrit is 'be holder'. Thus "Padmashali" literally means holder of sahasrara. In physical term it means intelligence. It is believed that Padmavathi of Mangapura of Tirupati declares that she was the daughter of Padmashali. Hence, the name Padmashali.

During the Indian independence movement, the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9th, 10th and 11th May 1930. However, this resulted in the executions of Shri Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri Kurban Hussein, Shri Jagannath Shinde and Shri Kisan Sarda who were hanged on 12 January 1931, in the prison at Pune. This resulted in the city becoming recognized as "The City of Hutatmas".

Solapur is well-connected with metro-cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore with rail and roads.

Nanaj 18 km from Solapur is the habitat of the Great Indian Bustard, locally called Maldhok. The GIB was discovered by Shri B.S.Kulkarni in 1978, and Nanaj is now an international eco destination. Mr Kulkarni has taken immense efforts for the conservation of the great Indian bustard and the lakes in and around solapur. The world bustard population is just in hundreds a nanaj hosts arounnd 23 bustards.

Pandharpur, the holiest place in Maharashtra for Hindus, with its Vitthal-Rakhumai temple on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river, is only 70 km from Solapur. Akkalkot, just 38 km from Solapur is a holy place due to the shrine of Akkalkot Swami. Across the border in Gulbarga District of Karnataka, is Ganagapur, another place of pilgrimage. The city of Bijapur in Karnataka, 109 km from Solapur, is widely known for its 'Gol-Gumbaj', a highly regarded piece of architecture.

Up coming solapur Dist. with various co. interested in solpaur to invest.

Co. in solapur Industires Balaji Amines (chemical factory)Listed on BSE and NSE Smruti organics ltd. (chemical factoey ) listed on BSE

Geography

Solapur is located at . It has an average elevation of 458 metres (1502 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Solapur had a population of 873,037. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Solapur has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 58%. In Solapur, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Languages/Dialects

Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu

Society and culture

Public Library

Padmashali Education Society.
Shri Hirachand Nemchand Library Solapur

Entertainment and leisure

Solapur just saw the opening of an Adlabs Cinema in the heart of the city. Adlabs Bhagwat, Sholapur has a seating capacity of 650 with Platinum, Gold and Silver classes. Solapur also has a range of other cinema halls which have been favorite with the local people. Food joints such as Sips n Bytes, Krishna Icecream Centre and Tajoddin are also very famous for their respective cuisine.

solapur has theatres prabhat talkies,shaaliamar talkies,uma chitramandir,meena,and newly opened bhagwat-adlabs, you can also visit places like the park where all the hawkers sell chinese food, bhel ,kachori,paani puri, faloooda, all at one place and reasonably priced.

Solapur in Computer Games

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 game has an airport in India map as solapur airport and user can land or takeoff his airplane using solapur airport runway.this is the first instance of solapur in any computer or video game, developed by big game company such as Microsoft.

Places of interest

Markandeya Temple (Temple of Padmashali community)
Balaji Temple (Temple of Padmashali community)
Rupabhavani Temple (Bhavani Peth)
Nagareshwar Temple (Temple of Komti community)
Dargah of Hazrat Shah Zahur
Dargah of Hazrat Sayed Bukhari
Temple of Lord Siddharameshwar
Hipparga Lake - a scenic nature area
Kambar Lake, newly named as Sambhaji lake
IndraBhavan - Solapur Corporation building
Bhui-Kot Castle - castle of 15th century and under the Bahamani period
Hutatma Garden
Pandharpur Vithoba Temple (70 km away)
Akkalkot - Swami Samarth (35 km away)
HYDRA- saifan mulk chishti dargah (near about 20 km from Akkalkot)
Nannaj- Bird Sanctaury (25 km away)]
Tuljapur - Tuljabhavani Temple (45 km away)
Naldurg Fort (approx. 45 km towards Hyderabad)
Barshi "Bhagvant" Temple (approx. 70 km away)
Mardi - Yamai Devi Temple (22 km north of Solapur city)

Educational institutions

Schools

SHRI DIGAMBAR JAIN GURUKUL PRASHALA*
Annappa Kadadi High School (Bhavani Peth)
M.A Pangal Anglo Urdu High School Solapur.(Siddheshwar Peth)
Begum Kamrunnisa Karigar Girls High School Solapur (Siddheshwar Peth).
Kuchan High School (Padmashali Education Society)
D.R.English Medium School (Padmashali Education Society)
Begum Karigar Girls Urdu High School, Sholapur.
UES MAhila Mahila Mahavidhyalay.
S.R. Girls' High School, Sevasadan, Sholapur.
Maharashtra Technical High School is well know as North Court which was established by British Govt. in 1901.
Modern High School,Gandhi Nagar,Solapur.
Dr.Ambedkar High School & Night School ,Mechanic Chowk,Solapur.
Haribhai Deokaran High school (H.D.H.S)
Nutan marathi vidyalaya (Nu.Ma.Vi.)
B S Kulkarni High School, Tilak Chowk, Solapur.
Suyash Vidyalaya, Solapur
NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE HIGH SCHOOL , MIDC SOLAPUR
Indian Model School. The only No-Baggage system school in the city founded by Prof. A.D.Joshi, a well known professor in the city.One can visit the school site at
St.joseph high school solapur one of the oldest school in solapur established in 1897
Little Flower Convent High School,Sath Rastha Solapur
S.R.Chandak English High School
Siddheshwar High School extremely famous for Drawing Competitions all over INDIA.
Vidhya Niketan High School (Bhavsar Education Society)

Colleges

V.G. Shivdare College of Arts, Commerce and Science
Walchand College of Arts and Science
Sangameshwar College
Government Polytechnic Solapur
Solapur University
College Of Pharmacy-One of the premier institute in Maharashtra offering Pharma education. R.Y.Patil M.Pharm(Pharmacology) is the principal of this prestigious institute.21 students out of 43 have been qualified in GATE-2007 from this college.
Bharatratna Indira Gandhi College of Engineering
Walchand Institute of Technology 1
Dr. Vaishampayan Memorial Government Medical College
Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Dental College
College of Architecture
Dayanand Institutions Founded in 1940. It is located on a campus of 65 acres (26 ha) of land with four colleges and one high school and a model school. The oldest college in Solapur University.
Indira Gandhi Engineering College, Kegav, Solapur
S.P.M.Polytechnic,kumathe
Brahmdevdada Mane Institute of technology, Belati.
[S.E.S Polytechnic]
S.S.S M'S college of Architecture
S.V.E.R.I's College of Engineering Pandharpur, prominent engineering college situated pandharpur
A.R.Burla Mahila Mahavidylay(Girls College), Sakar Peth
Abhinav Hi-Tech Enginnering College, Majarewadi Hotagi Road
Abhijit Kadam Institute of Management
ORCHID by Cambridge University
Seth Govindji Raoji Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, Solapur

Famous personalities

Prof. Shriram Pujari] (eminent linguist and scholar)
Kavirai Ram Joshi who penned the famous lavnis
Shubrai Maharaj The artist guru whose paintings are a marvel
Marathi Natya Sangit - famous actor Faiyyaj
Raja Salgar, Sarla Yewalekar are also the famous personalities in the Natya (drama) and film sectors
Dwarkanath Kotnis
Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of Power (Delhi), former Chief Minister (Maharashtra)
Shivaraj Patil, Home Minister, Govt. of India
Indu (Classical movie actress)
Walchand Hirachand Doshi
Atul Kulkarni
Suresh Gupta, SEBI
T.V.Sardeshmukh author and acdemay award winner
Samita Bangargi (lead actress, movie Ramji Londonwale)
Manjuram Shinde
B.S.Kulkarni (Naturalist who discovered the Great Indian Bustard in 1978 at Nanaj] B S K foundation
Achyut Godbole
Polly Umrigar
Sarla Yewlekar
Dr Jabbar Patel the Movieman and famous director of Ghashiram Kotwal
Ms. Shashikala {Senior actress in Marathi and Hindi Movies}
lalit s magdum CHARTED ACCOUNTANT
Kharatmal and sons