Misplaced Pages

Solapur

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mahawiki (talk | contribs) at 17:08, 30 May 2006 (see talk). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 17:08, 30 May 2006 by Mahawiki (talk | contribs) (see talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Template:Infobox Indian urban area


Solapur (Marathi:सोलापूर) is a city in Maharashtra, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Solapur District. It is an important railway junction on the North-South train line. Also famous for its bedsheets 'chaddars', Solapur has a good number of small and medium scale industries. Solapur is a leading center for cotton mills and power looms. Solapur bed-sheets 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 fare is attended by millions of devotees. The fare is a spectacular site.

The presiding deity of Maharashtra, Lord Vitthal, is at Pandharpur is nearby. Swami Samarth of Akkalkot has followers from all walks of life. Solapur is famous as a textile town, especially owing to its talented weavers’ community.Solapur District leads in beedi production. Its great strides in the fields of education, literature and culture as well as rural prosperity brought in by the cooperation movement have made Solapur District an important segment of modern Maharashtra. The supreme sacrifice by the revolutionaries of Solapur has made it immortal. So much so that the Martyrs’ Memorial here is saluted daily by thousands of visitors. Kundalsangam, Karmala and Barshi have adopted the path of development through industry and education.Akkalkot has mallikarjun temple where many Lingayat devotees workship daily.

File:Solapur corporation.jpg
Solapur Corporation

History

File:Solapur four statues.jpg
Solapur Four Statues (Chaar Hutatma)

Solapur is one of the biggest city in Maharashtra, situated on the borders of the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It's an ancient historical and religious place with Shri Siddharameshwar as its "Gramadaiwata". Shri Siddharameshwar was a historical personality of the 12th Century whose "Karmayoga" on his own native land-Solapur, turned him into a God-figure in course of time. His religious, social, metaphysical contribution was no doubt great. He composed more than 65,000 Vachanas and consecrated 68 "Lingas" in Solapur. He belonged to the Virashaiva movement inspired by great saint and revolutionary Basavanna. 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. The fact that this lake was open to the people of all cast, sects and religions proves the secular, progressive attitude of Shri Siddharameshwar who was far ahead of his time. This revolutionary saint entombed himself alive (Shivyogsamadhi) at Solapur. On the tourist map of Maharashtra, Solapur is recognized by the beautiful temple of Lord Siddharameshwar, situated at the heart of city.

During the Indian independence movement, the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9th, 10th and 11th May 1930. This acquired name and fame for Solapur in the history of India. But it had to pay a great price of that freedom in the form of the martyrdom of Shri Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri Kurban Hussein, Shri Jagannath Shinde and Shri Kisan Sarda who were hanged on 12th Jan 1931, in the prison at Pune. Thus the city came to be recognized as "The City of Hutatmas".

Being an important industrial city, Solapur is a leading center for cotton mills and power-looms. Solapur bed-sheets, terry-towels and chaddars have earned international fame and reputation due to their novel designs and durability.

Solapur is 433 km away from Mumbai and 244 km from Pune. By rail, it is 456 km from Mumbai. Solapur is well-connected with metro-cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

Pandharpur, with its Vitthal-Rakhumai temple on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river, that has carved a niche in the hearts of Marathi-speaking people, is only 70 km from Solapur. Akkalkot, just 38 km from Solapur is known to be a holy place on account of the shrine of Akkalkot Swami and is visited by his followers. Tuljapur in Osmanabad District, 40 km from Solapur, has the seat of the goddess Tulja-Bhawani, well known as the family deity of Maharashtra. 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 marvel in architecture, and Badami in the same district for its mind boggling temples carved inside the rocks.

Places of interest

File:Siddheshwar.jpg
Siddheshwar Lake .
File:Vithoba idol.jpg
Vithoba Idol .

Media

Solapur is served by numerous newspaper publications, television stations and radio. The Times of India,Economic Times, the Indian Express are the major English language newspapers sold in the city. Popular Marathi newspapers include ],Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Nava Kaal, and Saamana. In addition to these papers, newspapers are printed in Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu and Kannada.Some local newspapers are dialy Tarun Bharat,Sanchar.

There is a local All India Radio Solapur station broadcasting in the AM band which operates at 1602 kHz or at 187.2 meters. Local Marathi digital TV channel 'Vrutta-Darshan' has gained immense importance as it covers local news.Zee Marathi,DD-Sahyadri and ETV Marathi also very popular.

See also

List of Solapur telecom companies

Famous personalities

  • Sushil Kumar Shinde
  • Dwarkanath Kotnis
  • Khan Bahadur Haji Hazrat Khan
  • Sir Abdul Latif Haji Hazrat Khan
  • Walchand Hirachand 1882 - 1953
  • Atul Kulkarni
  • Shri Mallappa Dhanshetti
  • Shri Kurban Hussein
  • Shri Jagannath Shinde
  • Shri Kisan Sarda
  • Shri Vijaysinh Mohite Patil
  • Kaviray Ram Joshi
  • Shubrai Maharaj
  • T.V. Sardeshmukh
  • Shri B.S.Kulkarni
  • Shri R.S.Udgiri

Important Telephone Numbers

  • Collector Office | 2627001, 2627006
  • Commissioner of Police | 2600660, 2600650

Movie Halls

  • Prabhat
  • Kalpana (only English / Dubbed )
  • Meena
  • Asha
  • Uma
  • Chitra Mandir
  • Chhayaa
  • Kala Mandir
  • Gentyaal
  • Laxminarayan (70 mm screen)
  • Shalimar
  • Padma
  • Srinivas
  • Sujata

External links

Official websites

News

Weather

Maps

Pictures

Reference

Education

Important Industries

Hotels

Blogs


Category: