Bhilwara

History

According to substantiation the present Bhilwara city had a mint where coins known as 'BHILADI' were minted and from this denomination was derived the name of the district. And other story goes like this that a tribe known as bheel helped Maharana Pratap Pratap in war against Mughal Empire king Akbar lived in Bhilwara region that's this area came to be known as Bheel+Bada (Bheel's area) Bhilwara. Over the years it has emerged out as the one of the major cities of Rajasthan. Nowadays, Bhilwara is better known as the textile city in the country.

The oldest part of this town was set up in the middle of the 11th century by building a Krishna Radha mandir (temple) that still exists and is known as the Bada Mandir . The area that is now known as Purana Bhilwara (Patwari Mohalla, Junawas, Manikya Nagar Malikhera). There is also reference to Arjuna having fought here during the Mahabharata period. Historical records show that a town named Mandal close to Bhilwara served as the military base for the Mughals when they had attacked Chittaurgarh. The ruins of their campsite can still be seen today. A watch tower that was built on a small mound in Mandal is now a Devi temple. Total diameter of Bhilwara is nearly 70 km. There are only 5 statutes of Panchmukhi Hanuman in entire world and one of theme is in Bhilwara known as Panchmukhi Hanuman Darbar. There is a saying that this statute was built by a Sadhu for a Rich man and after that no one could move this statute from its place.

Rivers

Many seasonal rivers such as Kothari, Banas, Menali, Bedach, Khari and Mansi meander their way through Bhilwara. There are a number of ponds and dams in the district, but there is no natural lake.

Location

Bhilwara is located at 25.35°N 74.63°E / 25.35; 74.63. It has an average elevation of 421 metres (1381 feet). It falls between the districts of Ajmer (in north) and Chittorgarh and Udaipur (in south). Major rivers flowing through the district are Banas, Bedach, Kothari, Khari, Mansi, Menali, Chandrabhaga and Nagdi.

There is no natural lake in the district but there are number of ponds and dams so the district is the most irrigated in the state of Rajasthan.

Demographics

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As of 2011 India census, Bhilwara has a population of 3,59,483. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. About 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economy

The major industry is textiles, with more than 850 manufacturing units in the town. The main textile product is synthetic fabric used in trousers. It began with a spinning and knitting company named Mewar Textile Mills, owned by industrialist Shri Sampatmal Lodha, started in 1938. Thereafter Shri Laxmi niwas Jhunjhunwala started his first unit for synthetic textile in 1961 at Bhilwara. Then many other units came up.

Now the city boasts of producing around million metres p.a. of trouser fabric, making Bhilwara one of the major textile centres in India. The turnover of the textile industry is more than Rs. 100 crore p.a. The city has nine major and five small spinning mills. The total spindlage installed at Bhilwara are approximately 4.50 lacs, about 40% of the state capacity. It has 18 modern process houses to process polyester/viscose suiting with the annual capacity of a billion metrers of fabric. In the weaving sector it has approximately 13,500 looms out of which about 9000 are modern shuttleless ones. Annual exports of textiles from the district is of more than Rs. 270 crore.

Bhilwara is the only centre in the country producing insulation bricks. There are about 33 units in city. In the mining sector there is large scale mining of sandstone, soap stone and other minerals like feldspar, quartz, China clay, etc.

Also Mica mining has played a very important role in development of economic and social condition of Bhilwara. Late Sh. Jugal Kishore Ji Sharaf and Lt Sh Chetan Sharaf has played a major role in developing the then crucial minrel.

The recent and most important development in Bhilwara is the recognition of the town as major Iron Ore producing hub. The district has huge deposits of low grade iron ore, which were simply ignored by the industry giants so far. Jindal SAW recognized the potential and with guidance of Dr. R.S. Goyal (an eminent geoscientist) developed a huge iron ore mining and beneficiation plant in the district. Now the district has become a magnet for all major steel companies of the country. It has put the state of Rajasthan on the map of steel industries of the country.

Electricity

Bhilwara receives electricity from Kota, Beawar, Rana Pratap Sagar Power Station (Rawatbhata) and Nimbahera. All 1,565 villages have been electrified.

Road connectivity

National Highway No. 79, part of the Golden Quardrilateral (four lane), and another National Highway No. 76 part of the East West Corridor (four lane) pass through the district. The total length is 120 km.

National Highway No. 758 (Kota-Ladpura-Bhilwara-Gangapur-Rajsamand-Udaipur) passes through the district. The length of this highway is 146 km. and other NH 148D (Bhim-Gulabpura-Uniara).

The total road length in the district was 3,883 km on 31 March 2000.

With a government bus depot in the heart of the city, Bhilwara is connected to all the important cities of Rajasthan and other states. Many private service providers are available. Bilwara is well connected by road to capital city Jaipur and distance is 253 kilometre.

Rail transport

A broad gauge railway line connecting Ajmer, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Kota, Indore Junction, Ujjain, Delhi, Bharatpur, Agra, Gwalior, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Patna, Kolkata, Chittorgarh, Udaipur City, Mavli Jn., Ratlam, Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai and Hyderabad passes through the district. Kota (160 km) is the convenient railway station to provide connectivity to the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Air transport

The nearest airport is at Udaipur (165 km) — approximately 2.5 hours, by road. The other nearest airport is at Jaipur (251 km) which takes about 4 hours by road. The nearest international airports are in Jaipur, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.

Communication facilities

Number of each:

Educational institutions

Bhilwara is second in central India region for CA Exams.

Manikya Lal Verma Govt. Textile & Engineering College, Bhilwara is an autonomous engineering college of Government of Rajasthan. Along with offering engineering course in multiple disciplines of engineering, it is the only institute in Rajasthan which offers engineering course in textile and its allied fields. Institute of Technology and Management is another engineering college in Bhilwara.

Social and cultural significance

Great Indian miniature artist Badri Lal Chitrakar highlights the city on international maps for Indian miniature art. He was given several awards including the Shilp Guru/Master Craftsperson award by the vice-president of India on 9 September 2006. Bhilwara is famous for its 'Fad Paintings' which are depictions of traditional stories on cloth using naturally available colours.

In sports, Bhilwara is the source of national basketball team players. Coach Mohit Bhandari is the national coach for basketball.

In education, Bhilwara has an autonomous engineering college of Government of Rajasthan. Along with offering engineering course in multiple disciplines of engineering, it is the only institute in Rajasthan which offers engineering course in textile and its allied fields. Institute of Technology and Management is another engineering college in Bhilwara.

In medicine, Bhilwara has large number of hospitals and is gradually becoming a medical hub in Rajasthan. Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital is one of the biggest in the Mewar region. Krishna Hospital and Ram Snehi Hospital is among major medical service providers Bhilwara has emerged as an attraction for orthopedic surgeries as well.

Medical

Bhilwara has large number of hospitals and is gradually becoming a medical hub in Rajasthan. Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital is one of the biggest in the Mewar region. Krishna Hospital and Ram Snehi Hospital is among major medical service providers. Other major private service providers include Smt. Kesar Bai Soni Hospital assisted by Apollo Hospital Ahmedabad, Arihant Hospital, Ambesh Jain Chikitsalaya, Red Crescent Uro-Surgical Hospital, Krishna multi-specialty Hospital famous for stone treatment, Ajmera eye & gynice (specialist) Hospital and for critical care, Heart and Diabetes Shree Govind Multispecility Hospital. Bhilwara has emerged as an attraction for orthopedic surgeries as well.

The Chief Minister announced a medical college in Bhlwara. The State Govt. allotted 59.10 Bighas land in Sanganer village. The medical college will be constructed by “Rajasthan State Road and Development Ltd”. After The Medical College Bhilwara peoples will get specialist services in Medical field.Rajasthan Chief Minister Smt.Vasundhara Raje inaugurated the Medical college on June 26, 2016.

Tourism

Cultural Fests and Fairs