Dewas

Origin of name

The name Dewas is derived from the Devi Vaishini hill in the city, commonly known as Tekri. The hill has a temple of the deities Devi Tulja Bhawani, Chamunda Mata and Kalika Mata. The word Dewas is believed to be a sandhi of the words Dev (deity) and Vas Marathi (abode), so Dewas means abode of the deity or god. Swami Shivom Tirtha wrote the history of the hill (Tekri) of Dewas in his book—Sadhan Shikhar. E.M.Forster wrote a book inspired by the area The Hill of Devi in 1953.

The district gets its name from the district headquarters town, Dewas which is said to have been derived on the basis of two traditions. One is that Dewas lies on the foot of a conical hill, known as Chamunda hill about 300 ft. above the ground level on top of which the shrine of Chamunda is located. The image of the Goddess is cut into the wall of a cave, known as Devi Vashini or the Goddess's residence. From this the name Dewas (dev-vas) seems to have been derived. The other view of the probable origin is from the name of the founder of the village Dewasa Bania.

The present Dewas district broadly corresponds to the twin treaty States in Malwa Political charge of the Central India Agency, divided into a Senior and a Junior branch of the early twentieth century, with some adjustments of other territories. There were two district chiefships with separate administrations, acting independently, sharing the same capital town of Dewas. After the merger of the princely states and the formation of Madhya Bharat State in 1948 there was a reconstitution of boundaries and the district in the present form was constituted. The reconstituted district was, however, formed by merging 242 villages of the two tahsils of Dewas of the former Senior and Junior State, 452 villages of Sonkatch tahsil and of 99 villages of Ujjain tahsil of former Gwalior state, 99 villages of Nimanpur tahsil of former Dhar state, one village of Jawar tahsil of former Bhopal State, and then the existing tahsils of Kannod and Khategaon of former Holkar State. With the reorganization of States on a linguistic basis on 1 November 1956, Madhya Bharat got merged with other territories to form the New state of Madhya Pradesh and thus Dewas continues to be one of the districts in it.

The district is now divided into 9 tehsils viz. Dewas, Sonkatch, Bagli, Kannod, Khategaon, Satwas, Tonk-Khurd, Hatpipliya and Udainagar. Dewas tehsil is situated on the north-western part of the district, Sonkatch on the north-eastern part, Bagli on the south, Kannod on the south-central part and Khategaon on the South-east. Weather road connects all the tahsil headquarters. The headquarters of Dewas tehsil, which is also the district headquarters, is situated on The Bombay-Agra National Highway No.3 and is also connected by broad-gauge railway line of western Railway.

Princely history

Dewas was formerly the capital of two princely states of British India. The original state was founded in the first half of the 18th century by the brothers Tukaji Rao (senior) and Jivaji Rao (junior), from the Puar clan of Marathas, who advanced into Malwa with the Maratha Peshwa, Baji Rao, in 1728. In the time of Puar, clan of Marathas Shri Krishan Ji Rao Pawar was the king of the town, and his favorite bodyguard and good friend Shri Moti Lal Rathod belonged to the Rathod family. Shri Moti lal Rathod was Bharat Kesari Award Winner out of the whole Bharat who won the championship organized at the India level and became "Bharat Kesari". Shri Motilal Rathod constructed Akhada in Dewas and was one and only Brave Wrestler out of India. The brothers divided the territory among themselves; their descendants ruled as the senior and junior branches of the family. After 1841, each branch ruled his own portion as a separate state, though the lands belonging to each were so intimately entangled, that even in Dewas, the capital town, the two sides of the main street were under different administrations and had different arrangements for water supply and lighting. The senior branch had an area of 446 sq mi (1,160 km²). and a population of in 62,312 in 1901, while the area of the junior branch was 440 sq mi (1,100 km²). and had a population of 54,904 in 1901. Both Dewas states were in the Malwa Agency of the Central India Agency. There were many Jagirdars and Zamindars of the estate; one of them was Zamindar Binjraj Tapdiya the whole sole of the village Binjana and Sanjay Nagar. On his name only the name of Binjana was kept. He was popularly known as Binjana seth. His eldest son kisanlal ruled the region under puar dynasty for six decades. After him his son Seth Vallabhdas Tapdiya had ruled the village. They were the biggest Jagirdars in the kingdom of Maharaj Krishnaji Rao III Puar. After India's independence in 1947, the Rajas of Dewas acceded to India, and their states were integrated into Madhya Bharat, which became a state of India in 1950. In 1956, Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh state.

Geography

Dewas lies Northeast of Indore, Southeast of Ujjain, and Southwest of Shajapur. The city is located on the level plains of the Malwa plateau; to the South, the land rises gently to the Vindhya Range, which is the source of the Chambal and Kali Sindh rivers that flow north through the district on their way to the Ganges.The main river in Dewas is Kshipra, which is known as 'Holy River'. Dewas is also known for the Mata Mandir which is situated at the hill which is famous in the name of mata tekri.

Demographics

As of 2013 India census, Dewas has a population of 289,438. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dewas has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; male literacy is 77% and female literacy is 61%. In Dewas, 7% of the population is under 5 years of age. As it was a Maratha-ruled state, Marathi and Hindi are widely spoken languages in Dewas.

Industrial connection

Dewas was known for being a production centre of retail opium in the 1800s, as noted in the UK's First Report of the Royal Commission on Opium (1895).

Dewas has many industrial units providing employment to thousands of workers. It has some industrial areas on Indore road and also few pockets of industries on Ujjain road.

Dewas has many mid-sized and small industries. The largest companies include Tata, Kirloskar, Arvind Mills, S Kumars, Tata – Cummins, Gajra Gears, Gabriel India Ltd, Sun Pharma Industries Limited, Caparo Tubes, John Deere and the Bank Note press. Rapid industrialization took place in the late 70s and early 80s, but due to inadequate infrastructure, the pace has slowed since the late 80s, although there are still large companies delivering substantial profits. Dewas is known as the soya capital of India and is a major part of the soya bean processing industry in the country.

In recent years, some industries have closed their operations due to a shortage of sufficient infrastructure to support growth; there is a shortage of water due to excessive usage in previous decades.

Due to its high location above the sea level and at one corner of the plateau, constant wind flows in the region making it suited for harvesting wind energy. There are more than 100 wind mills on a hill some 13 km from Dewas, generating around 15 megawatts of power. A few private companies have financed these wind mills to get an uninterrupted power supply.

Dewas Ke Bhagirath

Dewas is known for their water management and irrigation programs in rural areas. Until 2005 Dewas was a drought area and farmers were having major problems as production was at very low levels.

The United Nations selected Dewas district's community water management works as among the best three water management practices in the world under the category of "Best Water Management Practices" for 2011-2012. Dewas was finalist in 'Water for Life United Nation's-Water Best Practices Award 2012 edition.

United Nations praised Bhagirath Krishhak Abhiyan of the Dewas district, started by district administrator Umakant Umrao. A documentary film made by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust about Dewas water revolution is featured on Lok Sabha TV.

Higher Education

Major schools

Media (Local)

Print Media (Daily newspapers): Satyakaar, Naidunia, Dainik bhaskar, Rajsthan patrika, Dabang dunia, Free press, Raj Express, Dewas Darpan, and BPN Times.

Electronic Media: Regional News Channel Reporter(ETV), Bansal News MP/CG., Red9 SR, Times Hindi, Sadhna News, Bharat Samachar, and Pearls MP&CG news channel

Places of interest

Pushpgiri Tirth, Sanwer, Sonkatch

Popular Shri Digambar Jain Teerth Kshetra, Pushpagiri is located 4 km westerly to Sonkatch in a truly peaceful environs of Songiri Hills. The temple here is dedicated to Lord Mahavir. This Jain kshetra is a sprawling 250 acre complex housing Jain Sthanaks, schools, hospital, museum, cottages, shopping centers and above all, a 108 feel tall idol of Bhagwan Paraswanath in an Yogic (Padmasan) posture. This would be one of tallest Jain idols surpassing even (57' height) Bhagwan Bahubali idol at Shravanabelgola in Karnataka.

Shri Manibhadra Veer Jain tirth, Matmor or Shivapur Theerth

Shri Manibhadra Veer Shvetamber Jain centre is located in Matmor village of Bagli taluk, Dewas district. Manibhadra veer is one of the sacred protector deities of Jains. A chariot shaped temple was inaugurated here in 1991 under the guidance of Shri Veer Ratna Vijayji Maharaj Sab. It has retiring rooms, a residence for Jain teachers, an old age centre, library, old manuscripts, etc.

Kheoni wildlife Sanctuary

Kheoni or Khinvi wildlife Sanctuary was established in the year 1955. The area of reserved forest is 115.320 sqkm and of protected forest is 16.678 sqkm and totalling to 132.778 sqkm. This sanctuary houses different types of animals, birds, aquatic and lush greenery throughout. There are around 2 Lion, 8 Leopards, 70 Sambhar, 275 Cheetal, 163 Neelgay, 45 Chinkara and 75 Bhhendki according to 1999 census. There is a forest guesthouse in Kheoni village.

Kavadia Hills

This pahaad situated next to Potla and Pipri villages in Bagli Taluk, Dewas district is a series of small rocky mountains. There are seven mountain-like formations of interlocking basalt columns that were created as a result of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago. These rock columns are arranged in a pattern that gives an appearance of a man made structure. Most of the columns are hexagonal and interlocked with similar rocks on the edges that emit a musical sound when struck. Most visible columns are 8 to 10 feet long but there can be longer rocks further deep inside the mountain. Although basalt columns are not unusual and are found at several places around the world (St. Mary's Islands in Karnataka, India), the quality, quantity, geometrical arrangement and geographical location, far away from the ocean, is unique.

Gidya Khoh

Situated on the Indore-Nemawar [Road NH 59A], Gidya Khoh or Gidiya Khoh is located within the Dewas District, and has a waterfall surrounded by a green valley. The waterfall cascades from a height of 500–600 ft. Khudel devta temple located here is visited by the local tribes. Gidya Khoh is located about 48 km south of Dewas and 42 km east of Indore, and Double Chwki is the nearest junction from where Gidya Khoh is 9 km distant.

Cinema

Abhinav Cineplex, Ujjain Road.

Railways

Dewas Junction(DWX), is a Standard Broad Gauge Railway Station which belongs to Ratlam Division of Western Railway (India) Zone, is well connected with all major cities of India.The Railway station is also awarded by the Western Railway India

Dewas Junction lies on Indore Junction BG – Ujjain Junction branch line and it has one line originating and going towards Maksi Junction which connects Nagda Bhopal Junction WR-CR link line. Indore – Ujjain line has been eletrified now. This would rather increase some more speed and connectivity.

There are regular trains plying to Mumbai (BCT), Delhi (NDLS), Kolkata (HWH), Chennai (MAS), Pune (PUNE), Ahmedabad (ADI), Lucknow (LKO), Jaipur (JP), Kanpur (CNB), Patna (PNBE), Thiruvananthapuram (TVC), Coimbatore (CNB), Eranakulam (ERS), Nagpur (NGP), Jammutavi (JAT), Amritsar (ASR), Dehradun (DDN), Ajmer (AII), Jodhpur (JU), Chhindwara (CWA), Jabalpur (JBP), Gandhinagar (GNC), Gwalior (GWL), Bhilwara (BHL), Udaipur (UDZ) and other major cities.

Roadways

Dewas is well connected to major cities of the State through an extensive network of national and state highways. NH3 Agra Mumbai National highway (A.B. Road) passes through the town. NH 86 starts from Dewas and goes up to Kanpur passing through UP via Ashta, Sehore, Bhopal, Raisen, Sanchi, Vidisha, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Malhara. Dewas is well connected with both cities Bhopal and Indore, political and commercial capital of MP respectively. Dewas is connected to Bhopal by 4 lane expressway highway known as Dewas-Bhopal Corridor. It is described as one of the best roads in central India. It is 142.6 km access controlled road made by SPV promoted by Chetak Enterprise Ltd. (CEL), Welspun Projects Limited. (WPL; previously known as MSK Projects (India) Limited and BSBK Ltd.

In popular media

In the opening scenes of the Hindi film Shree 420, the protagonist (Raj Kapoor) finds a road crossing showing the direction to three places, of which one is Dewas.