Country India Headquarters Kurukshetra Area 1,683 km² | State Haryana Website Official website Tehsil 1. | |
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Tehsils 1. Thanesar, 2. Shahabad 3. Pehowa Lok sabha constituency Kurukshetra (shared with Yamuna Nagar and Kaithal districts) Colleges and Universities Kurukshetra University, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra Points of interest Brahma Sarovar, Mini Zoo & Black Buck Breeding, Kurukshetra Panorama and Scie, Sheikh Chilli's Tomb, Krishna Museum | ||
Kurukshetra district (Hindi: कुरुक्षेत्र जिला; Punjabi: ਕੁਰੂਕਸ਼ੇਤਰ ਜਿਲਾ) is one of the 21 districts of Haryana state in northern India. The town of Kurukshetra, a sacred place for the Hindus, is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district occupies an area of 1682.53 km². The district has a population of 825,454 (2001 census). This district is part of Ambala division.
Contents
Map of Kurukshetra, Haryana
Origin of name
The district derived its name from the ancient region of Kurukshetra, which literally means the land of the Kurus. It is believed that the Kurukshetra war described in the Mahabharata Puranas and the war was fought here and Shree Krishna preached the Bhagavat Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield before the war.
History
The district was carved out from the erstwhile Karnal district in 1973. Later some parts of this district were transferred to Kaithal and Yamuna Nagar districts at the time of their creation.
Divisions
Kurukshetra district comprises two sub-division: Thanesar and Pehowa. Thanesar sub-division comprises two tehsils, Thanesar and Shahabad and two sub-tehsils, Ladwa and Babain. Pehowa sub-division consists of Pehowa tehsil and Ismailabad sub-tehsil. The significant towns in this district are Kurukushetra, Thanesar and Pehowa. Due to its location at the Punjab border it has a substantial Sikh population also
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Kurukshetra district has a population of 964,231, roughly equal to the nation of Fiji or the US state of Montana. This gives it a ranking of 452nd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 630 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,600/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.81%. Kurukshetra has a sex ratio of 889 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.7%.
Hindi & Punjabi are the major spoken languages in the region.
Education
Kurukshetra University was established as a unitary residential university at Kurukshetra in 1956. The Regional Engineering College at Kurukshetra was established in 1963, which was later renamed as National Institute of Technology.