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JABALPUR - THE CITY OF MARBLE ROCKS
JABALPUR- Is an ancient city in central India situated in the heart
of India on shores of holy river Narmada and lying in plains of
tributaries Hiran and Gour and Ken and Sone. Narmada River valley having
world famous Marble Rocks the only of its kind in the world where the
whole river flows for nearly 2 Kms. in between varied coloured and tinted
marble rocks with a deep water fall. Its cardinal point are 23 degree 10'N
latitude and 79 degree 57' E longitude with altitude of 393 meters mean
sea level.
World Famous`DHUADHAR' Water Falls
Jabalpur is well connected by National highway-7 (Nagpur-Varanasi) Broad
gauge and meter gauge railway lines and Skeleton air service. It is
Divisional and district headquarter with about 14 lacs population. It is
on Deccan Pleatue with Ht of 393 meters and surrounded on all sides by
most ancient basalt rocks with thick forest all-round having about 1386 mm
rainfall. The highest maximum temperature 46.7 C was recorded on 25th May
1924 and lowest minimum was zero degree on 29th December 1905.
The topography of Jabalpur is unique. The city is surrounded by low,
rocky, and barren hillocks. Some of which form a barrier for continuous
development of urban form and restrict inter-links between various parts
of the city. Kariapather hillock to the north-east, Sita Pahad and
Kandhari hills to the east, Madan Mahal hills and rocks outcrops to the
south-west. Railway line girding the city like a "horse shoe" had its due
influence in the growth of urban form. The main water reservoir of
Khandari and Pariyat are located to the north-east direction of the city.
Recently water is also drawn from Narmada River by Public Health Dept.
The main crops are wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds, maize etc. Nearby is
Bargi Dam on the river Narmada for irrigation, water supply and power
generation. The town is surrounded by several lakes and water tank used
for culture in them and in rivers. Besides the area is rich in limestone,
refractory clay, bauxite, iron ore, manganese and other deposits. Three
Cement plants several fireclay refractories lime stone kilns and good
industrial estates nearby. Beside defence factories like GCF, Vehicle
factory, G.I.F. and Ordnance factory depot.
The name is said to be derived from Saint Jabali Pattanam or Jabal (in
Arabic meaning rocks). It is Geologist and Archeologists paradise as all
sorts of rocks and monuments are present. The excavation by Archeological
department dates back to 4000 years and in 1930 full skeleton of Dinosaur
was found. In vedic language and also in Ramayana and Mahabharat the
Tripuri is described (Near Jabalpur) and according to some ancient
historians the Lanka of Ramayana was in this area. The area had been
earlier ruled by Chedies and Kalchuries. The famous temple of 64 yoginies
near Bheraghat marble rocks is testimony of earlier education and
civilisation The Balancing Rock
Later the area came under the Gond Princes when in 16th century famous
Rani Durgavati laid down her life fighting the Moghul empire. Thereafter
it was ruled by the Peshwas and then came under British rule and was made
headquarter of 12 districts. There was also proposal of shifting Indian
capital to Jabalpur which did not materialise. Clock Tower, Famine Smarak,
Soldier's smarak, Townhall, are memorials of martyrs. The city played
vital role during 1857 Mutiny and in Pakistan/China war giving martyrs to
nation. A combined memorial was built recently for civil and defence
service martyrs.
The Madan Mahal Fort
Politically under Lokmanya Tilak's direction Jhanda Satyagraha was
launched with success (who visited 3 times) Mahatma Gandhi visited 4 times
and famous Congress session was held at Tripuri (Jabalpur) in 1939 when
Late Subhash Chandra Bose was elected the congress President against the
wishes of Mahatma Gandhi. Methodology of two thoughts to achieve freedom
was formulated in the session. A memorial Kamania gate was erected in
city.
THE TRIPURI GANDHI SMARAK
Later Shaheed Smarak and Mahatma Gandhi smarak was erected. Even after
independence this city had been very active politically and produced
politicians like Pt. D.P. Mishra, Seth Govind Das, Pt. Kunjilal Dubey,
Shri Parmanandbhai Patel, Smt. Ratna Kumari Devi, Smt. Jayashree Banerjee,
Babu Jagmohandas, Babu Manmohandas, Thakur Laxmansingh Chauhan, Bhawani
Prasad Tiwari, Beohar Rajendra Singh, Baburao Pranjpe etc.
KAMANIA GATE
Jabalpur is a big Defence and Military Center having Army Officers school
(Now College of Defence Management) where veteran military Generals took
training. Also it has large Defence factories like Gun Carriage Factory,
Ordnance Factory, Vehicle Factory, Grey Iron Foundry, EME workshop,
Central Ordnance Depot, Signal's center and Army Area Head Quarters with 2
Lt General rank officer's. Besides there is big Cantonment and M.E.O.
Canteen stores Deptt etc.
Jabalpur is seat of Madhya Pradesh High Court (having Hon. Justice
M.Hidayatullah and later vice President of India as the first chief
justice.) It has produced famous judges like Hon Justice V.R. Sen, Justice
A.P. Sen, J.B. Sen, J.S. Verma, R.K. Tankha and several others besides
Hon. Justice Gulab Gupta who has been Chairman of the M.P. Human Rights
Commission and Vice Chanceller of Rani Durgavati University.
Jabalpur also has the headquarters of West Central Railway Zone, M.P.
State Electricity Board, Homeguards and some Government Departments of
Centre and State. The Telecom factory, Telegraph workshop and Bharat Ratna
Dr. Bheemrao Ambedkar Telecom Training Centre and other Postal
Departments, Survey of India etc. are several offices worth mentioning.
Jabalpur has been and is great education centre having two Universities
Rani Durgavati University and Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University and
having about 30 colleges with all faculties like engineering, medical,
veterinary, teacher's training, arts, science, commerce, law, theology
etc.The old Roberston College is more than 135 yrs old, besides 87 years
old Spence Training College for teachers. Recently the Central Govt. has
proposed to establish Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at
Jabalpur.
VINOBA BHAVE the modern saint philosopher of India christened this city as
SANSKAR DHANI- the capital of various cultural influences. He was
impressed by its cosmopolitan character and communal harmony. The city has
sizeable population of people from Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh
and South India who live in total harmony peace and add richness to the
life in the city. One can also see the fusion of cultures in this city.
Jabalpur has also given to the world, philosophers like Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi of Transcendental Meditation fame and Osho (Bhagwaan Rajneesh).
Jabalpur has been centre of ancient music with music Colleges and great
Cultural centre for arts, drama and has produced several famous musicians,
dramatists, cinema actors, mono players, magicians etc. In sports it has
been buzzing with activities for nearly a century. Famous J.E.A.A.
Tournament and other national tournaments are regularly held. Col. Sir
Navil Francis first designed snooker (Billiards) in 1875 at Jabalpur. The
table is the pride of Nurbbuda Club. In cricket Shree Chandu Sarwate won
Ranji Trophy and represented Indian team against England, Australia and
Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Women also had been great sports persons in Jabalpur
and Avinash Sidhu (Awarded Vikram Award in 1975), Madhu Yadav and others
have made mark in sports.
Industrially it has now four Industrial Estates with several small and
medium scale industries. The largest among Cottage industries is the Biri
manufacturing (No mechanisation anywhere). Since last 10 years Readymade
Garment industry has made its mark. There are around 300 small and medium
units manufacturing Salwar Suits, Shirts etc. being marketed all over
India. Due to lack of infrastructure large industries have not come up as
yet.
How to get There:
Jabalpur is one of the important stations on the Allahabad-Itarsi section
of the Howrah-Mumbai Main Railway line. It has direct railway route to all
the major cities of the country. Direct trains are available to Mumbai,
Howrah, Delhi, Varanasi, Secunderabad, bangalore, Patna, Cochin, Chennai,
Lukhnow, Rajkot,Surat,Guwahati,etc.
On the Road-map Jabalpur is on the NH-7. It is connected to impotant
neighbouring cities like Nagpur, Raipur, Bhopal, Allahabad, Sagar Etc. by
road. Frequent Government as well as private buses are available to these
places.
Jabalpur has an air-strip (Dumna Airport ) at a distance of about 20 Kms
from the city-centre. Jabalpur is connected to Delhi, Bhopal, Indore and
Mumbai by air and daily flights are available to these places. |
