Raipur

Raipur ) is a city in the Raipur district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is the capital city of the state of Chhattisgarh and is the administrative headquarters of Raipur district. It is also the largest city in Chhattisgarh. It was formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chhattisgarh was formed on 1 November 2000. Naya Raipur is the upcoming business hub in Chhattisgarh promoted by the state government.

History

Raipur has been in existence since the 9th century; the old site and ruins of the fort can be seen in the southern part of the city. Raipur district is important historically and as a point of interest archaeologically. This district was once part of the Dakshina Kosala Kingdom and later considered part of the Maurya Empire. The 4th century AD king Samudragupta conquered this region and established his domination until the fifth–sixth century when the area came under the rule of Sarabhpuri kings. For some time in the fifth and sixth centuries, Nala kings dominated this area. Later on Somavanshi kings took control and ruled with Sirpur ("City of Wealth") as their capital. Mahashivgupta Balarjun was the mightiest emperor of this dynasty. His mother, the widow queen of Harshgupta of the Somavansh, Rani Vasata built the brick temple of Lakshman.

The Kalachuri dynasty kings of Tumman ruled the area for a long period making Ratanpur their capital. The old inscriptions of Ratanpur, Rajim and Khallari refer to the reign of Kalachuri kings. Raipur was the capital of a branch of the Kalachuri dynasty, whose rulers controlled the forts of Chhattisgarh for a considerable period.

It is believed that King Ramachandra established the city of Raipur and subsequently made it the capital of his kingdom. Another story about Raipur is that King Ramachandra's son Brahmdeo Rai had established Raipur. His capital was Khalwatika (now Khallari). This region had become the domain of Bhosle kings after Amarsingh Deo's death. With the death of Raghuji III, the territory was assumed by the British government from Bhonsla'a of Nagpur and Chhattisgarh was declared a separate division, the Chhattisgarh Division of the Central Provinces, with its headquarters at Raipur in 1852. At the time of the independence of India Raipur district was included in the Central Provinces and Berar.

Geography and climate

Geography

Raipur is located near the centre of a large plain, sometimes referred as the "rice bowl of India", where hundreds of varieties of rice are grown. The Mahanadi River flows to the east of the city of Raipur, and the southern side has dense forests. The Maikal Hills rise on the north-west of Raipur; on the north, the land rises and merges with the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which extends north-east across Jharkhand state. On the south of Raipur lies the Deccan Plateau.

Transport

Railways

Raipur Junction railway station is situated on the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Indian Railways (via Bhusawal, Nagpur, Gondia, Bilaspur, Rourkela, Kharagpur) and is connected with some major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Sambalpur, Saugor, Katni, Itarsi, Gondia, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kota, Ahmedabad, Jaipur Vishakapatnam, etc. Raipur still lacks direct rail connectivity with Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Kolhapur, Jodhpur, etc. A branch line from Raipur to Vizianagaram via Mahasamund - Titlagarh originates from here and most of the produce of Chhattisgarh reaches Vishakhapatnam by this railway line. There is also a narrow gauge line connecting Raipur to Rajim and Dhamtari via Abhanpur, which is being converted to broad gauge and realigned to serve the city of Naya Raipur as well.

Suburbs Of Raipur

• Saraswati Nagar National Institute of Technology Raipur
• Pandri City Station {Metre Gauge}
• Sarona AIIMS Raipur & {Tatibandh}
• W. R. S. Colony {KhamTarai}
• Urkura
• Mandhar {Siltara} & {Vidhan Sabha}
• Mandir Hasoud
• Doongaji Colony
• Naya Raipur {Proposed Railway Station & Logistic Hub By CONCOR }

Roads

National Highways connecting Raipur to various cities:

Natavalasa

Asian Highway Number 46 - AH46 passes through Raipur

Airport

Swami Vivekananda Airport or Mana Airport is primary airport serving the state of Chhattisgarh.The airport is located, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Raipur near Naya Raipur. After recent modernisation, is one of its kind in central India and presently connects Raipur to most of the major Metro city of India.

A new integrated terminal designed to handle 700 passengers (including 200 international flyers at a time) and covering an area of 18,500 m2 (4.6 acres) was inaugurated on 7 November 2012 by President of India Pranab Mukherjee. The new terminal will be used for domestic flights, while the proposed international terminal is being renovated to handle international operations.

Local transport

A city bus service is provided by Raipur City Bus Limited (RCBL) for the intra-city travel. Raipur Municipal Corporation launched the Raipur City Bus service on 25 February 2008. The company runs 40 buses out of which 32 are low floor Tata Starbus. Paratransit in the form of auto-rickshaws and tuk-tuk are available all over the city. 200 new city buses under JNNURM have been inducted by Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited (RNNTL), which serve the Raipur and connect Naya Raipur also.

Raipur and Naya Raipur BRTS is a bus rapid transit system with air-conditioned (AC) and non-AC buses. Some of these buses are equipped with services like GPS and IVR which are used to track the position of the bus with information displayed on LED displays installed at the bus stops the BRTS operation between the Raipur to Naya Raipur Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches Naya Raipur BRTS in Naya Raipur on Nov 1, 2016.

Tourism

• Kevalya Dham: Jain temple of white marble is on NH 6 and is one of major tourist attraction. The temple is also known as Sri Adinath Jain Shwetambar Tirth collection of 26 small and big Jain temples magnificently built with marbles. The temple enshrines the idols of all 24 Tirthankars in small temples with one large temple complex with idol of Rishabhdev. On the corner wall within the shrine carries a detailed description of Sri Shatrunjay Maha Tirtha. A dadabari is also present near this temple. This Temple also has a dharamshala equipped with all modern facilities. Tourists and devotees from far off places in India visit these temples on a regular basis.
• sadani darbar
• Mahant Ghasidas Museum, built in 1875 by Raja Mahant Ghasidas, king of the erstwhile Rajnandgaon state.
• Guru Tegh Bahadur Museum, built in honour of Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur situated near Ghasidas museum.

Kanha National Park, Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary, Amarkantak, Bhoramdeo Temple, Dongargarh, Setganga, Sirpur, Champaran, Rajim, Chitrakot Falls, Indravati National Park, Kanger Valley National Park, Gangrel Dam and Murrum Silli Dam are the other nearby attractions.

Naya Raipur

Naya Raipur (New Raipur) is the new city of Chhattisgarh. Located between National Highways NH-6 and NH-43. It is 17 km away in the south-east direction from the current capital Raipur. Swami Vivekananda Airport separates the old and new cities. Naya Raipur is serving as the administrative capital of the State and also cater to the infrastructural needs of industry and trade in the region.

Naya Raipur spreads over an area of about 8000 hectares. Naya Raipur is India's fourth planned capital city after Gandhinagar in Gujarat; Chandigarh serting both Punjab and Harayana; and Bhubaneshwar in Odisha.