Nanded


Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the eighth largest urban agglomeration of the state and the seventy-ninth most populous city in India. It is the second largest city in Marathwada subdivision. Nanded is the centre of governance of Nanded district. Nanded is a major destination for Sikh pilgrims, because the 10th Sikh Guru made Nanded his permanent abode and passed his guruship to the Guru Granth Sahib before his death in 1708.

Location

Nanded is located on the banks of Godavari river in central west India. It is closer to Hyderabad in the state of Telangana than it is to the capital of Maharashtra state, Mumbai. Nanded district borders Latur district and Parbhani district to the west and Yavatmal district to the north. The district is bounded by the Nizamabad, Medak and Adilabad districts of Telangana state to the east.
Nanded has two parts: Old Nanded occupies the north bank of the Godavari river; New Nanded, to the south of the river, encompasses Waghala and six other villages.

Etymology

From a copper plate inscription found at Washim, a town approximately north of Nanded, archaeologists deduce the city was formerly known as . Another name was. Folklore suggests that the name "Nanded" developed from the Vahana of Shiva. Shiva was said to have performed penance on the banks of the Godavari river. This "" later became "Nanded".

History

Nanded is an old and historic centre. Local irrigation practices and Nanded itself are recorded in the treatise, Leela Charitra.
In the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, Nanded was ruled by the Nanda dynasty. In the 3rd century BCE, it was part of the Maurya Empire under Ashoka.
In the 1st century CE, power in the area lay with the Andhrabhrtyas and Satvahanas.
From 1636, Nanded was the centre of governance of Nizam State which includes nowdays Telangana, Karnataka, an imperial province of the Mughal Badshah Shah Jahan. In 1657, Nanded merged into Bidah Subah.
In 1725, Nanded became part of Hyderabad State. It continued to be part of the Nizam of Hyderabad's dominions until 1948. After India gained independence in 1947, the Indian Armed Forces annexed Hyderabad and ended the rule of the Nizam in Operation Polo, making Nanded part of the new Hyderabad State.
Nanded remained part of the annexed Hyderabad state until 1956 when it was included in the Bombay Presidency. On 1 May 1960, Maharashtra state was created on a linguistic basis and the Marathi dominant Nanded district became part of Maharashtra.
Nanded was the birthplace of three Marathi poet-saints—Vishnupant Shesa, Raghunath Shesa, and Vaman Pandit

Origins of Sikhism in Nanded

Nanded is associated with some important Sikh gurus. For example, Guru Nanak passed through Nanded on his way to Sri Lanka.
Guru Gobind Singh arrived in Nanded with the mughal emperor Bahadur Shah I near the end of August in 1707 CE. When Bahadur moved on to Golconda Singh remained in Nanded. Singh proclaimed he was the last living guru and established the sacred text, the Guru Granth Sahib as an eternal "living" leader. Guru Gobind Singh died without a lineal descendant due to the martyrdom of his four sons.
In about 1835, Maharaja Ranjit Singh commissioned the construction of a gurdwara at Nanded. It was built on the site of Guru Gobind Singh's cremation. The gurdwara is part of the Hazur Sahib.
In 2008, the tercentenary of the passing of the guruship to Guru Granth Sahib, Guru-ta-Gaddi celebrations were held in Nanded.

Geography

Nanded is the second largest city in Marathawada after Aurangabad. Its area is. Regarding cities in Maharashtra state, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad, Solapur and Amravati are larger.
Nanded is built on the Deccan Traps lava flows of the upper cretaceous to lower eocene eras. The lava flows are overlain by thin alluvial deposits. The lava flows are horizontal and each flow has two distinct units. The highly weathered vesicular trap and underlying weathered jointed and fractured massive trap constitutes the main water-yielding zones. The soil is mostly formed from igneous rocks and are black, medium black, shallow and calcareous types having different depths and profiles.

Climate

Governance

The city of Nanded is managed by the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation. The corporation consists of 81 democratically elected members. The Municipal Commissioner is the Chief Executive of the corporation. Dr. Sunil Lahane is the current Chief Executive of the corporation.

Demographics

, Nanded had a population of 550,564. The municipality had a gender ratio of 924 females per 1,000 males. 12.4 percent of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 87.40 percent. 81.74 percent of women were literate. Male literacy was 92.68 percent.

Economy

Nanded is a centre for governance and a market town for its surrounding agricultural region. Tourism is supported by 10 million visitors and religious pilgrims. There is also some industrial development.
Crops grown around Nanded include cotton, bananas, sugarcane, mangoes, soya beans, sweet limes, and sorghum. Nanded has a regional cotton research center to support the cotton-growing industry. There is an agricultural school operational under the aegis of Krishi Vidyapeeth of Parbhani.

Education

On 17 September 1994, the Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University was established in Nanded after a restructuring of the Marathwada University in Aurangabad. The university supervises the educational activities in senior colleges in four districts of Marathwada division.
Notable educational institutions in Nanded include the Dr. Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and the Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology;Mahatma Gandhi Mission's College of engineering and college of computer science and IT

Tourism and sites of interest

Nanded is an historical city in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state. Vedic rituals are performed on the banks of Godavari River These include Urvashi Ghat, Ram Ghat, and Govardhan Ghat.

Temples

Nanded's Hindu temples include:
was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is one of the Panj Takht, the five seats of higher authority for Sikhs. It is built at the site of cremation of Guru Gobind Singh. His remains and weapons are preserved at the site.

Nanded fort

Nanded fort is found from Nanded Railway Station. The Godavari river encloses the fort on three sides. There is a garden and water works.

Mahur

The falls, located at Islapur village, are a favourite destination for tourists during the monsoon and are accessible by train.

Unkeshwar village

village in Kinwat taluka has a famous Shiva temple. Hot water springs with containing sulphur and phosphate are believed to have medicinal properties.

Transport

Road

, National highway 361 and National highway 161 pass through the city. The State Road Transport Bus service operates to Nanded.

Rail

is located on the Secunderabad Manmad section of Nanded railway division of the South Central Railway Zone. Nanded station is the biggest station in Marathwada region. Forty-eight trains arrive each day. Maltekdi Railway Station is another railway station for Nanded.

Air

The Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Airport is served by daily Trujet Airlines flights to Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Recently, Air India started its own operations from the city, connecting Nanded to Amritsar with flights on Saturday and Sunday. Air India also started direct flights to Delhi twice a week beginning 19 November 2018. Also the first direct flight between Chandigarh to Nanded started in January 2019. With this long standing demand of Sikh pilgrims has been fulfilled.

Notable people