Osmanabad district


Osmanabad District is an administrative district in the Marathwada region in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The district headquarter is located at Osmanabad. The District of Osmanabad derives its name from the last ruler of Hyderabad, the 7th Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, of which the region was a part till 1947. This region was earlier part of The Hyderabad State until Independence.This primarily rural district occupies an area of 7569 km² of which 241.4 km² is urban and has a population of 1,657,576 of which 16.96% were urban.

Location

Osmanabad district lies in the southern part of state. It lies on the Deccan plateau, about 600 m above sea level. Parts of the sina, Manjira and Terna River flow through the district. The district is located on the east side of the Marathwada region between latitude 17.35 to 18.40 degrees north, and latitude 75.16 to 76.40 degrees east.
Osmanabad District is bordered by the Beed District to the north, Latur District to the east, Solapur District to the west, Ahmednagar district to the north-west and the Bidar and Gulbarga districts of state of Karnataka to the south. Most of the district lies in the hilly areas of the Balaghat Range.

Climate

The rainy season starts from mid-June and continues till the end of September. The climate is humid in October and November and dry and cool from mid-November to January. From February to June the climate is dry and becomes increasingly hot. During summer the temperature of Osmanabad district is low compared to other districts of Marathwada region. The average annual rainfall in the district is 730 mm. Temperature Max.: 42.1 °C; Min.: 8 °C

Tahsils

There are eight talukas in Osmanabad district.
Paranda is a historical place known for the Paranda Fort.
Tuljapur is a major taluka town, about 45 km from Solapur, 25 km from Osmanabad town and 40 km from Hyderabad national Highway at Naldurga.
Tuljapur is best known for its Tulja Bhavani Mandir. It is said that Tulja Bhavani mata had offered sword to Shivaji Maharaj and his son re-built the temple. Omerga is a densely populated taluka in Osmanabad. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai also has a School of Rural Development at Tuljapur.
Kalamb is a major taluka, 55 km from district headquarter Osmanabad. Kalamb city is old city with river Manjara flowing nearby. Major APMC market is main attraction. The taluka is blessed by Yedeshwari Devi, whose temple located at Yermala, 25 km from kalamb.

Demographics

In the 2011 census Osmanabad district had a population of 1,657,576, roughly equal to the nation of Guinea-Bissau or the US state of Idaho. This gave it a ranking of 298th among district of India.
The district had a population density of. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 11.69%. Osmanabad had a sex ratio of 920 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.33%.
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 85.42% of the population in the district spoke Marathi, 8.07% Hindi, 4.25% Urdu, 0.89% Telugu, 0.76% Kannada and 0.40% Bhili as their first language.

Politics

The Shivsena, Congress, NCP, BJP and BSP are the major political parties in Osmanabad district.
Osmanabad's representation in the Indian Parliament is via the Osmanabad constituency which also includes a piece of northern Solapur district and a piece of southern Latur district. Current Member of parliament from Osmananbad loksabha constituency is Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar Osmanabad constituency is formed by six Assembly constituencies i.e. Osmanabad, Omerga, Tuljapur, Paranda Boom, these four from Osmanabad district, Barshi from Solapur District, and Ausa from Latur District.
There are four constituencies for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly : the Paranda constituency, Osmanabad constituency, Tuljapur constituency, and Umarga constituency.

Transport

Railway
A small portion of the Barshi light railway connecting Latur-Barshi-Kurduvadi passed through northern fringe of Osmanabad district until 2007. The rail track was converted to broad gauge and the track alignment was changed southwards to pass near Osmanabad town. The modified track from Latur to Osmanabad opened for traffic in September 2007. The modified rail track from Osmanabad to Kurduvadi junction became operational in October 2008 and connects Osmanabad to Pune and Mumbai by a shorter rail route than via Latur. North India also connected by this new track. Railway service is available for Nagpur to Kolhapur, Miraj to Parli, Pandharpur to Nizamabad, Pune to Hyderabad, Pune to Amarawati, Pune To Nizmabad via Osmanabad station. Tourism and Transport are developed. Osmanabad is well connected with Mumbai, Pune, Latur, Parbhani, Nanded, Amravati, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Miraj, Parli.
Osmanabad station comes under Central Railway zone.
National Highways
Below National Highways passes through the Osmanabad District.

1. NH-52: Sangrur-Hisar-Kota-Indore-Dhule-Aurangabad-Beed-Osmanabad-Tuljapur-Solapur-Vijayapura-Hubballi-Ankola



2. NH-63: Barshi-Yedshi-Dhoki-Murud-Latur-Udgir-Deglur-Nizamabad-Sironcha-Jagdalpur-Kotpad-Borigumma

3. NH-65: Pune-Indapur-Solapur-Omerga-Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Machilipatnam



4. NH-361: Tuljapur-Latur-Ahmedpur-Nanded-Yavatmal-Wardha-Butibori

5. NH-548B: Mantha-Selu-Pathari-Sonpeth-Parali-Ambajogai-Latur-Ausa-Omerga-Yenegur-Murum-Alur-Akkalkot-Nagansur-Vijayapura-Athani-Chikhodi-Sankeshwar-Gotur

6. NH-548C: Satara-Koregaon-Mhaswad-Malshiras-Akluj-Tembhurni-Barshi-Yermala-Kalamb-Kej-Majalgaon-Partur-Mantha-Lonar-Mehkar-Khamgaon-Shegaon-Akot-Anjangaon-Betul

7. NH-652: Tuljapur-Naldurg-Hannur-Akkalkot
Airport
Osmanabad Airport located 10 Kilometres north of Osmanabad, does not have any commercial air traffic. Reliance Airport Developers, who won a bid in 2009 to run the airport on a 95-year lease, plan to use this airport for aviation training.

Tourism

Cultural Places

Dargah

A dargah of Khwaja Shamsoddin Gazi. The interior decoration of the dargah consisting of many colourful glass pieces and it is so mesmerising. The Urs of Khwaja Shamshoddin Gazi festival celebrates in city in the month of Rajjab of Islamic calendar.

Tuljapur

The most famous tourist destination in Osmanabad District is in Tuljapur, which is famous for the Tuljabhavani Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Bhavani. It is considered one of the 51 Shakti Pithas. It is situated 32 km from Osmanabad and was built in c. 12th century CE.

Kanheri

Kanheri was situated in Vashi taluka. There was and. In Kanheri was live.
Historical Places

Naldurg

is another historical place in Osmanabad with an historic Naldurg Fort. The fort contains two man-made waterfalls known as Nar-Madi Dhabdhaba or Waterfalls.

Kunthalgiri

Kunthalgiri tirth consist of 11 Jain temples :
Main temple of Kunthalgiri is Shri Kul Bhushan – Desh Bhushan Mandir known as Bara Mandir here. Shri Kul Bhushan – Desh Bhushan went to Moksha in the period of Lord Munisuvratnath. Idols of Lord Shantinath, Munisuvratnath & Adinath are present here. Main idol of the temple is of Munisuvranatha. Adinatha idol is carved in Ardh Padmasan posture and Parsvanath idol is a white colored and has 11 hoods of cobra.
Shantinath temple built in year 1875 is also present here. Moolnayak of this temple is a 2 feet 3 inch black colder idol of Lord Shantinatha in padmasan posture. Idols of other Tirthankars and Goddess Padmavati & Sarasvati are also here. A 53 feet tall Manstambha was erected in 1944, having 4 idols of Lord Munisuvratnath installed on the top.
Bahubali Temple, Adinath Temple, Ajitnath Temple, Chaitya & Nandishwer Jinalaya, Neminath Temple, Mahaveer Temple, Kanch Mandir and Ratnatraya Temple are also present in Kunthagiri.

Ter

Yedshi Ramling Ghat Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the villages of Yedshi, Wadgaon and Bhanasgaon in Osmanabad Tehsil.

Paranda Fort

city of Osmanabad district contains the medieval Paranda Fort which has large canon and shell stored in the fort or artillery.

Saint Goroba Kaka Temple

Ter town near Osmanabad city having Saint Goroba Kaka Temple. Ter is also an ancient city known as Tagar. 'Lamature Museum' in the town contains many Archaeological artifacts which give proof of ancientness of Ter Town.

Mosque

Kati village in Tuljapur Division has two mosques said to be more than 500 years old. The larger is called Jamia Masjid. The smaller Masjid is older and very small with a mysterious typical architecture.

Shelagoan

Shelagoan is a place where there is a Maruti Temple.

Mankeshwar

is a place where there is a Hemadpanthi Shiv Temple and goddess Satwai Devi temple.
Yedeshwari Temple Yermala
Famous Yedeshwari Devi is on the hilltop of Yermala nearly 25 km from kalamb and 40 km from Osmanabad.

Other

Railway Circuit house in Yedshi was built in the 1870s by the British Government for top railway officers of that era. It is an architectural gem and provides a good view of the forest. The Circuit House is currently under control and administration of Indian Railway and reserved for Railway Class 1 Officers.
The district also offers some worth visiting sites to name a few are: Yesdhi Ramling, Wadgaon Siddheshwar, Jain temple, Trivikram Mandir, Chaity Museum are some worth sites. New excavation is in progress & more than five hundreds things discovered at those sites.