Ramtek


Ramtek is a city and municipal council in Nagpur district of the Maharashtra, India.

History

Ramtek has got the historic temple of Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. According to Hindu history the ashram of the Hindu sage Agastya was situated close to Ramtek. While the sages performed religious rites, the demons used to disrupt their activities and slayed holy men. Rama was distressed to hear about this, and took a vow to relieve the world from the demons.
The present temple was built by Raghuji Bhonsale, the Maratha ruler of Nagpur in 18th century after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chindwara.
This place is also related to the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa. It is believed that Kalidasa wrote Meghadūta in the hills of Ramtek. The former Indian Prime Minister Narsimha Rao contested his election from Ramtek Constituency.
Ramtek is the birthplace the second Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar.

Jain Temple

Ramtek is also known for ancient Jain temple with various ancient statues of Jain Tirthankara. The main idol of Shantinatha, the sixteenth Tirthankar has a legend associated with it.
It became more popular when one of the leading Digambar Jain Acharyas, Acharya Vidyasagar visited and stayed with his sangh in Ramtek in 1993, 94, 2008, 2013 and 2017 for the four months of chaturmas during the rainy season. With his inspiration, a big Jain temple has been constructed. Jain disciples report many miracles attributed to the ancient Jain statue and so the place is more popularly called as Atishayakshetra Ramtek ji by them.
The place was ruled by Gond rulers before being captured by the Bhonsale rulers of Nagpur in the eighteenth century.

Education

Ramtek has an engineering college KITS which comes under Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur as also the Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University which provides courses in B.A, B.Ed, M.A, M.Phil and Ph.D degree.
The college Shri Narendra Tidke College of Arts and Commerce is also located in Ramtek. Ramji mahajan Deshmukh Nagar parishad Highschool run by nagar parishad ramtek for highschool education.

Geography

Ramtek is located at. It has an average elevation of 345 metres. It is located at a distance of around 50 km from Nagpur. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses can be used to ply to and from Nagpur.
Khindasi lake is one of the important tourist attractions at Ramtek.

Demographics

India census, Ramtek had a population of 22,517. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Ramtek has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 68%. In Ramtek, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.