Choudwar
| Choudwar | |
|---|---|
| Town & Municipality | |
|
Choudwar from Dolamundai | |
  Choudwar   Choudwar Location in Odisha | |
| Coordinates: 20°30′21.76″N 85°55′0.7″E / 20.5060444°N 85.916861°ECoordinates: 20°30′21.76″N 85°55′0.7″E / 20.5060444°N 85.916861°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Odisha |
| District | Cuttack |
| Languages | Odia, Hindi, English |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 42,597 |
| Time zone | IST (+5.30) |
| Postal code | 754025 |
| Area code(s) | +0671 |
| Vehicle registration | OR/05 |
Choudwar is a city and a municipality in Cuttack district in the state of Odisha, India.
Geography
Choudwar (Odia: ଚୌଦ୍ଵାର) is located on the banks of the rivers Mahanadi and Birupa, on National Highway 05 and 42. To the north of Cuttack - an ancient town and the cultural, economical capital of the state, Choudwar has the unique distinction of being an industrial zone in Odisha state. The principal language spoken here is Odia. The STD Code of Choudwar is 0671, same as that of Cuttack, while the postal pincode is 754025/ 71 / 72.
Choudwar now comes under the Cuttack Commissionerate area and an upcoming developed city in the near future as per the plan of Odisha Govt."Vision 2030".
History
- Choudwar once served as the capital for the Somakuli Keshari Kings of Odisha.
- Eight prominent Siva pithas were established by the Keshari dynasty in the vicinity of Choudwar, which are now in ruins.
- Tradition holds that it was the capital for Virat, the brother-in-law of Kichaka. Additionally, the five Pandava brothers, with their consort Draupadi, took shelter in Choudwar during their secret exile.The capital had a fort which had Four(Chou) Gates(Dwar), so later its name became CHOUDWAR.
- Baidheshwar Temple near Agrahat village is famous for its running stream that is believed to have been dug by Arjuna's archery. The water has a different taste and is being collected by many people in the area for drinking purpose.
- From the year 2003, Archeological Survey Of India(ASI) has started digging the site which is believed to be Virat's Palace and found lots of utensils, Boudhic elements. It is around 54 acres of land in which 10 acres is fenced by ASI and is declared as a Heritage site. The site after digging, in the year 2007, a foundation of an ancient Shiva Temple of 13th century. It is now a tourist place surrounded by a developing garden.
Education
There are several schools which have been educating students according to the guidelines of the government of Odisha:
Affiliated with Board of Secondary Education, Government of Odisha
- Agrahat High school,Agrahat, Choudwar
- Charbatia UGME and High School is an Odia medium School
- Gopabandhu High School is an Odia Medium School.
- Jhoteswar High School, Mundamal (Word No-6)is an Odia Medium School.
- Kalinga public High school is an English Medium School.
- Kalinga Vidyapitha is an Odia Medium School, it was also awarded as Best School of the Block several times
- Municipal Govt High School, Choudwar is an Odia Medium School
- Nigamananda Bidyapitha, named after Swami Nigamananda, is an Odia Medium School.
- Nigamananda Girls high School, Daulatabad, is an Odia Medium School.
- OTM High School is an Odia medium School
- Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir, Gandhi chhak, Choudwar
- Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir, Sarada Nagara, Choudwar
The region also has two regular colleges and one Textile Technology College:
- Choudwar College, in affiliation with Utkal University, gives Bachelor-level courses in science, arts, and commerce. It also provides undergraduate courses in accordance with the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE) in the three domains. It is a co-educational institution.
- Choudwar Women’s College, which currently imparts only +2 level education.
- The Textile Technology Institute awards Diploma in Engineering with the branches of Textile Technology, Mechatronics, Mechanical and Electronics.
- Modern Industrial Training Institute(MITI), Mechanical Trade, Govt. of India, this is in the I.T.T campus.
Economy
Some of the current and former industrial employers in the town are
- Libra Carpets
- Odisha Textile Mills (OTM)
- Aviation Research Centre (ARC)
- Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Limited (IMFA)
- Ballarpur Paper Industries Limited (BILT)
The Libra Carpets organization was functional until early the early 1990s as an EOU (Export-Oriented Unit). Plans are currently underway to revive the organization.
After being functional for more than three decades, Odisha Textile Mills had to shut down its operations owing to mishandling of company funds by the higher management. It was an Odisha state government-owned company. With a work force of over 3000, OTM was effective in providing clothing for much of India and it garnered several awards. Now, though it had been shut down for a decade, some officials still reside in company-provided quarters.
Spread across a wide area towards one end of the town is the ARC, where a part of the central government engages in aviation research and development activities.
With Kalinga tubes winding up its production units at Choudwar in the early 1980s, Dr. Bansidhar Panda, a prominent industrialist, had taken over the equipment to recreate the current ICCL (established in 1983) as a unit of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA). The Industry here is responsible for the production of Charge Chrome. At Choudwar, ICCL has an independent 108 MW coal-based Captive Power Plant unit to meet the power requirements of the two industries. ICCL sprang up as a 100% EOU and has kept with the times in achieving the requisite ISO 9001:2000 certifications. 26 November every year is celebrated as Foundation Day, which is the Birthday of the Founder chairman. ICCL has now been merged with IMFA, and the establishment is now Choudwar Division of IMFA Ltd.
The BILT began functioning in the late 1990s as a unit of Ballarpur Industries Ltd. and this company also shutdown in 2003.
Demographics
As of 2001 India census,[1] Choudwar had a population of 42,597. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Choudwar has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83% and, female literacy is 71%. In Choudwar, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Festivities
The state of Odisha is famous for festivals over the entire year. Some examples are Rath Yatra, Dola purnima, Chadakai, Saraswati puja, Vishwakarma puja apart from Diwali, Dusshera and Laxmi puja.
Choudwar is famous for the Kumar Purnima jatra, a mela where all the idols made during the festivals of dusshera and Laxmi puja gathered and later emerged in the River Birupa. The mela lasts for 3 days. It's one of the promininet occasions in the town.It's also similarities with the famous Cuttack Bali Yatra.
Socio-economic Conditions
A major cross-section of the society is the employees of the organizations. The closure of OTM and Libra carpets in the nineties was very much apparent across the all sections of the society as there was a sudden fall in purchasing capacity of the area. The other segments of society comprise teachers, staff of the local administration (municipality office), and doctors. A very small segment depends on agriculture.
Transportation
- The town, being a part of the NH-5, is well-connected to the rest of the state by road. Buses going between Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur or Anugul move via Choudwar.
- The nearest Major railway station is Cuttack, which is 15 km away from Choudwar town, while the capital city Bhubaneswar railway station is 42 km away.
- The city also have two railway stations connected to its out skirts are Charibatia and Manguli.
- Choudwar is also well connected by the Govt. as well as private buses also.
- The nearest airport is the Biju Patnaik International airport at Bhubaneswar. The Choudwar town is about 55 km from Bhubaneswar airport.
- There is one village called Deulachua, present just beside the High Level Canal. Almost all the people in this village are educationally strong, employed (Govt organizations, central govt orgs, defence etc.). High population in this village are Rout, Routray, Nayak.
- One village as name 'NUNTIKIRI'(ward no-6) is first border village of choudwar municipality, in front of village stand a Lord Hanuman statue and village last beside a maa bhagabati temple.
People of Choudwar are educationally high & strong, employed (Govt organizations, Central govt orgs,PSUs, Defence & Self-employed.)
Politics
Current MLA from Choudwar-Cuttack Assembly Constituency is Mr. Prabhat Biswal of BJD. Previous MLAs from this seat were Dharmananda Behera of BJD, who won the seat in State elections of 2004, Bibhubhusan Praharaj who won this seat in 2000 as an independent candidate, Kanu Charan Lenka who won in 1995 representing INC and representing INC(I) in 1980, Raj Kishore Ram who won in 1990 representing JD and also in 1977 representing JNP, Rasananda Sahu of INC in 1985.[2]
Choudwar is part of Cuttack (Lok Sabha constituency).[3]
References
- ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
- ↑ "State Elections 2004 - Partywise Comparison for 45-Choudwar Constituency of Odisha". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- ↑ "Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies of Odisha" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2008-09-24.