Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh
Location of Chhattisgarh in India
Country	India
District(s)	18
Established	2000-11-01
Capital	Raipur
Largest city	Raipur
Governor	Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan
Chief Minister	Raman Singh
Legislature (seats)	Unicameral (90)
Population • Density	20,795,956 (17th) • 108 /km2 (280 /sq mi)
Language(s)	Hindi,Chhattisgarhi, Telugu
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area	135,194 km2 (52,199 sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	IN-CT
Website	www.chhattisgarh.nic.in
Seal of Chhattisgarh

Coordinates: 21°16′N 81°36′E / 21.27°N 81.60°E / 21.27; 81.60

Chhattisgarh (Chhattisgarhi/Hindi: छत्तीसगढ़, pronounced [tʃʰəˈtːiːsɡəɽʱ]  ( listen)), a state in central India, formed when the sixteen Chhattisgarhi-speaking southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on November 1, 2000. Raipur serves as its capital. It is the 10th largest state of India by area of 52,199 sq mi (135,194 km²). Chhattisgarh takes its name from 36 (Chattis is thirty-six in Hindi and Garh is Fort) princely states in this region from very old times, though the listing of these 36 forts has always remained a point of dispute.^[who?]

It borders Madhya Pradesh on the northwest, Maharashtra on the west, Andhra Pradesh on the south, Orissa on the east, Jharkhand on the northeast and Uttar Pradesh on the north.

The Chhattisgarhi language, a dialect of eastern Hindi, is a predominant language in the state, recognized along with Hindi as the official language of the state. In addition, many tribal and some Dravidian influenced dialects or languages are spoken in various parts of Chhattisgarh.

Geography

Location of Chhatisgarh in India, and also districts of Chhattisgarh

it is situated in centrel eastern part of the countre. The north and south parts of the state are hilly, while the central part is a fertile plain. Forests cover roughly forty-four percent of the state.

The northern part of the state lies on the edge of the great Indo-Gangetic plain: The Rihand River, a tributary of the Ganges, drains this area. The eastern end of the Satpura Range and the western edge of the Chota Nagpur Plateau form an east-west belt of hills that divide the Mahanadi River basin from the Indo-Gangetic plain.

The central part of the state lies in the fertile upper basin of the Mahanadi and its tributaries, with extensive rice cultivation. The upper Mahanadi basin is separated from the upper Narmada basin to the west by the Maikal Hills, (part of the Satpuras), and from the plains of Orissa to the east by ranges of hills.

The southern part of the state lies on the Deccan plateau, in the watershed of the Godavari River and its tributary the Indravati River.

The Mahanadi is the chief river of the state. Other main rivers are Hasdo (a tributary of Mahanadi), Rihand, Indravati, Jonk and Arpa.It is situated in the east of Madhya Pradesh. Maoist insurgency has been main source of instability, recently they ambushed to kill 40 policemen.

Economy

Chhattisgarh is primarily a rural state with only 20% of population residing in urban areas.

Chhattisgarh's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at 12 billion USD in current prices. After partition, this mineral-rich state produces 30% of the output of the old Madhya Pradesh state. The state has immense potential to graduate into the league of advanced states provided it gets a far sighted political leadership and adequate planning especially in the area of higher studies as well as technical education.

The state's economy is further fuelled by the presence of the Bhilai Steel Plant, S.E.C.Railway Zone, BALCO Aluminium Plant (Korba), and NTPC(National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd) at Korba and Sipat (Bilaspur) and S.E.C.L. (South Eastern Coalfields Limited). Korba & Bilaspur are the power hubs of the state, from where the electricity is supplied to several other Indian states. Chhattisgarh's southern area contains iron ore which NMDC is mining to meet iron demand in India as well as export. NMDC is located in Dantewara district. Recently ESSAR has started transporting iron ore through pipe lines to Vizag.

The state is also launching an ambitious plan to become biofuel self-sufficient by 2015 by planting crops of jatropha.^[2]

Education

In 1948 the first Government Science college was established as an intermediate college. In 1956, it was upgraded to the Post-graduate Science College status. In the same year Government Engineering College - Raipur was established which was later upgraded and renamed as National Institute of Technology, Raipur. Another college that was founded then was the Sanskrit College. Area in Raipur that belonged the University of Saugor till early sixties was given to the Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University when it was established by Mr. Babu Ram Saxena, a linguist, and the first vice chancellor of the university.Govt. V.Y.T.P.G.Autonomous College, Durg is the only college in Chhattisgarh which is declared by UGC, New Delhi as 'College with Potential for Excellence' in 2006.

Government High School, St Paul's High School, Madhav rao Sapre High schools were the leading schools till the sixties. Medical College, ranked 4th in Madhya Pradesh, came into being in 1962-63. Earlier, in 1956, the Ayurvedic School which was till then awarding diploma and licenses for Ayurvedic Practice, was upgraded to the status of a full college.

Educational institutions set-up by the state government are the prevalent education providers in the state from elementary schools to degree colleges. In these institutions and schools (other than engineering and medical colleges), the dominant medium of education is Hindi.

In Chhattisgarh, there are seven government recognized universities:

• Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur
• Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur
• Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur
• Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur
• Indira Kala Sangeet University, Khairagarh
• National Institute of Technology, Raipur
• Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai

The renowned engineering colleges in the state are:

• National Institute of Technology, Raipur
• Bhilai Institute of Technology , Durg

Most of the colleges in the state are affiliated to one of these universities mentioned above. in chhattisgarh having only one veterinary college situated at anjora district durg affilated with indira gandhi agriculture university raipur

In the year 2006, Government Engineering College was declared National Institute of Technology (also known as NIT). It is the first of its kind in the state. The Union Cabinet on 28 August 2009 approved a proposal to set up an Indian Institutes of Management at Raipur.^[3]

Transportation

The rail network in Chattisgarh is centered on Katni in Madhya Pradesh and Bilaspur, which is zonal headquarters of South East Central Railway of Indian Railways. Other main railway junction include the capital Raipur only.These two junctions are well connected to the major cities of India.

The roadways infrastructure is also slowly picking up in the state. The National Highway 6 (Bombay to Kolkata) passes through the state. The state also hosts National Highway 43 which starts from Raipur and goes up to Vishakhapatnam. National Highway 16 from Hyderabad ends at Bhopalpatnam in Dantewada district. The state has 11 National Highways (2,225 kilometres).

The air infrastructure is minor. Raipur, the village capital city, is the sole commercially operating airport of the state. However, of late, Raipur has shown low upsurge in passenger traffic. Raipur has links to top cities of the country i.e. Delhi (2 Flights a day), Bombay (1 Flight a day), Bhopal (4 Flights a day),Indore (3 Flights a day), and Chennai (1 Flight a day). It is also connected to Jaipur (1 Flight a day), Nagpur (2 Flights a day), Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad (2 Flights a day), Gwalior, Vizag and Hyderabad (2 Flights a day). The state, however, has airport in its capital Raipur only.

Airports in Chhattisgarh

• Raipur Airport
• Bilaspur Airport
• Jagdalpur Airport

Other Airstrips in Chhattisgarh

• Nandini Airport, Bhilai
• Baikunth Airstrip, Baikunth
• Kondatarai Airstrip, Raigarh
• JSPL’s Airstrip, Raigarh
• Darima Airstrip, Ambikapur
• Korba Airstrip, Korba
• Agdih Airstrip, Jashpur
• Dondi Airstrip, Dondi, Durg

Some New airstrips are proposed for more connectivity.

• Kanker
• Kabirdham
• Dantewada
• Bijapur
• Korba
• Balrampur
• Rajnandgaon
• Raigarh

Culture

A village cart usually pulled by a pair of water-buffalos and used for rural transport, from central Chhattisgarh

A carving in 10th or 11th century Hindu temple of Malhar village. This area, 40 km from Bilaspur, was supposedly a major Buddhist center in ancient times.

The state hosts religious sects including Satnami Panth, Kabirpanth, Ramnami Samaj, and others. Champaran (Chhattisgarh) is a small town with religious significance as the birth place of the Saint Vallabhacharya, increasingly important as a pilgrimage site for the Gujarati community.

The Oriya culture is prominent in the eastern parts of Chhattisgarh.

Crafts

Chattisgarh is known for Kosa silk. Besides saris and salwar suits, the fabric is used to create lehengas, stoles, shawls and menswear including jackets, shirts, achkans and sherwanis.

Dance

Panthi, Raut Nacha "Karma" and Soowa dance styles are popular in the region.

Raut Nacha, the folk dance of cowherds, is a traditional folk dance of yadavs/yaduvanshis as symbol of worship to Krishna at the time of 'dev udhni ekadashi' (the awakening of the gods after a brief rest) according to the Hindu calendar. The dance closely resembles Krishna's dance with the gopis (milkmaids).

Panthi, the folk dance of the Satnami community has religious overtones. Panthi is performed on Maghi Purnima, the anniversary of the birth of Guru Ghasidas. The dancers dance around a jaitkhamb set up for the occasion, to songs eulogizing their spiritual head. The songs reflect a view of Nirvana, conveying the spirit of their guru's renunciation and the teachings of saint poets like Kabir, Ramdas and Dadu. Dancers with bent torsos and swinging arms dance, carried away by their devotion. As the rhythm quickens, they perform acrobatics and form human pyramids.

Music

Chhattisgarh has rich traditional folk songs among which sohar, bihav & Pathoni songs are famous.

Sohar songs are related to child birth. Bihav songs are related to marriage celebration. The main parts of Bihav songs are Chulmati, Telmati, Maymouri, Nahdouri, Parghani, Bhadoni and other songs related to Bhanver, Vidai songs.

Pathoni songs are related to Gouna that is, the departure of a bride to the bridegroom's home.

Pandavani is a well-known ballad musical narrative, essentially based on the stories in the epic Mahabharata, but with Bhima as hero. Teejan Bai is the internationally acclaimed Pandavani artist, who was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2003 for her contribution to Pandavani. Ritu Verma is also well known ^[4].

There is a growing presence of Chhattisgarhi music and other cultural material on the web ^[5]. The song 'Sasural Genda Phool' in the Hindi film Delhi-6 is based on a folk song from Chhattisgarh.

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (August 2009)

Runner-up in the first Indian Idol, Amit Sana, is from Bhilai, a city in Chhattisgarh state. He was the runner-up in the first Indian Idol, a singing competition held in India. Now, he lives in Mumbai.

Amir Hashmi is also from Chhattisgarh state. He is a most famous pop singer in Chhattisgarh & other states. He have a band LIVE'A'LIVE which has performed in many states and cities. He is also a great singer of Quwwali. The style of singing of Amir Hahsmi is very notable to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Theater

Theater is known as Gammat in Chhattisgarh. Pandavani is one of the lyrical forms of this theater. Several acclaimed plays of Habib Tanvir, such as Charandas Chor, are variations of Chhattisgarhi theater, and heavily use Chhatttisgarhi folk songs and music.

Religion

Several saints have their origin in Chattisgarh, including Parsurama Ramnami and Vallabha Acharya. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a noted Hindu leader and founder of the Transcendental Meditation was from Raipur.

Status of women

In many ways, the women of Chhattisgarh enjoy a unique position within India. The proportion of women in the population is second highest among states in India. Further, the female-male ratio is in favor of women in rural population. This State is 10th largest state in India, much larger than Tamil Nadu; so this feature - though accords well with that of many smaller areas within other States - is unique to Chhattisgarh. The village society is little affected by classical doctrines of Hinduism^{[citation needed]}; probably because more than 95% of residents of Chhattisgarh are either not part of Hindu society or are included as low caste within Hindu caste hierarchy because of their industry related job occupations. Probably, such social composition also results in some customs and cultural practices that seem unique to Chhattisgarh: the regional variants are common in India's diverse cultural pattern. Rural women here are though poor but are more independent, hardy, better organized and socially more vociferous and command more power^{[citation needed]} just like women in North-East India: so much so that they can choose and even terminate a marriage at will^{[citation needed]}. Most of the old temples/shrines here are related to 'women power' (e.g., Shabari, Mahamaya, Danteshwari) and existence of these temples gives insight into historical and current social fabric of this state.

Both women and men here generally marry at a young age; just like marriages that happen or used to happen at young age in most parts of India and world in their not urbanized society. Women aged between 20 to 49 years were found (in one particular study) to have married at median age of 15.4 years; and 34% of girls aged between 15 to 19 years are already married (according to Government)^{[citation needed]}.

There is widespread social belief in witchcraft in Chhattisgarh; which is similar to such belief in other parts of the world; see in particular Witch trials in Early Modern Europe . Women are supposed to have access to supernatural forces, and accused of witchcraft and called 'Tonhi' often to settle personal scores. They are barbarically persecuted.

Today, with increasing contact with mainstream India, many of the cultural concomitants of female subservience common to mainstream India have started creeping in Chhattisgarh. The gender ratio (number females per 1000 males) has been steadily declining over the century in Chhattisgarh: 1046 in year 1901, 1032 in 1941, 996 in 1981 and 990 in 2001; but is better than the ratio for India: 972 in 1901, 945 in 1941, 934 in 1981 and 933 in 2001. Detailed information on various aspects of women status in Chhattisgarh can be found in the linked 103 page report titled 'A situational analysis of women and girls in Chhattisgarh' prepared in year 2004 by 'National Commission of Women', a statutory body belonging to government of India.

Language

Official language of the state is Hindi and used by almost entire population of the state. Chhattisgarhi a dialect of Hindi language (or a language in its own right) is spoken and understood by the majority of people in Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarhi was also known as Khaltahi to surrounding Hill-people and as Laria to Oriya speakers. In Koria, Surguja and Jashpur, it appears as Surgujia sub-dialect. Including Chhattisgarhi, a total of 93 dialects or languages are spoken in the state which together represent all three of India's major language families except Tibeto-Burman: Munda (Austro-Asiatic languages), Dravidian and Indo-European. All these dialects use the devanagari script of Hindi irrespective of the language group to which they belong. Chhattisgarhi is mainly an IndoEuropean dialect/language with heavy presence of vocabulary and linguistic features from Munda and Dravidian languages.

Classification

Dr. Hira Lal Shukla, an Indologist, has classified the dialects of Chhattisgarh as below within Munda, Dravidian and IndoEuropean language families:

Munda

                           0)Pre-Munda
                                 |
         1)Pre-Munda (Southern)        2)Pre-Munda (Northern)
                 |                           |
      1)Gadba    2)Kharia     1)Korku 2)Mawasi 3)Nihali 4)Pre-Kherwar
                                                                 |
                                                   1)Korba         2)Bidaho
                                                       |
                              1)Nagesia 2)Sounta or Toori 3)Majhi 4)Majhwar 5)Kherwari

Dravidian

                                               0)Pre-Dravid
                                                      |
           1)South-Central                       2)Central                    3)Northern
                |                                    |                              |
1)Dormi  2)Dandami-Maria  3)Bhuria  4)Abujh-Maria   1)Parji or Dhurbi       1)Kurukh or Oraon
                                                  
                                            

Indo-European

                              0)Indo-European
                                     |
                              0)Pre-Aryan
                                     |
               1)Half-Magadhi    2)Magadhi      3)Pijani
                     |                |               |
              1)Eastern Hindi    1)Oriya  1)Halbi  2)Sadri
                     |                 |
             1)Chhattisgarhi     1)Bhatri

Language Extinction Issue

Since Sanskritized Khari Boli or Hindi is the language of India (and Chhattisgarh) for official use like recruitment, education and there is lack of local people (at least from all ethno-language groups) in the state/local administration; there is ongoing change in the linguistic profile of the state accelerated with more interaction with outside world and desire to get developed.

In northern Chhattisgarh, dialects from all these three language groups are in use today; in middle part of Chhattisgarh, only Indo-European dialects have survived; and in southern Chhattisgarh, Dravidian and Indo-European dialects are in use.

According to H.L. Shukla: Munda dialects are progressing to the stage of becoming extinct; among Dravidian dialects, Parji is also facing extinction problem, Kurukh (Oraon) and Gondi are struggling; and IndoEuropean dialects are in the process of losing their features differentiating them from official Hindi, Khari Boli.

Munda Language Family

According to 1971 census of India, Korku was the major Munda dialect spoken by more than 200,000 people (It is not clear whether this count is for whole India or is specific to Chhattisgarh). Korku, Kharia and Korba are major Munda dialects in use in Chhattisgarh.

Other than these three, Muasi, Toori (in Raigarh), Nihali-Mankari, Khaerwari, Birhord, Kodaku (Sarguja), Dhelki, Mahto, Kora-Majhi, Munda, Mundari and Santhali are other Munda dialects spoken in Chhattisgarh which are either sub-dialects of above stated three dialects or are different but in the stage of extinction.

The only known speaker of Gadba, a Munda dialect spoken in Bastar district, died at the age of 80 some years back, as noted by H.L.Shukla.

Dravidian Language Family

According to 1971 census of India, Kurukh or Oraon was mother-tongue of 300,609 people in Chhattisgarh and there were around 30,000 speakers of Parja or Dhurbi.

Gondi is the Dravidian language spoken by Gond tribals who call themselves Koitor or Koitol and therefor H.L. Shukla has called their language Koitor. H. L. Shukla identifies dialects such as Dormi, Dandami-Maria, Bhuria, Abujh-Maria, Koya, Ghotul-muriya and others under this language. According to 1961 census of India, there were 3,900,000 Koitor or Gond tribals in India. Two thirds of these Gond/Koitor tribals were distributed over Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh according to 1971 census. As of now, almost more than half of these tribals use the dialects in use in their respective areas (other than Koitor). (Mr. H.L.Shukla found that Near Bhopal (capital of Madhyapradesh) which was once the stronghold of Koitor people, one cannot hear Koitor dialect in the circumference of 100 km).

Indo-European Languages

Among 93 dialects spoken in Chhattisgarh, 70 are classified as belonging to the Indo-European language family. Under Chhattisgarhi group, the dialects spoken by Agariya, Binjhwari, Baigani, Bhuliya, Lariya, Dhanwar, Panka, Dindwar and many other tribals are included.

Sadri is the dialect understood by many of the different tribal groups. Sadri is the name given to the Indo-European dialect that is used by tribal people, when they do not use their own dialect, to communicate with other people. Sadri is in use from Chhattisgarh and Orissa to West-Bengal. Similarly, Halbi is understood by many of the different tribal groups in southern Chhattisgarh (earlier there were many different opinions about the language family of Halbi, but now it is usually accepted as an Indo-European dialect) - in 1951 census, it was found that more than 99% of Halbi speakers can speak at least two dialects. Other major languages spoken in Chhattisgarh are Hindi, Oriya and Marathi.

Notes

References

• Books on Chhattisgarh
  • Ramesh Dewangan & Sunil Tuteja, "Chhattisgarh Samagra"
  • C.K. Chandrakar, "Chhattisgarhi Shabadkosh" ....
  • C.K. Chandrakar, "Manak Chhattisgarhi Vyakaran"
  • C.K. Chandrakar, "Chhattisgarhi Muhawara Kosh"
  • Lawrence Babb, "The Divine Hierarchy: Popular Hinduism in Central India"
  • Saurabh Dube, "Untouchable Pasts: Religion, Identity and Power among a Central Indian Community, 1780-1950" (on the Satnamis)
  • Ramdas Lamb, "Rapt in the Name: Ramnamis, Ramnam and Untouchable Religion in Central India"
  • Chad Bauman, "Identifying the Satnam: Hindu Satnamis, Indian Christians, and Dalit Religion in Colonial Chhattisgarh, India (1868-1947) (Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2005)
• Books by Indologist Prof H. L. Shukla :
  • "Chhattisgarh Rediscoverd" on oral history of the state, and
  • "History of the People of Bastar"
• Folktales of Chhattisgarh
• "Tribal History of Central India" by R.K. Sharma and S.K. Tiwari, Other link
  • [1]

External links

• Videos of Raipur in all Categories
• Chhattisgarh Post
• Complete details of Chhattisgarh and Raipur
• Chhattisgarh an information portal
• People's Website of Chhattisgarh
• Tourism Website of Chhattisgarh
• Chhattisgarh News Video
• Chhattisgarh travel guide from Wikitravel

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