Manmad

MANMAD
MANMAD Location of MANMAD in Maharashtra and India
Coordinates	20°15′N 74°27′E / 20.25°N 74.45°E / 20.25; 74.45
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District(s)	Nashik
Population	72,412 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 580 m (1,903 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 423104 • Telephone • +02591 • Vehicle • MH 15,MH 41

Manmad (Marathi: मनमाड) is a town in Nasik district in the state of Maharashtra state in India. It is the third largest town in Nasik district, with a population of approximately 125,000. Though it is bigger in area as well as in population compared to most of the Tahesils in the district it still does not have a Tahesil office.

Manmad houses offices of Food Corporation of India, largest food storage godowns in Asia,Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil. It also has a Sikh Gurudwara^[1], which is constructed in marble stones. This Gurudwara is known to be of very high religious value for the sikh community. In October 2008 sikh community will be celebrating "Guru Da Gaddi" function and lot of sikh pilgrims are expexcted to visit Manmad to pay respects at the Gurudwara. Shri Guru Gobind Singh (SGGS) English school, run by sikh community in Manmad is known for producing good students & one of the best school of nashik dist.with huge campus & discipline environment. Manmad is also one of the largest markets for onion producing farmers after Lasalgaon. Many of the farmers from nearby villages sell their farm produce in Manmad to wholesale traders, who in turn sell it in Mumbai. The Central Railway Engineering workshop at Manmad ^[2], which constructs and maintains railway bridges for central railways, completed 100 years of operation in December 2005. The Centralized Engineering Workshop is under the direct control of Chief Engineer, Central Railway, Mumbai. This workshop undertakes fabrication of steel structural items including Bridge Girders (longest span build so far is 400 ft or 122m – KRCL) approximately 1160 employees work in the Engineering Workshop.^[3]

Manmad is a major railway junction on central railways.There are four railway lines converging at Manmad, One each from Bhusawal, Daund- Pune, Aurangabad-Hyderabad and the most important one from Mumbai. Manmad is a very crucial junction for all those who want to travel to Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Tirupati, Konkan or Bangalore. It is a town with majority of population dominated by Central Railway Employees . Now Survey has been started to lay the rails from Manmad to Indore and Manmad to Navapur which is on Western Railway Network.

Places to see in & around Manmad:
1. Ankai & Tankai Mountains (अनकाई किल्ला व टनकाई डोंगर)^[4].
2. Ankai Caves (अनकाई गुहा )^[5].
3. Hadbichi Shendi (हडबीची शेंडी))^[6], ^[7].
4. Nageshwar Temple at Nagapur (नागेश्वर मंदिर, नागापुर)is about three miles north-east of Manmad and is a carved Hemadpanti temple thirty-four feet long by twenty-six broad. [Dr. Burgess' List of Archaeological Remains.]^[8].

Ankai and Tankai forts (900 ft tall and situated at a height of 961 m - 3125 ft above sea level) of Satpuda/Chandwad range are situated about 8 km south of Manmad. Can be reached by railway from Ankai station or via road by bus going towards Shirdi or Aurangabad after getting down at Ankai. It has ancient caves, a lake and a temple of Agastya Muni, who has the honour of being the first Aryan to cross the Vindhya Mountains. These were said to be strong forts of that time and command a view of Khandesh and Godavari Valley.

Hadbichi Shendi

While travelling by train from Mumbai/Nasik a very prominent and curious looking projection of the shape of "Thums up" sign is seen about 5km before Manmad. As one approaches Manmad by train ,this thumb like pinnacle of about 150ft is visible from a distance. Walk from the station along "Dattamandir road" and further towards Katarni village will take you to this beautiful place. Its an easy scramble up to the base of the pinnacle. The last parts are exposed and difficult to climb, over rather unsafe rocks. This Shendi has been climbed by a few enthusiasts and it must be an exhilarating climb.

Geography

Manmad is located at 20°15′N 74°27′E / 20.25°N 74.45°E / 20.25; 74.45^[9]. It has an average elevation of 580 metres (1902 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census^[10], Manmad had a population of 72,412. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Manmad has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 69%. In Manmad, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Schools

Chhatre New English School (छत्रे न्यु इंग्लिश स्कुल)

Madhya Railway Madhyamic Vidyalaya (मध्य रेल्वे माध्यमिक विद्यालय)

Shri Guru Gobind Singh English School

Central School (केंद्रिय विद्यालय)[Website: http://www.kvmanmad.net/].

V. N. Naik High School (वसंतराव नाईक हायस्कुल).

Mahatma Gandhi Arts, Commerce and Science College (महात्मा गांधी कला, वाणिज्य व विज्ञान उच्च महाविद्यालय).

ND MVP Junior Collage

St. Xavier High School (संत झेवियर विद्यालय).

K.R.T High School.

H.A.K High School

References