Kurukshetra district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana state in northern India. The town of Kurukshetra, a sacred place for the Hindus, is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district occupies an area of 1530.00 km². The district has a population of 964,655. This district is part of Ambala division. Kurukshetra is also the land of Srimad Bhagawad Gita. Jyotisar is the place in Kurukshetra where Krishna is believed to deliver the sermon of Gita to Arjuna in the Mahabharata.
Origin of name
The district derived its name from the ancient region of Kurukshetra, which literally means the land of the Kurus. It is believed that the Kurukshetra war described in the Mahabharata Puranas and the war was fought here and Shree Krishna preached the Bhagavat Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield before the war.
History
The district was carved out from the erstwhile Karnal district in 1973. Later some parts of this district were transferred to Kaithal and Yamuna Nagar districts at the time of their creation.
Divisions
Kurukshetra district comprises two sub-division: Thanesar and Pehowa. Thanesar sub-division comprises two tehsils, Thanesar and Shahabad and two sub-tehsils, Ladwa and Babain. Pehowa sub-division consists of Pehowa tehsil and Ismailabad sub-tehsil. The significant towns in this district are Kurukushetra, Thanesar and Pehowa. Due to its location at the Punjab border it has a substantial Sikh population also.
International Gita Mahotsav
Kurukshetra is not just the land known as the land of Mahabharta; it is also known for the Philosophy of Life and Karma given to Arjuna by Lord Krishna. For more than 5000 years now, Srimad Bhagawad Gita has emerged as the one scripture which is free from the tags of religions and communities. It is equally reverend all over the world for the message of Selfless Karma which is much relevant in all ages. Kurukshetra has been celebrating Gita Jayanti for decades. For long it was known as Kurukshetra Utsav and in 2016, the Haryana Government decided to give it a global fervor and organised International Gita Mahotsav at Kurukshetra from 1 Decemberto 11 December. The Gita Jayanti was celebrated on 10 December as per the traditional calendar. In 2016, over 01 Million people visited the events. Kurukshetra in again getting ready to host the 2017 International Gita Mahotsav from 17 November 2017. The Gita Jayanti will fall on 30 November.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Kurukshetra district has a population of 964,655, roughly equal to the nation of Fiji or the US state of Montana. This gives it a ranking of 452nd in India. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.81%. Kurukshetra has a sex ratio of 889 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.7%. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 81.94% of the population in the district spoke Hindi and 17.47% Punjabi as their first language.
