Shimoga


Shimoga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city is popularly nicknamed as "Gateway to Malnad". The population of Shivamogga city is 322,650 as per 2011 census.
The city is 569 m above sea level and is surrounded by lush green paddy fields, arecanut and coconut groves. It is located 267 kms from the state capital Bengaluru and 195 kms from the port city Mangalore

History

The name of the city is derived from the term "shivmoga". A version of etymology is due to the story that Lord Shiva drank the Tunga river water using "Mogge", hence the name Shiva-mogga". Another version of etymology is that the name is derived from the term "Sihi-Mogge", meaning "sweet pot".
The district formed the southern tip of the Emperor Ashoka's Mauryan Empire in the third century BC. It was ruled during later centuries by the Kadambas, Chalukyas, Ganges, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas, and the Vijayanagara rulers. The city got an independent identity under the Keladi Nayakas' rule during the 16th century. From the late 17th century, the city had been a part of the Kingdom of Mysore until the independence of India in 1947, when the Mysore state merged into the Republic of India.
During the Satyagraha movement, Mahatma Gandhi also visited the place to instigate the fight for national freedom.
On 1 November 2006, the government of Karnataka announced the renaming of Shimoga to "Shivamogga", along with nine other cities in the state. The central government approved the request in the October 2014 and the city was renamed on 1 November 2014.

Education

Shimoga is one of the important centers for the high school and the pre-university education in Karnataka. Notable institutes in Shimoga for pre-university education include: Sri Aurobindo PU College, PACE PU College, Acharya PU College Independent College.
The village of Gajanur hosts a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya which is a boarding school. Kuvempu University is located in Shankarghatta, at a distance of 20 km from Shimoga.
Government High School is the oldest education institution in Shimoga. It was started by the British in 1853.
Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences is the medical sciences college at Shimoga and managed by Government Departments. Subbaiah Institute of Medical Sciences is located at Purale. Sharavathi Dental College is also located in Shimoga. It also has two engineering colleges, Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering and PES Institute of Technology and Management. Tegginamath Arts Education Society Ayurvedic medical is located in Nidige.

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian Census, Shimoga had a total population of 322,650, of which 162,018 were males and 160,632 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 32,691. The total number of literates in Shimoga was 254,531, which constituted 78.9% of the population with male literacy of 81.4% and female literacy of 76.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Shimoga was 87.8%, of which male literacy rate was 90.8% and female literacy rate was 84.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 40,737 and 9,192 respectively. Shimoga had 76009 households in 2011.
Kannada is the most widely spoken language in Shimoga.

Geography

According to the Shimoga City Municipal Corporation, the city has a total area of about. Most/all these hills are part of the Western Ghats, a region known for plentiful rainfall and lush greenery and declared during 2012 as a World Heritage site. Tunga River flows through Shimoga.

Climate

The climate is tropical wet and dry summer average temperature. This means that the winter and the early part of summer are typically dry periods. The majority of the rainfall occurs between June and early October. Shimoga is a part of a region known as Malnad in Karnataka. Yearly, the rainfall aggregates up to 3295mm of precipitation. January and February are the driest months, July the wettest, and April is the warmest month with an average high temperature of 35.5 degrees Celsius.Coldest months of Shimoga are July, August, November and December with average high temperature of 27 degrees Celsius. In summer, temperature crosses 36 °C at Shimoga.

Civic Administration

Shimoga is governed by a Municipal Corporation called the Shivamogga City Corporation. The total area under the it is 70.01 sq kms, with a population of 3,22,650. Shimoga has been selected under the Smart Cities Mission of the Indian Government under Round 2 of selections. Shimoga was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation from a Municipal Council in 2013. The latest Mayoral elections of Shivamogga City Corporation were held in January 2020 in which BJP leader Suvarna Shankar was elected the Mayor and Surekha Muralidhar was elected as the Deputy Mayor. Since they were elected by elected representatives belonging to their party, we can say that the corporation has direct elections. The Corporation has a Council of 35 elected members. In 2018, Smt. Charulatha Somal took charge as the Municipal Commissioner of Shivamogga City Corporation.

Industries

APMC of Shimoga is main marketing point of arecanut, the major commercial crop grown in the district and well as in neighbouring districts like Uttara Kannada. Shimoga has the biggest areca nut market, and known for procuring high quality areca nuts. Other agricultural produces like rice, chili, coconut etc. are also marketed in APMC.
Shimoga IT Park is an information technology hub built just outside Shimoga near the future Shimoga Airport. The IT Park consists of a 100000 sq ft office building with 24/7 electrical capacity, diesel backup generators, and high speed T1 data connections for use by IT industries such as data centres, call centres, aerospace, robotics, etc.

Transportation

Shimoga is well connected by road to major cities like Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubli. Two major National Highways pass through the City. The city has two railway stations, and there are trains that run to and from Bangalore and Mysuru.
Shimoga Airport is under construction in Sogane, 6 km south of Shimoga. The nearest international airports are Kempegowda International Airport and Mangalore International Airport.

Notable people