Capital : Raipur
Largest city : Raipur
District(s) : 18
Population : 20,795,956 (17th)
Density : 108/km² (280/sq mi)
Language(s) : Chhattisgarhi,Hindi
Governor : Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan
Chief Minister : Raman Singh
Established : 2000-11-01
Chhattisgarh, 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. 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.controversial, many stories.
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, part of the East-Central group of Indo-Aryan languages, is the predominant language in the region. It is often regarded by linguists to be a dialect of Hindi, which is the official language of the state. People in southern Chhattisgarh, Bastar, speak dialects of Dravidian languages.
Geography
Location of Chhatisgarh in IndiaThe 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 range, 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.
Districts
Main article: Districts of Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is divided into 18 districts: Bastar, Bilaspur, Dantewada (South Bastar), Dhamtari, Durg, Janjgir-Champa, Jashpur, Kanker (North Bastar), Kawardha, Korba, Koriya, Mahasamund, Raigarh, Raipur, Rajnandgaon, and Surguja.
In May 2007, 2 new districts have been constituted by the statement government to enable better administration. These new districts are Bijapur and Narayanpur. This makes the total count of districts in Chhattisgarh as 18.
History
Much of this area was part of the Chhattisgarh States, a division of the Eastern States Agency in British India. In 1941 they had a area 37,688 square miles and a population of 4,050,000.[1]. The states were organized in 1936 and merged into either Orissa or Madhya Pradesh in 1948.
Transportation
The rail network in Chattisgarh is centered on Bilaspur, which is zonal headquarters of South East Central Railway of Indian Railways. Other main railway junctions include Raipur, Durg and Champa. These junctions are well connected to all 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 as of now in the state is minor. Raipur, the capital city, is the sole commercially operating airport of the state. However, of late, Raipur has shown huge upsurge in passenger traffic . Raipur has links to top four cities of the country i.e. Delhi (4 Flights a day), Bombay (3 Flights a day), Kolkata (2 Flights a day), and Chennai (1 Flight a day) .It is also connected to Jaipur , Indore , Nagpur , Bhubaneshwar , Ahmedabad , Vizag and Ranchi . The state, however, has airport in Bilaspur and air strips in Bhilai, Jagdalpur, Sarguja, Korba. Its rural connectivity is also improving.
Culture
The people of this region are very fond of colours. The dresses they wear are all colourful. Women too wear sarees with Kardhani. In rural areas, women used to wear mala (garland) made of one rupee coins. Though this has gone out of trend these days.
The people of this region are also known for creating humour out of language. Comical plays are very popular and are worth watching. The people also have a great tendency towards adopting new trends and life styles. Chhattisgarh thus is multicultural for people from all over the world have come and settled in this region.
Chhattisgarhi people are also known for their simplicity, kind hearted ness and adaptability.
On Sundays, markets are arranged in some prominent villages. Chhattisgarh has identified and is developing ethnic villages and private sector is encouraged for proper maintenance and professional site management of important heritage sites/monuments.
The state hosts many religious sects like Satnami, Kabirpanth, Ramnami Samaj, and others which originated as reaction to caste-based Hinduism practised by outsiders coming to the state. Champaran (Chhattisgarh) is a small town that has religious significance as the birth place of the Saint Vallabhacharya.
Chhattisgarh has a very rich Cultural heritage. Chattisgarh has its unique style of dance, cuisine, and music. This has made Chhattisgarh a favorite of anthropologists and sociologists due to its relevant profile.
Crafts
One can see here decorative pieces carved on wood, Bamboo furniture, Clay pieces, idols carved on wood etc.
Dance
Raut Nacha(The folk dance of cowherds), Panthi and Soowa dance styles are very popular in the region.
Music
Music of Chhattisgarh
Pandavani a musical narration of the epic Mahabharata, Teejan Bai, the Pandavani artist was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2003, for her contribution to Pandavani. Ritu Verma is also a well known name .
Chhattisgarh has rich traditional folk songs among which sohar, bihav & Pathoni songs are very 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 departure of bride to bridegroom home.
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