Jind Travel Guide

Jind is yet another district of the state of Haryana that finds a mention in the great Hindu epic of Mahabharata. The story goes that the Pandavas had erected a temple in the honor of the Goddess of Victory, Jainti Devi. They offered prayers in this temple for along time and then declared the war with their cousins, the Kauravas. Later on a city was made here that was called ‘Jaintapuri.’ The present name ‘Jind’ is a corrupted version of this old name. In fact it lies just next to Kurukshetra. This town is also mentioned in some other holy books of Hindus that include the Vamana, the Padma Purans and the Narda.

There are places that stand by this fact. For instance, a village in this district is known as Pindara. It is said that the Pandavas offered ‘pinds’ to their forefathers here. At Ramrai, also known as the Ramahrada, it is believed that the great saint & warrior Parsurama filled five pools with the blood of the Pandavas and propitiated them to his forefathers. It is considered a very holy place amongst the Hindus. Likewise, the Sanet tirtha here is also respected a lot. Till date there is an old temple of Parsuram  in this area.

Spread in area of 3606 square kilometers, it is divided in to Jind, Safidon, Narwana & Julana. It comes under the region of Punjab - Haryana plain. Its topography is flat & monotonous. The area boasts of some rare minerals like saltpeter. It is extracted from villages like Kalayat, Narwana, Uchana, Safidon & Jind. The Julana area yields gypsum. As such the tow has no major forests. There two green belt areas that are created artificially along the railways, roads and the canal strips. These belts are known as the Bithmara Excape and the Bir Bara Ban. Not many animals or birds are found here. Yet, it is worth mentioning here that the national bird of India, the Common Peafowl, that is the peacocks can be seen here regularly at the fields, gardens and the orchards. Also the town is not very rich in the medicinal plants.

This district is just 123 kilometers away from the capital of India, New Delhi and merely 57 kilometers from the town of Rohtak. Also it is well connected by road with the sates & towns of Delhi, Chndigarh, Patiala, etc. This is the key reason why it is now being developed in to an important industrial city of India.

Some other major temples and places of worship in the town are the Hari Kailash, the tanks of Surya Kund, and the Jawala Maleshvara tirath. Depicting the secularism of India, there are also holy places like the shrine of Shah Walayat and a gurudwara. It is said that Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed in this sikh temple on his way to Delhi.

Besides, it is also known for its religious places. In this region there are innumerable temples devoted to Lord Shiva. One among the important ones on the lot is the Bhuteshvara Temple. It was structured by a historic ruler of Jind Raghbir Singh. The temple also has a large tank which is now known as the Rani Talab. You can also stay in its vicinity as the state government has set up a state of the art tourist complex near the place. Next place to visit in the city is the ruins of fort built by Raja Gajpat Singh in 1755.

The infrastructure of the town shows its development in all aspects. The city has the Arjun stadium. Also there is a milk plant that supports the dairy industry. The cattle feed plant helps the animal husbandry. The schools, institutes, colleges, hospitals, etc. are just at par with any other developed town in the national capital region of the country.  

Nagpur: The zero milestone of India

Summary: Nagpur, which is fondly called as the Orange capital of India, is the largest urban conglomeration of India. It is also the headquarter of the Hindu nationalist group, RSS.

Nagpur, which is the largest city of the central India, is one of the prominent districts of Maharashtra. This geographically centred zone, which has the zero milestone of India to its credit covers an area of 9897 square kilometres. This district is situated between 210.07 north latitude and 790.07 east longitude and is situated at an altitude of 312.42 metres above the mean sea level. All the major highways, including NH-7, which runs from Kanyakumari to Varanasi, NH-6, which runs from Mumbai to Calcutta via Sambalpur. This region is spread across the Deccan Plateau. The sub-stratal rock gradation is covered with alluvial deposits, which have occurred from the flood plains of the Kanhan estuary. In the eastern part of the province , crystalline metamorphic rocks are found, which include gneiss, schist, granite etc. The northern part is enriched in yellowish sand stones and clays of the Gondwana formations. This district is dotted with various natural and man made lakes. Ambazari is the largest basin. Futala, Gorewada, Telangkhedi, Sonegaon, Gandhisagar etc. are some of the important inland seas of the district.  

This region has a tropical wet and dry climate. Being situated at the centre of the Indian peninsula, the dry conditions prevail all throughout the year. The district headquarter is the seat of the annual winter session of the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha. The province has a tropical dry climate and the temperature rises upto 48 degrees during summer and drops upto 7 degrees during winter. The humidity prevails from 20% to 70% throughout the year. The surrounding region is an undulating plateau, which is safeguarded by the Satpura Range in its northern frontier and is drained by the Kanhan and Pench rivers in the central part. It is fondled by the Wardha in the western side and by the Wainganga in the eastern profile. The Nag river, which is a tributary of the Kanhan river, flows through the district in a serpentine path and thus, the district has got its name as Nagpur. The district has a overwhelming population of 2,420,000. It is the 13th largest downtown conglomeration of India and is ranked 143rd in the world in terms of population. The city is the headquarter of the Hindu nationalist organisation, RSS and is also a prominent place for the Dalit Buddhist movement. 

The history of Nagpur dates back to 8th century A.D, when the megalithic culture existed in the area. The Mehir burial sites at Drugdhamna indicates the existence of this culture 3000 years ago. The copper plate inscription which has been discovered at Devali, refers about this province in 10th century. The copper plate belonged to the Rastrakuta period, when king Krisna III, used to rule over this place. During 3rd century, this place was ruled by the king, Vindhyasakti. The 4th century witnessed the reign of the Vakataka empire, who had good relations with the Gupta dynasty. However, the most flourishing dynasty, which is believed to be the creator of this princely state was the Gond monarchy. Bakht Buland of this clan had founded this city. The 17th century witnessed the rise of the Maratha empire in this region, when Raghoji Bhonsle of Vidarbha region had conquered this landscape in 1743. The Marathas and the Peshwas had a strong foothold over this place till the advent of the British rule. In 1877, the country's first textile mill was established here by the Tata group.

Nagpur, which is fondly known as the Orange capital of India, is also an ideal place for tourism. Some of the tourist places are Ambazari lake garden, Balaji Mandir at Seminary, Gandhi Baug, Hegdewar Smriti temple, Sri Poddareshwar Ram temple, the Dragon palace, Sevagram, Ramtek etc.