Osmanabad

Osmanabad (Template:Lang-mr) is a city and a municipal council in Osmanabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Geography

The city of Osmanabad is located at 18.17°N 76.05°E / 18.17; 76.05. It has an average elevation of 647 metres (2122 feet).

Osmanabad city is located in the Osmanabad district in the southern part of the state of Maharashtra. Tuljapur, Bhoom, Washi, Kalamb, and Tahsil are nearby towns. Solapur, to the south-west, is the nearest sizable city.

Demographics

Total population of Osmanabad is 1,660,311 as per latest provisional figures released by Directorate of Census Operations in Maharashtra. This shows increase of 11.69 percent in 2011 compared to figures of 2001 census. The initial figures of data shows that male and female were 864,674 and 795,637 respectively. Osmanabad District of Maharashtra comprises an area of 7,569 sq.km. As per census 2011, density of Osmanabad District per square km is 219 compared to 196 per sq.km of 2001.

Sex ratio of girls in Osmanabad district per 1000 boys was recorded 920 i.e. an decrease of 12 points from the figure of 2001 census which puts it at 932.

In 2011 census, data of Osmanabad district regarding child under 0-6 age were also collected. There were total 199,509 children under age of 0-6 against 223,183 of 2001 census. Of total 199,509 male and female were 107,695 and 91,814 respectively. Child Sex Ratio as per census 2011 was 853 compared to 894 of census 2001. Children’s proportion in total population was around 1.48 percent. This figure was around 1.53 percent as per 2001 census.

In education sector, Osmanabad District is having average literacy rate of 76.33 percent. Male literacy and female literacy were 85.31 and 66.67 percent respectively. In all, there were total 1,115,057 literates compared to 872,022 literates of 2001 census. Highlights of 2011 Census

Total population is 1,660,311 compared to 1,486,586 of 2001. Male and female were 864,674 and 795,637 respectively. Population Growth for Osmanabad District recorded in 2011 for the decade has remained 11.69 percent. Same figure for 1991-2001 decade was 16.47 percent. Total Area of Osmanabad District was 7,569 with average density of 219 per sq. km. Osmanabad Population constituted 1.48 percent of total Maharashtra Population. Sex Ratio of Osmanabad District is now 920, while child sex ratio (0-6) is 853 per 1000 boys. Children below 0-6 age were 199,509 which forms 12.02 of total Osmanabad District population. Average Literacy rate for Osmanabad District is 76.33 percent, a change of from past figure of 69.02 percent. In India, literacy rate is counted only for those above 7 years of age. Child between 0-6 ages are exempted from this. Total literates in the Osmanabad District increased to 1,115,057. All the data regarding Osmanabad District Population were released by Directorate of Census Operations in Maharashtra. REF:http://www.census2011.co.in/news/346-osmanabad-census-2011-highlights.html

Osmanabad city has one Government BAMS College, one Government Diploma College, one Private Pharmacy College and an Private Engineering College also. Another engineering college in Osmanabad District is in Tuljapur. Osmanabad has Government Agriculture college (under Marathwada Agriculture University, Parbhani) near Ter. Osmanabad also has a Sub-Center of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, which includes Department of Management Science, Department of Education, Department of Chemistry, etx.

Monuments

Tuljapur town in Osmanabad district is famous for Tulja Bhavani Temple built by Raje Shahaji. Persons from all over Maharashtra visit the temple for worship. Tulja Bhavani College of Engineering is located near the town.

Kati village in Tuljapur Division has two mosques said to be more than 500 years old. The larger is called Jamia Masjid. The smaller Masjid is older and very small with a mysterious typical architecture.

Naldurg is another historical place in Osmanabad with a beautiful historic fort.

Mankeshwar is a place where there is a Hemadpanti Shiv Temple and goddess Satwai Devi temple.

The district also offers some worth visiting sites to name a few are: Saint Goroba Temple, Dharashiv Caves, Ramling (Temple of Lord Shiva), Wadgaon Siddheshwar (Temple of Lord Shiva), Naldurg Fort and Paranda Fort etc.

Osmanabad City also have famous Darga of Hazrat Khwaja Shamsoddin Gazi(RA). interiors of darga is decorated with colourful glass pieces which is the main attraction nowadays.

Dharashiv caves

The dharashiv caves are situated 8 km away from Osmanabad city in Balaghat Mountains. The caves were taken note of by Archaeological Department and mentioned in the book "Archaeological survey of India" by James Verges. There are total 7 caves in the Balaghat Mountain lane. The first cave is without any statue with small open space . The second cave consists of a statue with Artistic work on right side of statue. The art work is of gandharva era. The fourth cave is with open space without any statue inside. The statue in the sixth cave is damaged while the seventh cave has no statue

That this is a ancient place is shown by the caves excavated in the hill at a distance of about eight miles. These caves were originally Buddhist, but were later converted into monuments of the Jain religion and fresh caves were also excavated nearby. Of this we shall speak later.

There are some more Buddhist caves excavated in the hills, about 8 miles from Dharashiva. The earlier of them are referred by Burgess to the middle of the 7th century A. D. Cave No. II is modeled on the plan of the Vakataka caves at Ajanta. It has a central hall measuring 80 feet by 80 feet, with 14 cells for the residence of the Bhiksus and garbhagraha with a colossal image of the Buddha in Padmasana. From the hoods of a serpent spread over its head, it is supposed by some to be the image of the Jaina Tirthankara Paravanatha, but the figures of deer with a dharmacakra between them on the pedestal indicate that it is that of Gautama Buddha. Another cave (No. III) has a hall of 59’ by 59’, closely resembling Cave No I.

Later some Jain caves (No. V and VI) were excavated on the same hill. They are described in the Prakrt work Karakandacariu as excavated by the king Karakanda, who came to know about the earlier caves from the prince Siva of Terapura (Tagara). The Karakandacariu is a work of the 11th century A. D. so these later caves were probably excavated in the 9th or 10th century A. D. during the age of Rastrakutas.

As per the historical survey of caves they were built in 5th century B.C. There is severe differences between historical researchers and archaeological intelligence regarding religion i.e. whether the caves belongs to Buddha or Jain. There is also strong differences regarding the era of when the caves where built. Recently in 1996 with help of World Bank few parts of cave have been repaired.

Transport

Air: Osmanabad Airport is one of the several airports of Maharashtra. It is a domestic airport, and closed to commercial airlines at present. Its airport code is OMN. This airport lies in the city of Osmanabad in Maharashtra.

Location of Osmanabad Airport Geographical location of Osmanabad airport is Longitude: 76° 6’ 0” E and Latitude: 18° 9’ 0” N. Solapur airport, a domestic airport, is the nearest airport at a distance of 61 km. Pune Airport and Mumbai Airport are nearest international options.

Osmanabad Airport lies at a distance of 6.2 km from local bus stand. It takes about 6-7 mins to reach airport by car from the bus stand. National highway 211 connects Osmanbad to other major cities of Maharashtra. Future of Osmanabad Airport Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation recently leased Osmanabad airport to Reliance Airport Developers Ltd for 95 years. Reliance paid Rs. 63 crore for the deal, which includes other four airports of Maharashtra. Deal permits Reliance to maintain airports of Yavatmal, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad and Baramat. This deal will bring good to these airports, which authorities find it difficult to sustain.Nearest airport is at Solapur (70 km). Solapur is linked to Mumbai by air. Pune is another airport nearby. REF:http://ekikrat.in/Osmanabad-Airport

Rail: Osmanabad railway station has connections to Pune, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Miraj-Sangli, Pandharpur, Nagpur, Parbhani, Latur, Nanded, Parali Vaijnath, Hyderabad, and Nizamabad. It is itself serviced by a bus connection from Osmanabad Bus Stand, which is 9 km from it. Osmanabad (station code UMD) is an important railway station situated on Latur - Miraj railway route of central railway. Osmanabad is well connected by railway to Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Miraj, Pandharpur, Latur, Parali Vaijnath, Parbhani, Nanded, Nagpur, Akola, Hyderabad, Nizamabad, and Bidar. [edit]Important trains

Following are important trains running from Osmanabad: Sr. No. Train No. & Name Arrival Departure Week Days 1 51433 Nizamabad-Pandharpur Passenger 01:37 01:42 Daily 2 51426 Miraj-Parali Vaijnath Passenger 01:40 01:43 Daily 3 12527 Mumbai CST-Latur Express 04:35 04:37 Daily 4 01403 Nagpur-Kolhapur Express 06:57 07:00 Wednesday,Sunday 5 17014 Hyderabad-Pune Express 07:50 07:55 Monday,Wednesday,Saturday 6 51434 Pandharpur-Nizamabad Passenger 10:05 10:10 Daily 7 51425 Parali Vaijnath-Miraj Passenger 11:30 11:35 Daily 8 17013 Pune-Hyderabad Express 19:00 19:05 Monday.Wednesday,Saturday 9 01404 Kolhapur-Nagpur Express 19:29 19:34 Monday.Friday 10 12528 Latur-Mumbai CST Express 23:35 23:40 Daily [edit]History

Before year 2004 a narrow gauge track connecting Latur to Kurduvadi was passing through Osmanabad district. Yedshi was nearest Station for Osmanabad which was 18 km away from Osmanabad City. During the gauge conversion from narrow gauge to Broad Gauge the track allignment was changed and directed towards Osmanabad city and Latur-Kurudvadi broadgauge route is passed through Osmanabad. In first step broad gauge track between Latur-Osmanabad was completed and it was become functional in 2007. First train arrived at Osmanabad railway station was Mumbai-Osmanabad Express. That train remain continue for one year via Aurangabad, Manmad. Later on in next year Osmanabad-Kurudvadi track was completed and it became functional in same year that is 2008. Latur-Osmanabad-Mumbai Express was started via Kurduvadi,Pune in 2008. Now a days Osmanabad is well connected by rail to all important cities in Maharashtra and India. REF:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanabad_Railway_Station

Road: National Highway 9 and National Highway 211 pass through the district.

External links

• Osmanabad Online

news from osmanabad:(http://www.osmanabadlive.com/)