Kopargaon

Kopargaon कोपरगाव
Village
Kopargaon Location in Maharashtra, India
Coordinates: 19°53′06″N 74°28′41″E / 19.885°N 74.478°ECoordinates: 19°53′06″N 74°28′41″E / 19.885°N 74.478°E
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Ahmadnagar
Elevation	493 m (1,617 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	250,000
Languages
• Official	Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Kopargaon is a town and municipality located in the Ahmednagar district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kopargaon is located about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from the holy town of Shirdi. Kopargaon Itself is also a holy place. The only temple of Daityaguru Shukracharya (Demons Guru) is located at Kopargaon. During that time a vidya called Sanjivani Viday was performed here to make alive to dead person. The main feature of this temple is any of the pooja, vidhi, marriage, narayan-nag bali poojan, kal-sarpa poojan can be performed here without any muhurta, and with best effects as said in Hindu holy books. Datta Par located at the banks of river Godavari is mentioned in Guru Charitra of Sai Baba, the temple of Datta Guru was established with the hands of Sri Sai Baba himself in year around 1910-1915.

Geography

Kopargaon is situated at 19°53′N 74°29′E / 19.88°N 74.48°E. It has an average elevation of 493 meters (1,617 feet) and lies on the banks of the Godavari River.

Demographics

In the India census of 2011,^[1] Kopargaon was recorded to have a population of 250,000. The town of Kopargaon had a population of 63,000. The population is represented as 51% male, 49% female. Thirteen percent of the population is under 6 years of age. Kopargaon has a literacy rate of 69%. Male literacy is 76%, female literacy is 62%. This compares favorably with the India national literacy of 59.5%.

Kopargaon is regarded as a holy place by many, as it is located on the banks of the river Godavari. Saints who have considered the place holy include Janardhan Maharaj and Jungli Maharaj. The famous temple of Sai Baba at Shirdi is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from the town. There are two more famous temples of Sai Baba in Kopargaon itself, one of which is known as Saidham. & another is Sai-Tapobhumi. Also,The famous temple Shani Shingnapur, which is only 86 km (53 mi) from Kopargaon.

It is located 40 km (25 mi) from Manmad railway junction. There are regular share autos and private taxis available at the railway station in Kopargaon.

Politics

Kopargaon is part of the Vidhan Sabha constituency in Maharashtra. In the October 2014, state assembly elections, Mrs. Snehlatatai Bipinrao Kolhe emerged victorious against Ashutosh Ashokrao Kale. Kopargaon has the courts of CJJD, CJSD, & ADJ. During the recent Graduate Constituency Election, Kopargaon City & Taluka gave an historic lead to the Indian National Congress (INC) candidate Dr. Sudhir Tambe. Previously, during graduate constituency elections, the percentage of votes cast from Kopargaon City was 20 to 25%; but, during this election, a record 52% of votes were cast.

Economy

There are three sugar factories near Kopargaon. In addition to this, there is an industrial estate having 52 small-scale industries and dairies.

The economy of the Tehsil is largely agricultural. Abundance of water due to efficient irrigation systems encouraged the farmers to grow sugarcane. Sugarcane is the major cash crop of the region. The sugar industries in Kopargaon are Sanjivani (Takali) Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana and the Kopargaon Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana. Kopargaon has actively promoted agriculture with modern technologies made available to farmers. Due to increased competition, a shortage of water resources in the area, and politics, the agriculture-based economy has been on a steep downward trend. A few decades ago, sunflowers were also one of the major crops of the region; however, again due to a shortage of water resources, this crop has disappeared from the region. The other cash crops in this region are wheat and soybean.

Towns around Kopargaon, including Yeola, Sangamner, Sinnar and Vaijapur have flourished due to the political stability in their regions and due to political instability of Kopergaon Tehsil, the area has never developed and people here are largely divided into two groups, which has greatly caused downfall of the town, which was once recognised by Mr Jawaharlal Nehru as the Sugar bowl of the country.Major banks are Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, HDFC, AXIS, ICICI, Bank of Hydrabad, Union Bank of India, United Bank of India, Vijaya Bank, and Idbi Bank. There are many local co-operative banks known as Kopargaon People's BCo-operative Bank, Devyani Co-op Bank, Gautam Co-op Bank & Nagar Urban Co-op Bank Ltd. As well as some large patsanstha's are there like Sanjivani patsanstha, Samata patsanstha, Shubham patsanstha, Autoriksha patsanstha, Jyoti patsanstha, Pohegaon patsanstha and many more. Some important offices includes LIC, National insurance, Oriental insurance, Max New York Life, Icici Prudential, Bajaj allianz, and Maitreyas.

There are many service centers like Samsung mobiles, Lava, Karbonn, intex, lg. Kopargaon has various showrooms like Hero, Honda, Bajaj, Tvs, Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Peter England, Cambridge, Cotton county, Chilliza pizza parlour, Yepee foods, Top n town ice cream, Vadilal, Gokul, Bharkadevi ice cream, Veenas world, and LG.

There are lots of large kirana shops, clothing shops, children, mens and girls readymade shops, medical stores, jewelry shops, dryfruits and masala shops, sweet marts, speciality tea shops, watch shops, utensils shops, toy shops, mobiles and electronic shops, hardware and ceramic shops, music and sports shops, cosmetics and cutlery shops, general shops, hospitals, hotels, movie theaters, international and other schools and colleges, gyms and parlours, builders, realtors and constructors, all kind of classes like educational, karate, drawings, music, skating, yoga, swimming, horse ridding, and motor driving. All businesses help improve the local economy. Because of these, the area is now developing and gaining importance. However, due to anti- business policies of the MLA's in kopargaon since long has brought a disrepute to this town.

Educational institutions

The Sanjivani College of Engineering is one of the most important education centres of the town. One of the oldest and most famous colleges under the University of Pune, it is graded 'A' by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and operates under ISO 9001 standards. Other older and well known colleges under the University of Pune include K.B. Rohmare Junior College, K.J. Somiya College, graded 'A' by the UGC last year 2011, and S.S.G.M Science, Gautam Arts and Sanjivani Commerce College, Kopargaon. As far as basic education is concerned, S.G.Vidyalaya and K.B.P. Vidyalaya, both of which are Marathi Medium Schools, are reputed for primary education. Kopargaon also has a girls-only school – Dr. C.M. Mehta Kanya Vidya Mandir – and several English schools.Seva Niketan Convent school is one of the oldest and only Convent school in Kopargaon.:

1. RainBow International School, Kopergaon (CBSE Affiliated School)
2. Shri Sharda English Medium School (Somaiya Vidya Vihar's)
3. Sant Janardhan Swami (Moungiri) Maharaj, Maharshi Vidya Mandir (CBSE Affiliated School);
4. Sanjivani English Medium School;
5. Saibaba International School Kolpewadi;
6. Saibaba Nursing[anm] School Kolpewadi;
7. Shree Swami Samarth Nursing[gnm] Kolpewadi(founder Dr. Prakash Kolpe).
8. Sanjivani College Of Engineering, Kopargaon
9. Sanjivani College of Pharmaceutical & Research, Kopargaon
10. Sanjivani Academy School, Kopargaon
11. K.B.P. Polytechnic, Kopargaon
12. Samata School, Kopargaon

There is also an Urdu medium high school, named Maulana Muneer Ahmed Urdu High School, which is run by a local body, Madrasa Miftahul Uloom. The only Urdu high school in the town was started in 1983 by Maulana Muner Ahmed and various team-mates.

Public library

There are 152 public libraries in Kopargaon Taluka as of March 2014. Sarvajanik Vachnalaya (public library) is situated in the heart of the town and is the oldest library of the town.

Transport

In Ahmednager district, Kopargaon railway station probably handles maximum number of passengers due to shirdi. Almost all trains have halt here which doesn't even halt at district place. Kopargaon left Belapur far behind in terms of rail services though the population of Kopargaon is slightly lower that Belapur (Shrirampur). One can get train to any part of country from Kopargaon station.

References

1. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

• Kopargaon is also known as Daityabhumi (rakshas bhumi) devils