*** Welcome to piglix ***

Davanagere

Davanagere
ದಾವಣಗೆರೆ
Devanagari
Corporation City
Statue of Saraswati at Fine Arts college, Davanagere.
Statue of Saraswati at Fine Arts college, Davanagere.
Davanagere is located in Karnataka
Davanagere
Davanagere
Davanagere is located in India
Davanagere
Davanagere
Davanagere in Karnataka, India
Coordinates: 14°28′00″N 75°55′27″E / 14.4666°N 75.9242°E / 14.4666; 75.9242Coordinates: 14°28′00″N 75°55′27″E / 14.4666°N 75.9242°E / 14.4666; 75.9242
Country  India
State Karnataka
District Davangere District
Government
 • Type City Municipal Corporation
 • Body Davanagere Mahanagara Palike
 • Mayor Smt. Ashwini Prashanth
 • MLA (North Davangere) Shamanur Mallikarjun
 • MLA (South Davangere) Shamanuru Shivashankarappa
 • District Collector D. S. Ramesh, IAS
Area
 • Total 77 km2 (30 sq mi)
Population (2011-12)
 • Total 435,128
 • Rank 6th(Karnataka)
 • Density 5,700/km2 (15,000/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Kannada
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 577001-577006
Telephone code 91 8192
Vehicle registration KA-17
Spoken languages Kannada
Website www.davanagerecity.gov.in

Davanagere (Kannada: ದಾವಣಗೆರೆ), also spelt Davangere, is a city in the heart of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the sixth largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere District. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly known before as the Manchester of Karnataka, the commercial ventures of the city is now dominated by education and agro-processing industries. Davanagere became a separate district in 1997, when it was separated from the erstwhile undivided district of Chitradurga for administration conveniences. Davanagere is known for rich culinary traditions which encompass the diversity of entire Karnataka's dishes due to its geographical position in the state as its epicentre. Notable among them is its aromatic benne dose that is associated with the name of the city.

Davanagere has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modi's ambitious flagship Smart Cities Mission. It even went on to be featured in the list of first 20 cities to be developed under the mission by Urban development ministry, released on 28 January 2016, after being scrutinised stringently for several parameters.

It is believed that the Chalukyas were used to halt at this place to rest after a long horse-ride. A lake ("kere" in Kannada language) was excavated for them to quench their thirst. The place thus came to be known as "Devan giri" (an abbreviation of 'danivina kere' for lake for the exhausted and the thirsty) and eventually "Davanagere". However no lake exists as of today, and no concrete historical and literary evidences exist to prove this theory apart from unconfirmed verbal folklores.

Another popular theory that revolves around, is the name of the city being derived from its previous name of Devanagari, meaning the city of divines.

Davanagere has been a pioneer in municipal administration with the city attaining the status of a municipality as early as 1870. The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1911) says that the receipts and expenditure of the municipality, during the ten years ending 1901, averaged Rs 14,200 and Rs 12,600 respectively. The civic administration of the city was managed by the Davangere City Corporation (Davanagere Mahanagara Palike), before it was established as a municipality on 7 August 1951. It now has the status of a City Corporation, and gained this on 6 January 2007. It is headed by a mayor, assisted by commissioners and council members. The city is divided into 41 wards, and the council members (corporators) are elected by the people of the city.


...
Wikipedia

...