Kondagaon

City in Chhattisgarh, India

Kondagaon
City
Kondagaon city in 2019
Nickname: (1)Craft city (2)Kondanar
19°36′N 81°40′E / 19.6°N 81.67°E / 19.6; 81.67
Country	India
State	Chhattisgarh
District	Kondagaon
Government
• Body	municipality
• Rank	3rd in Bastar division
Elevation	593 m (1,946 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	40,921
Demonym	Bastariya
Languages
• Official	Hindi, Halbi
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	494226 (Kondagaon)^[1]
Vehicle registration	CG-27
Website	http://kondagaon.gov.in/

Kondagaon a municipality about 70 kilometers from Jagdalpur city is the headquarter of Kondagaon district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is the third largest city of Bastar division. Kondagaon separated from Bastar district on 24 January 2012 and formed as 27th district of the Chhattisgarh state. It is mostly renowned for its bell metal craft and other art forms native to the tribal of Bastar. Also known as the Shilp sheher (lit. craft city) of Chhattisgarh owing to the variety of indigenous crafts produced in the area.

MLA- Ms Lata Usendi(BJP)

Collector-Mr Kunal Dudawat^[2]

SP-Sh Sujit Kumar (IPS)

CEO-Nupur Rashi Panna (IAS)

Background

Kondagaon is located at 19°36′N 81°40′E / 19.6°N 81.67°E / 19.6; 81.67.^[3] It has an average elevation of 593 metres (1945 feet).

As of 2011^[update] India census,^[4] Kondagaon had a population of 40,921. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Kondagaon has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 73%, and female literacy is 55%. In Kondagaon, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Kondagaon lies on the NH 30 highway and can be reached from either Raipur or Jagdalpur. Frequent bus services are available to Kondagaon from Raipur and Jagdalpur. The nearest railway station is Jagdalpur. A Helicopter strip was temporarily constructed in the playground adjacent to the government college campus, which is occasionally used in Kondagaon.

The town is known for the foodies, being migrants and settlers from various parts of India including the south and the north. Lala hotel is the oldest hotel in the city operating through post independence era when kondagaon was as much of a small city. Kondagaon is situated on banks of river Narangi.

Industries

Art and Craft

The Bell Metal Craft practiced by most of the craftsmen in the town and the adjacent villages is a form of almost extinct wax sculpting art. Some of the celebrated craftsmen of the bell-metal art forms are late Dr. Jaidev Baghel (a national awardee), Sushil Sakhuja, Sukchand, Suresh Baghmare etc.

The government endow various schemes and policies to promote these art forms and artisans including sponsoring a select few second or third generation artisans for training in the national institute of design, enabling them to keep abreast with the trends and also widening the scope of their art forms.

Timber

Kondagaon is famous for timber mills too, as the division hosts one of the largest forest division in the Indian subcontinent.

Tourism

A couple of hillocks that skirts the eastern outskirts of the town (Kondagaon) have been revamped as a tourist park by the forest department. The park would host relocated common wild animals and fowls of the Bastar region. The major part of the hill is turned into recreational zone.

The Coconut development board located in southern frills of the town is a central government coconut development farm, sprawling across acres of coconut and assorted plantation.

In the Keshkal block of district Kondagaon, more a dozen of waterfalls and few caves have been found out a couple of years ago. Some of the known waterfalls, caves, valleys and archeological sites are:

Waterfalls

Katulkasa Waterfall, Honhed

Bijkudum Waterfall, Uper-murvend
Umradah Waterfall
Ling-Darha Waterfall
Amadarha-1 Waterfall
Amadarha-2 Waterfall
Hankhi-kudum Waterfall

Ghumur Waterfall
Kudarwahi Waterfall

|thumb|Satnam dham hathi pahad]] Uperbedi Waterfall
Mirde Waterfall

Mutte-Khadka Waterfall
Cherbeda Waterfall

Caves

Alor cave
Bijkudum cave
Katthan-gundi cave
Satnam dham hathi pahad

Valleys

Keshkal Valley

Archeological sites

Gobrahin
Garh-dhanora
Amrawati
Manjhingarh

Megalithic sites

Umradah (Here rock paintings have been found)
Hata Pathra (Here rock paintings have been found)
Lingo-Dhara Waterfall (Here rock paintings have been found)

References

^ Kondagaon
^ http://kondagaon.gov.in
^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kondagaon
^ "Census of India 2011: Data from the 2011 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.