Dewas

Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pawar clan of the Marathas. The city is the administrative capital of Dewas district. Dewas is an industrialised city and houses a government bank note press.

Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The municipality was formerly the seat of two 15-Gun Salute state princely states during the British Raj, Dewas Junior state and Dewas Senior state, ruled by the Pawar clan of the Marathas. The city is the administrative capital of Dewas district. Dewas is an industrialised city and houses a government bank note press.

Etymology

(Hill). The name Dewas is derived from the Devi Vashini hill in the city, commonly known as Tekri. The hill has a temple of the deities Devi Tulja Bhawani, Chamunda Mata and Kalika Mata. The word Dewas is believed to be a sandhi of the words Dev (deity) and Vas (abode in Marathi), so Dewas means abode of the gods. Swami Shivom Tirtha wrote the history of the hill (Tekri ) of Dewas in his book, Sadhan Shikhar. Inspired by the area, E.M. Forster wrote The Hill of Devi in 1953. The district takes its name from its headquarters town, Dewas, which is said to be derived from the legend that Dewas rests at the foot of a conical hill known as Chamunda hill, on whose summit is the shrine of Goddess Chamunda. The image of the goddess is cut into the wall of a cave, known as Devi Vashini or the goddess's residence. From this, the name Dewas (dev-vas) seems to have been derived.

Geography

Dewas lies northeast of Indore, southeast of Ujjain, and southwest of Shajapur. The city is located on the level plains of the Malwa plateau; to the south, the land rises gently to the Vindhya Range, which is the source of the Chambal and Kali Sindh rivers that flow north through the district on their way to the Ganges. The main river in Dewas is Kshipra.

Demographics

As of the census, Dewas had a total population of , of which were males and were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was . The total number of literates in Dewas was , which constituted 74.3% of the population with male literacy of 79.9% and female literacy of 68.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Dewas was 84.6%, of which male literacy rate was 91.1% and female literacy rate was 77.7%. The Scheduled Castes population was , while the Scheduled Tribes population was . Dewas had households in 2011.

Administration

. This was illegally demolished by the local administration in March 2023, despite an ongoing case and strong opposition by the citizens of Dewas.) The Member of Parliament from Dewas is Mahendra Singh Solanki of BJP who was elected in the Lok Sabha Election 2019. As of the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, the member of the Legislative Assembly for Dewas is Gayatri Raje Pawar.

Media

In terms of print media, Satyakaar, a daily evening newspaper, is published from Dewas. Along with this, newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar, Naidunia, and Patrika published from Indore are also circulated here.

Transportation

Rail

Dewas Junction (station code: DWX) is the main railway junction of Dewas city. It is a 'B' Grade Railway Junction, under the Ratlam division of the Western Railways zone. It is situated on the Indore–Gwalior rail line and connected to nearby junctions such as Indore Junction (INDB) in the north-west and Ujjain Junction (UJN) in the south-west via an electrified rail line.

Road

Dewas is connected to major cities across the state and country, via both national and state-level highways. NH-47 and NH-52 connects Dewas to Indore and other cities of Madhya Pradesh. MP SH-18 connects Dewas to Bhopal, Ujjain and Ahmedabad.

Air

Dewas does not have an airport or an airstrip of its own. The nearest airport is Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport in Indore, which is about away by road. In 2022, a greenfield airport in Dewas district was initially proposed as part of the state's plans to expand its aviation infrastructure; this airport is now planned to be built on the Datana-Matana airstrip between Ujjain and Dewas.

Places of interest

Dewas is known for the Devi Chamunda temple and the Devi Tulaja Bhavani temple situated on a hilltop (Tekri). A broad flight of stone steps leads to two shrines to the goddesses, Choti Mata (Chamunda Mata) and Badi Mata (Tulja Bhavani Mata). Numerous other temples spread over the Tekri can be explored on foot. Shri Sheelnath Dhuni at the Tekri foothills is a place of worship for followers of Saint Sheelnath Maharaj's of Gorakh Nath Sumpradaya. Sheelnath Maharaj belonged to a royal family of Jaipur and later became a Yogi of Gorakh Nath Sumpradaya, who lived in Dewas in his old age. The Pawar Chatries near the Meetha Talab (lake) of Dewas are examples of Maratha architecture in the area. The Kailadevi temple at Dewas is the largest in the state. It is situated at Mishri Lal Nagar (Agra Bombay Road). It was established in December 1995¹ by businessman Mannulal Garg. This modern temple was built by South Indian artists; it houses a statue of Lord Hanuman. The original Kaila Devi Temple is located on the banks of the Kalisil river in the Karauli district of Rajasthan. The temple is devoted to the tutelary deity of the former princely rulers of the Karauli state, Kaila. Mahadev Mandir is a temple in Shankar Gadh built by the Dewas ruler Shrimant Sadashive Rao Maharaja (Khase Saheb) in 1942. The temple is located on a small hill south of the city. Mahakaleshwar temple, Bilwali - Bilavali village is situated north of Dewas.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1377595917 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.