Ramtek

Ramtek रामटेक
City
Spire of the main shrine at Ram Temple, Ramtek.
Ramtek Location in Maharashtra, India
Coordinates: 21°24′N 79°20′E / 21.4°N 79.33°ECoordinates: 21°24′N 79°20′E / 21.4°N 79.33°E
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Nagpur
Government
• Type	Municipal Council
• Body	Ramtek Municipal Council (RMC)
Elevation	345 m (1,132 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	22,518
Languages
• Official	Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	441106
Vehicle registration	MH-40

Ramtek (Marathi: रामटेक) is a City and municipal council in Nagpur district of the Maharashtra, India.

History

View of Ramtek city

Ramtek has got Historic temple of lord Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. Legend has it that the aashram of great Hindu sage Agastya was situated close to Ramtek. While the sages performed religious rites, the demons used to disrupt their activities and slayed a great number of holy men. Lord Rama was distressed to hear about this, and took a vow to relieve the world from the demons. 'Tek' means vow in local language, hence the word Ramtek comes from 'Vow of Ram'. Thus it is believed locally that whoever takes a vow at Ramtek is blessed by the gods for its fulfillment. The 'padukas' of Lord Ram are believed to have been worshipped here for centuries.

The present temple is believed to have been built by the King of Nagpur Raghuji Bhonsale,after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chindwara.Present temple is 400 years old.

The Ram Temple at Ramtek.

This place is also famous for its relation with Great poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa has written Meghdootum in hills of Ramtek. Late Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narsimha Rao contested his election from Ramtek Constituency.

Ramtek is also known for ancient Jain temple with various ancient statues of Jain Tirthankara. It became more popular when one of the top Digambar Jain Acharyas, Acharya Vidyasagar visited and stayed with his sangh in Ramtek in 1993, 94 and 2008 and 2013 for the four months of chaturmas during the rainy season. With his inspiration, a big Jain temple has been constructed. Jain disciples report many miracles attributed to the ancient Jain statue and so the place is more popularly called as Atishayakshetra Ramtek ji by them.

The place was ruled by Gond rulers before being captured by the Bhonsle rulers of Nagpur in the eighteenth century.

Ramtek also has an engineering college KITS^[1] which comes under Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur.

Geography

Map of Nagpur district with major towns(including Ramtek) and rivers.

Ramtek is located at 21°24′N 79°20′E / 21.4°N 79.33°E.^[2] It has an average elevation of 345 metres (1131 feet). Khindasi lake is one of the important tourist attractions at Ramtek.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[3] Ramtek had a population of 22,517. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Ramtek has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 68%. In Ramtek, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

1. "KITS Engineering college".
2. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Ramtek
3. "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.