Seoni, Madhya Pradesh

Seoni
city
Seoni Location in Madhya Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 22°05′N 79°32′E / 22.08°N 79.53°ECoordinates: 22°05′N 79°32′E / 22.08°N 79.53°E
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District	Seoni
Elevation	611 m (2,005 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,02,343
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Telephone code	07692
Vehicle registration	MP22
Website	http://seoni.nic.in/

Seoni (Hindi: सिवनी) is a city and a municipality in Seoni district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Rudyard Kipling used the forests in the vicinity of Seoni, or as he spells it, Seeonee, as the setting for the Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book (1894–1895), although the area is not an actual rainforest, also there is no evidence of that Rudyard Kipling actually thought of using the actual city name, he created the fictional city as he created all the other characters.

Geography

Seoni is located at 22°05′N 79°32′E / 22.08°N 79.53°E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 611 metres (2004 feet).

The city is 2,043 ft. above sea-level, half-way between Nagpur and Jabalpur. As of 2004, the city had a population of 101,953. It was founded in 1774, and contains large public gardens, a market place and a tank. It has 37% forest cover. The Seoni district is located in the southern part of Madhya Pradesh. Geographically it is located between latitudes 21035' and 22058' N and longitudes 79012' and 80018' E and extends over an area of 8758 km². It is bordered by Jabalpur, Narsinghpur and Mandla districts to the north, Balaghat to the east and Chhindwara to the west and the shares its southern boundary with Nagpur (Maharashtra). National Highway No. 7 connects the Kanyakumari-Banaras passes through the district from north to south. Fair weather roads connect the major towns in the district. The narrow-gauge Chhindwara-Nainpur Central Railway passes through Seoni connecting Jabalpur, Nagpur, Chhindwara, Balaghat, Katangi, Keolari and Nainpur.

Demographics

As of the India census,^[2] Seoni had a population of 120,687. Males constitute 51.7% of the population and females 48.3%. Seoni has an average literacy rate of 89%, male literacy is 93.3%, and female literacy is 84.3%.^[3]

Tourist attractions

The River Bainganga's source is located beneath the village Mundara, where it includes various more scenic spots, like the Pench Tiger Reserve within 10 km. The Pench Tiger Reserve is named after the Pench River, which flows from north to south through the reserve, and is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hill ranges in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in the Madhya Pradesh state of India. The terrain is undulating, with most of the area covered by small hill ranges, steeply sloping on the sides. The Pench National Park is named after the Pench River, which flows from north to south through the park. This river constitutes the district boundary of Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh in the upper region and State boundary with Maharashtra State in the lower region. This area became the 19th tiger reserve of India in 1992. The tourist traffic is experiencing a very fast growth in this park.Pench The Pench National Park which constitutes the core of the tiger reserves was notified in the year 1983. The total area of the park is 292.85 km². The total area of the Pench Tiger Reserve is 757.85 km².

The reserve is situated in an area that holds a significant place in the natural history of Central India. The description of its natural beauty, richness in flora and fauna has appeared in numerous wildlife books dating back to the 17th century. Books written in the 19th and early 20th century by famous naturalists like Captain J. Forsyth and Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book explicitly present the detailed panorama of nature's abundance in this tract.

An extensive forest belt extends in three directions: north, east and south, covering forest tracts of Seoni, Balaghat and Nagpur districts. The contiguous forest on the southern side in the Maharashtra state of India, initially named Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru National Park has been recently included in the Project Tiger network under the same name as this reserve. A dam was constructed on the Pench River on south-eastern boundary of the reserve.

The area is criss-crossed by numerous seasonal streams and "nalas". The Pench River flowing through the central line of the reserve is dry by the end of April but a number of water pools locally known locally as "dohs" are found, which serve as waterholes for wild animals. A few perennial springs also exist in this area. However, the water sources are not suitably distributed, hence large area remains unused by the wild animals. The Pench reservoir at the center of the reserve is the only major water source during pinch period.

As the prey concentration is high along the Pench River, tigers usually inhabit this belt. Leopards, though, generally operate in the peripheral areas but are occasionally seen in deep forests also. Jungle cats are commonly seen. Leopard cats, small Indian civet and palm civet are common but seen very rarely.

Wild dogs are commonly seen in packs of 12 to 15, near Chhedia, Jamtara, Bodanala and Pyorthadi areas of the reserve. Wild boars are ubiquitous. Sloth bears occupy the hilly, rocky outcrops and favour mahul bel-infested forest. Chinkara are present in very small numbers and are found in open areas around Turia, Telia, and Dudhgaon villages. Jackals are seen occasionally near Tekadi, Alikatta and Chhindimatta villages.

There is a village 15 km west in the Seoni district of "Katalbodi". The Hindu guru Shankara Charya constructed a Shiv Temple here in 2003 in honour of the place in which he was born. He also constructed a big Guru Rataneshwar Dham (sphatik Shivling - 54 kg world biggest and 21 kg paras shivling) in Dighori village, which is situated on the north side of Seoni and is 25 km away from this town.

References

1. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Seoni
2. . Census Commission of India http://www.censusindia.gov.in/PopulationFinder/Population_Finder.aspx. Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. . Census Commission of India http://www.dataforall.org/dashboard/censusinfoindia_pca/. Missing or empty |title= (help)

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "^{article name needed}". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.