Images, from top down, left right Indian lion in the Tyavarekoppa Tiger and Lion Reserve Statue of Keladi Shivappa Nayaka Sculpture of Mahishasura Mardhini Shivappa Nayaka palace
Shimoga, officially Shivamogga,[4] is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city is popularly nicknamed the "Gateway of Malnad".[5] The population of Shimoga city is 322,650 as per 2011 census.[2] The city has been selected for the Smart Cities Mission, standing in the fourth position in the state and 25th in the country as of November 2020.[6]
The city is 569 m above sea level and is surrounded by lush green paddy fields, arecanut and coconut groves. It is located 267 km from the state capital Bangalore and 195 km from the port city Mangalore.[7]
History
The name of the city is derived from the term shivmoga. A version of the etymology is the story that Shiva drank the Tunga River hence the name "Shiva-Mukha" which means the "face of Shiva". Another version of the etymology is that the name is derived from the term Sihi-Mogge, meaning "sweet pot".[8]
During the Satyagraha movement, Mahatma Gandhi also visited the place to instigate the fight for national freedom.[7] After the independence of India in 1947, the Mysore state merged into the Republic of India.
On 1 November 2006, the government of Karnataka announced the renaming of Shimoga to "Shivamogga", along with nine other cities in the state. The central government approved (12 cities) the request in the October 2014 and the city was renamed on 1 November 2014.[10][11][12][13]
Geography
According to the Shimoga City Municipal Corporation,[14] the city has a total area of about 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi). As per the Smart City Proposal, of the total city area (around 70.01 km2), 11.28% area is under OS & green belts while 7% is under water cover.[15] Most/all these hills are part of the Western Ghats, a region known for plentiful rainfall and lush greenery and declared during 2012 as a World Heritage site. Tunga River flows through Shimoga. The river is the major source of drinking water in the city and the city gets its drinking water through the Tunga dam (also known as Gajanuru dam).[16]
The climate is tropical wet and dry (Köppen climate classification) summer average temperature 20–35 °C (68–95 °F). This means that the winter and the early part of summer are typically dry periods. The majority of the rainfall occurs between June and early October. Shimoga is a part of a region known as Malnad (land of hills) in Karnataka. The average annual rainfall of the city is 731.1mm.[17] January and February are the driest months, July the wettest, and April is the warmest month with an average high temperature of 35.5 degrees Celsius (95.9 degrees F). Coldest months of Shimoga are July, August, November and December with average high temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees F).[17] In summer (April–May), temperature crosses 36 °C at Shimoga.[18]
Climate data for Shimoga (1981–2010, extremes 1950–2005)
As of 2011 Indian Census, Shimoga had a total population of 322,650, of which 162,018 were males and 160,632 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 32,691. The total number of literates in Shimoga was 254,531, which constituted 78.9% of the population with male literacy of 81.4% and female literacy of 76.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Shimoga was 87.8%, of which male literacy rate was 90.8% and female literacy rate was 84.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 40,737 and 9,192 respectively. Shimoga had 76,009 households in 2011.[2]
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Apparently this section needs updating. Updates require current references, not edited existing.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2022)
Shimoga is governed by a Municipal Corporation called the Shivamogga City Corporation. The total area under it is 70.01 km2 (27.03 sq mi), with a population of 322,650 (Census 2011).[23] Shimoga has been selected under the Smart Cities Mission of the Indian Government under Round 2 of selections.[24] Shimoga was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation from a Municipal Council in 2013.[25]
Economy
RMC Yard, Shimoga
APMC of Shimoga is main marketing point of arecanut, the major commercial crop grown in the district and well as in neighbouring districts like Uttara Kannada. Shimoga has the biggest areca nut market, and known for procuring high quality areca nuts. Other agricultural produces like rice, Maize, chili, coconut etc. are also marketed in APMC.
Shimoga IT Park is an information technology hub built just outside Shimoga near the Shimoga Airport. The IT Park consists of a 100000 sq ft office building with 24/7 electrical capacity, diesel backup generators, and high speed T1 data connections for use by IT industries such as data centres, call centres, aerospace, robotics, etc.[26]
The city has two railway stations, main one being Shivamogga Town Railway Station, and there are trains that run to and from Bangalore, Mysore, Tirupati and Chennai.
Air
Shimoga Airport is situated near Sogane, 13 km south of Shimoga. This is the first airport which is being operated by Karnataka State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited as a wholly owned and undertaking of Government of Karnataka and not handed over to Airport Authority of India.[27][28] The nearest international airports are Kempegowda International Airport and Mangalore International Airport.
Education
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Apparently this section needs updating. Updates require current references. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2023)
Shimoga is one of the important centers for the high school and the pre-university education in Karnataka. Notable institutes in Shimoga for high school is Jnanadeepa school and for pre-university (PU) education include: Sri Aurobindo PU College and PACE PU College and
PES college in outskirts of city.
^"About Our District - Shivamogga". District Urban Development Cell, Shivamogga - Official Website of Directorate of Municipal Administration. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
^"History of Shivamogga". Shivamogga District. National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
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