| Lok Sabha Constituencies in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh (MP Constituencies) | Banda Hamirpur |
| MLA Assembly Constituencies in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh | Baberu Banda Naraini Tindwari |
About Banda District :
This is the easternmost district of Bundelkhand. The division of the district into two has been done by splitting Banda district , tahsil and block-wise. Karwi and Mau Tahsils lying in the eastern and South-eastern direction comprising the Manikpur, Mau, Pahadi, Chitrakut and Ramnagar blocks from the present Chitrakut district
TAHSHIL, BLOCK & THANA :
There are four Tahsils namely Banda, Naraini, Baberu and Atarra comprising eight blocks of Badokhar-khurd, Jaspura, Tindwari, Naraini, Mahua, Baberu, Bisanda and Kamasinfrom the present district of Banda.
There are seventeen thanas namely Kotwali City, Kotwali Dehat, Mataundh, Tindwari, Pailani, Chilla, Naraini, Atarra, Girwa, Kalinjar, Badousa, Bisenda, Baberu, Kamasin, Fhateganj, Jaspura and Marka.
OPOGRAPHY
The district largely consists of irregular uplands with outcrops of rocks intermingling with mostly lowlands, frequently under water during rainy sesason. The Baghein river traverse the district from south-west to north-east. The tract lying to the right of the river is intersected by numerous smaller river and rivulets (Nallas), but to its left is a flat expanse, for the most part made up of Mar and Kabar soils, eroded and converted into ravines along the banks of the Ken and the Yamuna and to a lesser extent, the Baghein river and the Gadara Nala.
The general slope of the district is from southwest to north-east, along with the course of Baghein river as mentioned earlier. The district falls into two sharly defined portions= one is upland called Patha, situated on the Vindhyan plateau in the south of Mau anf Karwi tahsils (presently known as Chitrakut district), the other is lowlands of alluvium (presently known as Banda district).
RIVERS
Yamuna flowing north of the district, is the principal river attracting all the drainage of the district. For long this river had a general tendency of cutting the southern bank: this rendered many villages displaced and destructed. A famous village Shaipur near Chilla-ghat the head quarters of Pargana Pailani during Moghul time, is said to have been entirely swallowed by it. Flowing circuitously towards north, south and south-east directions Yamuna is joined by Ken at Chillaghat, Bhahein near Bilas, and Paisuni near Kankota villages. Total length of the river in this tract is 215 km. of this 130 km lies with Banda while the rest 85 km with Chitrakut
Ken rising is district Damoh, touches Banda near village Bilaharka in Naraini tahsil for about two km and then turns towards Chhatarpur district appearing again in the same tahsil. Then entering Banda tahsil near Utarandi village it flows north-east boarding distt. Hamirpur and then turns eastward to meet Yamuna at Chillghat. On the whole it flows in a deep and well defined channel scoured out by the action of flood-waters which occasionally come down in enormous volumes. The right bank is generally high and steep, scarred with innumerable ravines, but the left bank slopes somewhat more gently, and is subject to a certain amount of fluvial action. From Pailani to its junction eith Yamuna, the Ken is much affected by the stream of the larger river, which blocks occasionally its flow resulting in the swell of river water, submergence of even high-level villages and deposition of valuable silt in elevations which are normally above the flood plains.
Baghein is the second important river of this district. Emanating from a hill near Kohari of Panna district, it enters Banda district at Masauni Bharatpur village (the. Naraini). It flows north-east-ward and at a point separates Banda from the newly created Chitrakut district forming boundaries between Atarra, Baberu and Karrwi tahsils. Continuing north-east it joins Yamuna near Bilas village. It being most capricious in its action, depostis quantities of sand or Kankar shingles, but near its junction with Yamuna it tends to flood a large area of low lying land, if the stream in the Yamuna is sufficient to block its outlet.
The chief tributary of Baghein, the Ranj, joins it at Gurha Kalan (tahsil Naraini) but further east, there are several smaller tributaries from south namely the Madrar, the Barar, the Karehi, the Banganga and the Barua, each of which in turn has tributaries of its own. The barua has been dammed to provide some irrigation through canals
LAKES
No lakes or jhils exist in the district. Still there are a few fairly large depressions which always retain water. There are numerous tanks, some of which are of considerable size, such as that at Khar in tahsil Baberu.These have been excavated for the storage of water, many as fimine relief works.
HILLS
The hills of the district consists of the part of the Vindhyan plateau which lies in the extreme southern portion of the tahsils Mau and Karwi (now known as the district Chitrakut).The northern flank of the Vindhyas known as Vindhyachal range, starts near the Yamuna in the extreme east of tahsil Mau. It recedes from the Yamuna in a south-westerly direction-gradually rising in elevation, although nowhere abobe 450 metre from the mean sea level. It leaves the district near the scared hills of Anusuiya to reappear of Godhrampur in the south-eastern part of Naraini tahsil. From this point westward to Kalinjar the hills from the border of the district
At a Glance :
| S NO. | Item | Units | Year | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geographical Area | |||
| Rural | Sq. Km. | 2001 | 4114.20 | |
| Urban | Sq. Km. | 2001 | 34.87 | |
| 2 | Population | |||
| Male | In thousand | 2001 | 806.543 | |
| Female | In thousand | 2001 | 693.710 | |
| Total | In thousand | 2001 | 1500.253 | |
| Rural | In thousand | 2001 | 1256.230 | |
| Urban | In thousand | 2001 | 244.023 | |
| Schedule Cast | In thousand | 2001 | 326.740 | |
| Schedule Tribes | In thousand | 2001 | .048 | |
| 3 | No. of Literates | |||
| Total | In thousand | 2001 | 664.686 | |
| Male | In thousand | 2001 | 458.330 | |
| Female | In thousand | 2001 | 206.356 | |
| 4 | No. of Tahsils | No. | 2002-03 | 4 |
| 5 | Development Blocks | No. | 2002-03 | 8 |
| 6 | Nyay Panchayat | No. | 2002-03 | 71 |
| 7 | Gram Sabha | No. | 2002-03 | 437 |
| 8 | No. of village | |||
| No. of habitated village | No. | 1991 | 653 | |
| No. of inhabitated village | No. | 1991 | 41 | |
| Forest village | No. | 1991 | — | |
| Total village | No. | 1991 | 694 | |
| 9 | Town and Cities | No. | 2002-03 | 8 |
| 10 | Municipal Corporation | No. | 2002-03 | – |
| 11 | Nagar Palika Parishad | No. | 2002-03 | 2 |
| 12 | Cantt. Area | No. | 2001-02 | – |
| 13 | Nagar Panchayat | No. | 2001-02 | 6 |
| 14 | Census Town | No. | 1991 | 0 |
| 15 | Police Station | |||
| Rural | No. | 2002-03 | 10 | |
| Urban | No. | 2002-03 | 7 | |
| 16 | Bus Station/Bus Stop | |||
| Rural | No. | 2002-03 | 143 | |
| Urban | No. | 2002-03 | 7 | |
| 17 | Railway Station/Halt | No. | 2002-03 | 7 |
| 18 | Length of Railway Track | |||
| Big Track | KM | 2002-03 | 79 | |
| Small Track | KM | 2002-03 | 0 | |
| 19 | Post Office | |||
| Rural | No. | 2002-03 | 192 | |
| Urban | No. | 2002-03 | 16 | |
| 20 | Telegraph Office | No. | 2001-02 | 9 |
| 21 | Telephone Connections | No. | 2001-02 | 11193 |
| 22 | Commerical Branches | |||
| Nationalised Banks | No. | 2002-03 | 28 | |
| Others | No. | 2002-03 | 0 | |
| 23 | Rural Bank Branches | No. | 2002-03 | 50 |
| 24 | Co-operative Bank Branches | No. | 2002-03 | 11 |
| 25 | Co-operative Agriculture & Village Development Branches | No. | 2002-03 | 3 |
| 26 | Fair Price Shops | |||
| Rural | No. | 2002-03 | 612 | |
| Urban | No. | 2002-03 | 80 | |
| 27 | Bio-gas Plants | No. | 2001-02 | 1930 |
| 28 | Cold Storage | No. | 2001-02 | 0 |
| 29 | Agriculture | |||
| Net Sown Area | Thous.Hect. | 2000-01 | 340 | |
| Net Irrigated Area | Thous.Hect. | 2000-01 | 87 | |
| Gross Irrigated Area | Thous.Hect. | 2000-01 | 114 | |
| 30 | Agriculture Production | |||
| Food Grains | Thous.M.Ton | 2000-01 | 406 | |
| Sugarcane | Thous.M.Ton | 2000-01 | 25 | |
| Tilhan | Thous.M.Ton | 2000-01 | 4 | |
| Potato | Thous.M.Ton | 2000-01 | 2 | |
| 31 | Climate | |||
| General Rainfall | MM | 2001 | 902 | |
| Actual Rainfall | MM | 2001 | 727 | |
| Maximun Temperature | 0C | 2000-01 | 44.4 | |
| Mininmum Temperature | 0C | 2000-01 | 5.2 | |
| 32 | Irrigation | |||
| Length of Canal | KM | 2001-02 | 1193 | |
| Government Tubewell | No. | 2002-03 | 434 | |
| Personal Tubewells and Pump Sets | No. | 2001-02 | 13943 | |
| 33 | Animal Husbandry | |||
| Total Live Stock | No. | 1997 | 955163 | |
| Veterinary Hospital | No. | 20 | ||
| Live Stock Service Centre | No. | 25 | ||
| Artificial Breeding Centre | No. | 16 | ||
| Artificial Breeding Sub-Centre | No. | 0 | ||
| 34 | Co-operative | |||
| Primary Co-operatives Agriculture Loan Societies | No. | 2001-02 | 46 | |
| Members of Societies | In Thousand | 2001-02 | 75 | |
| 35 | Industry | |||
| No. of Runing Factories Registered under the Industrial Act | No. | 1998-98 | 12 | |
| Small Scale Industries | No. | 2001-02 | 1728 | |
| Workers | No. | 2001-02 | 5003 | |
| 36 | Education | |||
| Junior Basic Schools | No. | 2001-02 | 1337 | |
| Senior Basic Schools | No. | 2001-02 | 398 | |
| Higher Secondary Schools | No. | 2001-02 | 67 | |
| Degree Colleges | No. | 2002-03 | 7 | |
| University | No. | 2002-03 | 0 | |
| Industrial Training Institute | No. | 2002-03 | 1 | |
| Polytechnic | No. | 2002-03 | 1 | |
| 37 | Hospitals | |||
| Allopathic | No. | 2002-03 | 16 | |
| Ayruvrdic | No. | 2002-03 | 20 | |
| Homeopathic | No. | 2002-03 | 25 | |
| Unani | No. | 2002-03 | 4 | |
| Primary Health Centre | No. | 2002-03 | 55 | |
| Family Welfare Centre | No. | 2002-03 | 19 | |
| Family welfare Sub-Centre | No. | 2002-03 | 205 | |
| Special Hospitals | ||||
| Tuberculosis | No. | 2002-03 | 1 | |
| Leprosy | No. | 2002-03 | 1 | |
| Communicable Diseases | No. | 2002-03 | 0 | |
| 38 | Length of Metal Road | KM. | 2001-02 | 1388 |
| Total Length of Road constructef by PWD | KM. | 2001-02 | 1313 | |
| 39 | Electricity | |||
| Total Electrified Villages | No. | 2001-02 | 541 | |
| Total Electrified Towns/Cities | No. | 2002-03 | 8 | |
| Electrified Schedule Cast Localities | No. | 2001-02 | 489 | |
| 40 | Area Covered under water supply using taps/handpumps of India Mark-2 | |||
| Village | No. | 2002-03 | 653 | |
| Towns/city | No. | 2002-03 | 8 | |
| Total No. of lacking Villages | No. | 2002-03 | 0 | |
| 41 | Entertainment | |||
| Cinema Halls | No. | 2002-03 | 6 | |
| Total No. of seats in Halls | No. | 2002-03 | 2691 | |
Tourist Places :
Maheshwari Devi Temple :
This temple is situated at the middle place of the Banda city. There are so many murties of Devis & Devatas in the temple
Khartri Pahar :
Shydha a small village lies about 24 km distant from Banda among the ravince close to the ken river. Nearby in a hill called Khatri Pahar, the recorded height being 259 meters above sea level. On the top of the hill a small temple dedicated to Angleshwari Devi. The legend is that the devi, having to flee from the persecution of her meternal father Kans, rose bodily into the air and sought a place of safty. She tried the strength of the hill with her finger, but finding it incapable of supporting her weight went on to Vindhyachal. From her anguli, a finger the name Angleshwari Devi is derived. On every Navratri a large mela is organized.
Kalinjar fort :
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Kalinjar (Kalanjar), a historical fort situated in Banda district (Uttar Pradesh) , is one of the most precious gift of India to the World hertige. This is one of the eight famous forts built by Chandela-kings during the end od 1st and beginning of 2nd millennium. Situated at the interface of U.P. and M.P. states of India this has been serving as the great barrier for ambitious kings/invaders aiming towards south. The celebrated hill fort of Kalinjar is situated in the village of Tarahti under the Naraini Tahsil on the 56 km. south of Banda. It stands on an isolated flat-topped hill of the Vindhya range, which here rises to a height of 244m. above the plain. The main body of the fort lies from east to west, oblong in form, being nearly a mile in length by half a mile in breadth. |
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The fort was built on strong 25-30 meter wide foundation, having height of 30-35 meter with 8 meter wide summit spread all around with length of 7.5 km over the hillock. The material used was big sand stone/granite pieces put over each other or using lime mortor occasionally. Alongwith strategic importance of Kalinjar fort, this has equally been appreciated as the great monument of the art and science of fortification and a gem of archeology. Much before fortification this place was considered to be one of the most revered places of devotional and meditational penance and has been cited in Vedas, Epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, Buddha and Jain literatures. Kalinjar is the most respected and popular also in the folk songs of Bundelkhand. |
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Kalanjar word was coined to represent lord Shiva who after consuming the deadly poison churned out of sea by Devas and Daityas together rested here and destroyed (Jaran) the time barrier (kala). People have a belief that Lord Shiva always remains here. A temple of NEELKANTHA Mahadeo built over thousand years ago still exist with its magnificent beauty and greatness.The stone –dug ponds/lakes created here are marvelous. The rare stone images related to Lord Shiva, Godess Shakti, Lord Vishnu, Lord Ganesha, Bhairava and Bhairavi and others are of great importance from the science of image-making. The stone-carvings of animals, birds apsaras, mithuna, and such others are worth investigating |
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There are two entrances to the fort, of which the principal is on the north side towards the town and the other at the south-east angle leading towards Panna. The first entrance used to be guarded by seven different gates and they are approached by a short flight of stone steps. The first gateway, which is named Alam Darwaza is square, lofty and plain in construction and was probably rebuilt at the date of the inscription above it. Above this there is a steep ascent, chiefly by steps, to the second gate called Ganesha Darwaza. At a short distance higher up in the bend of the road stands the third gate, named the Chandi Darwaza. There is a double gate with four towers on which account it is also known as chauburji darwaza, or the ‘gate of the four towers.’ At this gate there are several pilgrim records and inscriptions of various dates. |
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The fourth gate named Budhabhadra possesses only one inscription. The fifthgate, or Hanuman Darwaza is so named after a figure of the monkey-god carved on a slab resting against the rock. There is also reservoir called Hanumankund; there are, besides, numerous rock sculptures and figures carved on the rocks representing Kali, Chandika, Siva and Parvati, Ganesha, the bull Nandi, and the lingam. The sixth gate, called the Lal Darwaza, stands near the top of the ascent. To the west of this gate, there is a colossal figure of Bhairava cut in the rock. There are also two figures of pilgrims represented carrying water in two vessels fixed at the end of a banghi pole. A short distance leads to the seventh gate, called Bara Darwaza, or the main gate and it undoubtedly modern. |
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The great lingam temple of Nilakantha, which is situated in the middle of the west face of the fort is a masterpiece of architecture. The façade of the cave once had been very rich , but is now much broken. On the jambs of the door there are figures of Siva and Parvati, with the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, which are of Gupta period. The lingam is made of a darke-blue stone, about 1.15m high and has three eyes. Just outside the mandapa of Nilakantha there is a deep rock-cut reservoir, called svargarohana and to the right of the reservoir in a rock niche there is a colossal figure of Kala-Bhairava, about 6m. in height, standing in about 0.5m. of water. Besides this status there is a figure of the goddess Kali, about 1m. in height. |