Agartala

?Agartala Tripura • India
Image:Ujjayanta aerial.jpg Aerial view of Agartala's city center skyline around Ujjayanta Palace
Image:Locator Dot.svg  Agartala
Coordinates: 23°30′N 91°12′E / 23.5, 91.2
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	58.84 km² (23 sq mi) • 12.80 m (42 ft)
District(s)	West Tripura
Population • Density	367,822 (2004) • 6,251/km² (16,190/sq mi)
Codes • Pincode • Telephone • Vehicle	• 799001 • +91 (0)381 • TR

Coordinates: 23°30′N 91°12′E / 23.5, 91.2

Agartala pronunciation (help·info) (Bengali: আগরতলা Agortôla) is the capital of the Indian state of Tripura. It lies on the Haora River and is located 2 km from Bangladesh. It has several temples and palaces. The population of Agartala was 3,67,822 in 2004 after the municipal expansion^[1] (189,327 in the 2001 census)^[2].

History

Foundation

The ancient Capital of the then Princely State ‘SWADHIN TRIPURA’ was at Rangamati (Udaipur, South Tripura) by the bank of the river Gomati and in 1760 A.D. , it was shifted by the Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya(1830-1849) to present old Agartala by the bank of river Haora and was named ‘Haveli’. Due to frequent invasion of the Kuki's and also to keep easy communication with the British Bengal, the Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya started the process of shifting of the Capital from Old Haveli to New Haveli (present Agartala ) in the year 1849 A.D.

Agartala Municipality

The Agartala Municipality was established during the reign of Maharaja Chandra Manikya(1862-1896) within area of 3 sq. miles having population 875 only by a royal proclamation in the last part of 1871 A.D. Mr. A.W.S.Power , the Ist British Political Agent for Tipperah was also appointed as the Chairman of the Agartala Municipality in the year 1872 A.D. who hold office for 1872-73 A.D.

Planned city

Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Bahadur is called the founder of the planned City of Agartala .During the period of early forties , the entire town area was re-organised infrastructurally in a planned manner with strength roads and market building.

Geography and climate

Agartala is located at 23.84° N 91.28° E^[3]. It has an average elevation of 16 metres (52 feet).

The city is situated in a plain along the Haora River, though the city also extends to the low lying hills on its northern parts.

Agaratala has a pleasant climate throughout the year with no extremes of temperature.

• Summer : (March to June) - Warm
• Monsoon: (July to September) - Warm and humid
• Winter : (October to February) - Cold

Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[4], Agartala had a population of 189,327. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Agartala has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 52% of the males and 48% of females literate. 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Historical Population

In 1941 Agartala had a population of 17,693.^[5] By 1991 the population had risen to 157,358.^[6]

Growth of the Agartala City at a glance.

Neighbourhoods

Agartala city consists of many Paras, which means "locality" in Bengali. Each neighbourhood or para is usually a municipal ward or division also.

Localities

The major areas of the city are listed below:

• Krishnanagar
• Banamalipur
• Dhaleshwar
• Shibnagar
• Ramnagar
• Joynagar
• Abhoynagar
• Radhanagar
• Arundhutinagar
• Gol Bazaar
• Gurkha Basti
• Kunjaban
• College Tilla
• Indiranagar
• Bhati Abhoynagar
• 79 Tilla
• New Capital Complex
• GB, Agartala
• Amtali
• Durjoynagar
• Bardowali

These areas are further subdivided into residential blocks, such as Banamalipur is divided into North Banamalipur, Madhya Banamlipur, South Banamalipur, etc.

The city is expanding very rapidly and is expected to grow and include many more peripheral towns and municipalities in coming years.

Extensions

From 2004 onwards the Agartala Municipal Council has further been extended taking 16 No.of Grams of Dukli R.D.Block,7 No. of Grams of Mohanpur R.D.Block and 2 No.of Grams of Jirania R.D.Block with area of 42.83 sq.k.m. and 1,78,495 nos.of population in addition to the 16 km² and population of 200,000 in 2001 census.^[7][8]

City Administration

The Agartala city is managed by the Agartala Municipal Council, AMC, which divides the city into many wards and each ward has an elected ward representative or municipal councillor.

For postal administration also the city is divided into various postal zones.

Municipal Wards

Economy

The city is the state capital so most of the population is employed in the state & central Government and other Government owned enterprises.

Public Sector

List of major PSU's in Agartala are:

• ONGC
• GAIL
• BSNL
• TRTC

Private Sector

There is a wide variety of private enterprises also and the main business area of the city Gol Bazaar and Kaman Chowmuhani area which has a huge conglomeration of shops, bazaars, banks, etc.

Major Indian banks serving Agartala are SBI, PNB, UTI Bank, ICICI Bank, Vijaya Bank, Canara Bank,etc.

The major commodities exported from Agartala are tea, rubber and gas/LPG.

Demography and culture

The city mainly consists of Bengalis and Bengali Culture and Bengali language predominates the city. The main festivals of city such as Durga Puja and Saraswati puja reflect the influence of the culture of the Bengalis.

There is also a growing population of the native Tripuri people in the city.

Languages

Bengali is the common language spoken in Agartala. Other languages spoken include Kokborok (Tripuri language), Manipuri , Changma, Nepali, etc.

Religion

Hinduism is the dominant religion and there are many temples across the city.

Some prominent temples are:

• Laxmi Narayan Bari temple in Palace Compound

Christianity is also a growing religion with the majority of the Christians among the native Tripuri people. A majority of the Christians are of the Baptist denominations. The churches are listed below

• Town Baptist Church in Arundhutinagar
• City Baptist Church in Krishnanagar
• Capital Baptist Church in Krishnanagar
• Central Baptist Church in Palace Compound
• St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Durjoynagar

Buddhism is also followed by the [[Chakma][also know as changma]people and there is a Buddha Mandir temple in Abhoynagar.

Transport

Road

National Highway 44 connects Agartala to Assam and rest of India by road. The highways (NH44 , NH 44A) connects Agartala with Silchar (288 km), Guwahati (599 km), Shillong (499 km), Dharmanagar (200 km)and Aizawl (443 km). A bus service also connects it to Dhaka (150 km).

Agartala is well connected by road to other parts of Tripura state. National highway 44 has been extended to south, thus improving the road connectivity between Agartala & south Tripura. Buses jeeps trekkers & SUVs are the most popular public carriers, and cars vans are usually used for private hire.

The main mode of transport within the city consists of a vivid network of cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws and buses.

Airport

Agartala is also connected by air, the modernised Agartala Airport connects it to other cities in India. There are daily flight connections to Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati.

Railways

Agartala is being connected to Lumding, Assam by a meter gauge railway line to be fully operational by 2009. The nearest railhead is presently in Ambassa town of Dhalai district, a distance of about 108 km.

Communications

Being the capital of a state Agartala has access to all the modern communications network and infrastructure.

Telecommunications

List of Telecom companies serving Agartala are:

• Airtel
• Aircel
• Reliance Telecom
• BSNL

Radio

List of Radio stations:

• AIR
• FM Radio Oo La La

Television

Doordarshan (DD) has a television station in Agartala. NE TV and NE Bangla have production and broadcasting centers in the city.

Newspapers

Many newspapers serve the city and the state. Bengali language media is dominantt in the city, A list of the major news publications are:

• Dainik Sambad (Bengali)
• Tripura Darpan (Bengali)
• Syandhan Patrika (Bengali)
• Tripura Times (English)

Education

Agartala has a lot of educational institutions, schools and colleges and also a central university.

Universities

• Tripura University
• ICFAI university, Tripura
• National Institute of Technology, Agartala (NIT Agartala)

Colleges

• MBB College
• Women's College
• Ramthakur College
• Tripura Medical College
• Tripura Institute of Technology

Prominent Schools

• Holy Cross School
• Don Bosco
• St. Paul's
• Umakanta Academy
• Boys Budhjong
• Gurls Budhjong
• Maharani Tulsibati Girls School
• Shishu Bihar
• Hindi higher secondary School
• Netaji Subhash Vidyaniketan

Sports

Agartala has a good sporting tradition, with many sports and games being played. Especially favourite is football with its own city football league with clubs from various neighborhoods and localities. Tripura has a state team which plays in the Eastern division of the Ranji Trophy Championship, the National Cricket competition of India.

The main stadiums are the Badarghat Stadium, College Tilla Cricket Stadium and the Umakanta Academy Mini-Stadium.

Tourism

Places of interest

• College Tilla - Maharaja Bir Bikram College, Tripura University buildings, football ground, international cricket stadium, picturesque lush landscapes & serene natural lakes.
• Ujjayanta Palace - Palace of the Tripura kings, now converted to state legislative assembly.
• Jagannath temple - Hindu temple of Vaishnava school of thought.
• Umamaheswar temple - Hindu temple of Shaiva & Shakta schools of thought.
• Venuban Vihar
• Budhha Mandir
• Puratan Agartala

Parks

• Rabinra Kanan
• Children's Park
• Nehru Park

Museums

• Tripura State Musuem at Post Office Chowmuhani.

Hotels

• Hotel Rajdhani
• Ginger Hotel

References

External links

• About AMC
• Agartala travel guide from Wikitravel
• Agartala Horti Agriculture Government Offices
• Weather statistics at Weather.co.uk
• Agartala on GlobalGuide.Org
• Community web portal for Tripurites in and out of Tripura
• Durga Puja from Agartala

bn:আগরতলা

da:Agartala de:Agartala et:Agartala es:Agartala fr:Agartala gl:Agartala hi:अगरतला bpy:আগরতলা id:Agartala it:Agartala lt:Agartala mr:अगरतला nl:Agartala new:अगरताल ja:アガルタラ pl:Agartala pt:Agartala ro:Agartala sa:अगरतला fi:Agartala sv:Agartala ta:அகர்தலா vi:Agartala