HARIHAR

'Harihar' is a small town in central Karnataka, located in Davanagere District. It is situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, 275km from north of Bangalore. It is connected by road and railway, and is located on national Highway 4 (Puna - Bangalore). Cost of living in Harihar is very cheap.

Contents

History

Attractions

Education

Geography

Demographics

Connectedness

Eatouts

''Did you know this?''

External links

References

History

It has historically been a temple city but also has an industrial base and many home grown industries. Some examples are Kirloskar and Harihar PolyFibres (Grasim Industries Limited)- a unit of Aditya Birla Group. In 2005 Kirloskar chose to invest elsewhere, leaving thousands of people jobless.
There is famous temple built in 15th century during Hoysala's time called Harihareshwara temple, from which the city derives its name.
The god Harihareshwara is a combination of god Shiva and Vishnu. There is an interesting story behind avatara of this god. In ancient days this place was known as Guharanya. A dense jungle and habitat of a demon Guhasura. He had a boon that no Human or Rakshasa or God can kill him. And he started harassing people around this place. Then Vishnu and Shiva came together in a new avatara called Hari – Hara (Harihara) and killed demon Guhasura. That’s how this place has got name Harihar.
Every year the Car festival shall be celebrated with great enthusiasm and lots of people participate.
Also at Harihar there is Raghavendra Swamy Temple. And also hosts famous church.the uniqueness of this church is that it has built without any pillars and it is the second largest church in karnataka.The town serves as a major Industrial base also. Although Kirloskar Engineering company has closed down, resulting in a loss of nearly 15,000 jobs, there are still 2 units of Grasim Industries run by Kumaramangalam Birla - the first unit is named as Harihar Polyfibers and the other unit is Graslene division. Apart from these heavy industries, there are a number of other engineering and small manufacturing industries, not to forget the famous brick kiln Industries in the region. The major lifeline of this small town is the Tungabhadra river, which continues to be exploited and polluted as a result of heavy industrialisation.
Mother Mary's Church in Harihar is also very famous and attracts many piligrimists not only from various parts of the Karnataka, but also from neighbouring states.

Attractions

Harihar is popular for temples, and the city is calm indeed.

★ Harihareshware Temple

★ Raghavendra Swamy temple (popularly known as Raayara Matha)

★ Ayyappa temple

★ Rajanahalli Hanumappa temple (Hanuman temple in Rajanahalli, around 6 kms from Harihar on bypass highway)

★ Graamadevata temple

★ Kumaranahalli temple (towards Malebennur, around 10kms)

★ Mother Mary's Church

Education

Harihar has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 69%. Education has mainly been dominated by the Kirloskars group of schools, and has been source for quality outgoing students, although new ones are being added up.
These are the list of popular institutions in Harihar, although not complete:

★ KIAMS, Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies

★ MKET's CBSE school

★ MKET's LK High School

★ Vidyadaayini CBSE School

★ St.Mary's convent School

★ Maria Nivas School

★ Dr.Ambedkar School

★ Bapuji School (on the banks of Tungabhadra)

★ SJVP PU College

★ Giriyamma schools and college

★ BASAVARAJ.S.S' house founder of "EARFLOWER INCORPORATION"
Kumarapattanam, situated on the other bank of Tungabhadra river (3 kms from Harihar) also is rich in terms of education facilities. Aditya Birla Group of schools (formerly, called The Harihar Polyfibres school) has been a good source of outgoing students.
Harihar doesn't have law, engineering, medical and dental colleges as yet, most of the students commute to Davanagere for the same. Being very close to Davanagere, Harihar enjoys a good mix of rural and urban culture.

Geography

Harihar is located at ^[1]. It has an average elevation of 540 metres (1771 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[2], Harihar had a population of 75,042. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. In Harihar, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Connectedness

Situated exactly in the middle of Karnataka, Harihar has a good connectedness from South and North.

★ 'Buses' : Being on National Highway NH4, the city enjoys a good connectedness. It is a 2.5 hrs drive from Hubli (131 kms) and 5 hr drive from Bangalore (278 kms). Most of the buses which ply from/to North Karnataka to/from South Karnataka (if not all) go via. this place. The town is 14 kms from Davanagere city, was earlier a part of Chitradurga district (78 kms). This town is also near to Hampi, a historical place and Tungabhadra Dam, Hospet. Most of the buses plying from North Karnataka to Dharmasthala, Shimoga, Mysore go via Harihar. Other private travels include:

★ Mahesh Travels

★ Vijayanand Roadlines (VRL)

★ 'Trains' : Good train facility, again connecting Hubli - Bangalore route. ''Intercity express'' "Rani Chennamma Express" and ''Janashatabdi Express'' are the major trains which people here rely upon and commonly commute in. Other trains include ''Hubli-Bangalore Fast Passenger'' which is by all means the convenient train to go to Bangalore (departs from Harihar at 9:30pm, arrives at Bangalore at 6:10am) or to come to Harihar (departs from Bangalore at 10:00pm and arrives at Harihar at 5:30am). Another train which has come to light recently is the ''Dharwad-Mysore express'' train which departs from Harihar at 10:45pm.

★ Train # 2079, 2080 : Janashatabdi express

★ Train# 583 : UBL (Hubli Junction) to SBC (Bangalore city) Fast passenger

★ Train# 586 : SBC (Bangalore city) to UBL (Hubli Junction) Fast passenger
'Nearest Airport:' Nearest Airport to Harihar is the Hubli Airport, which is 131kms from Harihar.

Eatouts

★ Hotel Ayodhya, P B Road

★ Hotel Gayathri, Shimoga Road

★ Rajasthani Dhaba, 3 kms from Harihar (towards Ranebennur)

★ Ramdev Dhaba

★ Mahesh Butter (Benne) Dose Hotel
Harihar is famous for the local Khara mandakki, and Mirchi Bhajis (called menasinakaayi in Kannada), anyone visiting Harihar shouldn't leave the place without eating this.

''Did you know this?''

★ Harihar was proposed to be the capital of Karnataka, as it is in the centre.

External links

★ Defiling of Tungabhadra continues in Harihar

★ The Harihareshwara temple is said to be built by Jakanachari in only one day. He could not complete certain carvings which are still evidently left in half way.

References

1. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Harihar
2.