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Mangalore City Corporation–An
Introduction
Mangalore is
an important city in Karnataka and is situated on the west coast.
After integration the city is developing fast in all directions viz.
in the field of education, industry and commerce.
Mangalore is
located at 12°-52’N latitude and 74°-49’E longitude. The city is
located in the confluence of Nethravathi and Gurupura rivers. It is
bound in the east by the Western Ghats and in the west by the
Arabian Sea. Three National Highways viz., NH-17 linking Panvel and
Kanyakumari, NH-48 linking Mangalore and Bangalore, NH-13 linking
Mangalore and Solapur pass through the city. A domestic Airport is
located at Bajpe, which is 15 km from city connecting it to Mumbai
and Bangalore. Mangalore is also linked by rail to all major cities
of India and is also having all weather harbor.
Mangalore is
headquarters of Dakshina Kannda District. Mangalore is the largest
urban coastal center of Karnataka and the fourth largest city of the
State. The city is an administrative, commercial, educational, and
industrial center. An all weather port is located in Mangalore and
is the only major port of Karnataka.
The
topography of the city is from plain to undulating with four hilly
regions natural valleys within the city. The ambient temperature
varies minimum from 17°c to a maximum 37°c. There is a heavy rain
fall of about 4000mm per annum of which about 90% received in the
monsoon months June – September. The relative humidity is generally
very high reaching saturation levels during the monsoon months. The
geology of the city is characterized by hard laterite in hilly
tracts and sandy soil near seashore.
MANGALORE–THE CITY NAME
The name ‘Mangalore’ is the anglicised version of ‘Mangaluru’, the
name for the city in the local Kannada language. The Malayalam
language variant of the same is ‘Mangalapuram’. One of the earliest
references to this name is made by Pandya King Chettian, who called
the city as ‘Managalapuram’ in 715 AD. Yet another historical
reference is by the 11th century Arabian traveler Ibn Batuta, whose
chronicles refer to Mangalore as ‘Manjarur’. This variation in
spelling is attributed to the pronunciation gap between and Arabic
and the local language.
It is believed that the city derived its name from the temple of
Goddess Mangaladevi. ‘Mangaluru’ literally means ‘the city of
Mangala’. According to legend Matsyendranatha, one of the important
propounders of the Nath cult had arrived at Mangalore with the
princess of Kerala, Premaladevi. He named her Mangaladevi. It is
believed that they could not proceed further as Mangaladevi died
after a brief period of illness and a temple was consecrated in her
name at Bolar. Later the Mangaladevi was renovated by the Alupa king
Kundavarma in 968 AD.
In the native Tulu language, the city is known as ‘Kudla’ meaning
‘junction’ as the city is situated at the confluence of the two
rivers – Netharavathi and Phalguni. The Konkani language variant of
this ‘Kodial’. The region covering Mangalore is known locally as ‘Tulunadu’,
on account of the predominance of Tulu language.
Yet another name for the city is ‘Mikala’, which is the name used by
the Muslims of the nearby towns of Manjeshwar and Kasargod to refer
to Mangalore. ‘Mikala’, in their language means ‘wood charcoal’ and
this is attributed to the earlier practice of producing charcoal
from wood on the banks of the river Nethravathi.
Mangalore City is having several places of
religious/tourist importance, a few of which could be named as
Mangala Devi Temple (city being named by this temple), Kadri
Manjunatheswara Temple, Kudroli Gokarnatheshwara Temple,
Venkataraman Temple at Carstreet, Ganapathi Temple at Hampankatta,
Shreemanthi Bai Memorial Musium at Bejai., Pelikula Nisargdhama,
Vamanjoor, Panambur and Surathkal Beach, Tagore Park at light house
Hill, Kadri park, St. Aloysius Chapel, Rosario Church,
, Milagreese Church, Jumma Masjid Bundar, Idgah Masjid at
Lighthousehill,
Sulthan Batheri, New Mangalore Port at Panamboor, etc. There is
ample scope for tourist Development project.
The major industries in Mangalore are Mangalore Chemical and
Fertilizers Ltd. Kudhuremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. Mangalore
Refinary and Petrochemicals Ltd etc. Mangalore Tiles are famous in
all over world since ancient time. Beedi rolling industry is also
famous in Mangalore.
Major Banks of the India are originated from this town. It is also
famous for educational institutions.
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