Magadi

Magadi ಮಾಗಡಿ
town
Ranganatha Swamy temple
Magadi Location in Karnataka, India
Coordinates: 12°58′N 77°14′E / 12.97°N 77.23°E / 12.97; 77.23Coordinates: 12°58′N 77°14′E / 12.97°N 77.23°E / 12.97; 77.23
Country	India
State	Karnataka
District	Ramanagara district
Elevation	925 m (3,035 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	25,000
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	562120

Magadi is a town in Ramanagara district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Magadi was the capital of Kempe Gowda who founded Bangalore in the 16th century. In modern literature, the forests around Magadi were the setting of the true story "Old Munnusamy and the man-eater of Magadi" by the India born British hunter Kenneth Anderson. Since then, the wildlife around Magadi has been greatly reduced by poaching and habitat loss. Magadi is fast becoming a part of the growing Bangalore district whose border is just 25 km away.

Some noted historical sites in and around Magadi are the Savandurga, the Ranganatha Swamy Temple at Tirumale where a fair is held every April, the ruins of Magadi fort and the Gavi Gangadeshwara temple. ^[1]

History

In 1638, the Sultan of Bijapur won Bangalore from the stranglehold of Kempegowda II. From then on, Kempegowda made Magadi the capital of his territories. For nearly ninety years, Kempegowda and his successors ruled the Magadi region, including Magadi town, where Kempegowda II built a fort that housed the offices of his administration and the stone fortress of Savanadurga. According to B L Rice in Mysore Gazetteer, the Gowda rule ended when the Dalavayi Deva Raja, a general in the Mysore Army, captured the last of the rulers. In 1728, the Mysore army breached the weak fort of Magadi and captured Kempa Veerappa Gowda (also known as Kempegowda). The last scion of the Kempegowda clan spent his last days in the prisons of Srirangapatnam. The then-impregnable fortress of Savandurga, with the accumulated wealth of nearly 200 years finally fell into the hands of the Mysore kingdom.

Geography

Rear view of Ranganatha Swamy temple at Magadi

Magadi is located at 12°58′N 77°14′E / 12.97°N 77.23°E / 12.97; 77.23.^[2] It has an average elevation of 925 metres (3034 feet). Now Magadi has been added to Ramanagara district after its formation.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[3] Magadi had a population of 25,000. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Magadi has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 73%, and female literacy is 60%.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Magadi.