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'Agartala' (Bengali: আগরতলা) 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 189,327 in 2001^[1].

Contents

History

Geography and climate

Demographics

Neighbourhoods

Extensions

City Administration

Economy

Demography and culture

Transport

Education

Sports

Places of interest

References

External links

History

The Capital Agartala was founded in 1838 AD by Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya (1830-49 AD).The Agartala Municipality was instituted in 1871 AD during the reign of Maharaja Chandra Manikya (1862-96 AD). The 1st British Political Agent, Mr. A.W.B. Power appointed for hill Tipprah in 1871 AD, was offered the honour of being the Chairman of the Agartala Municipality. The municipality located at the crossing of Latitude N 23 –50` and Longitude E 91-17` covering 3 km². Area during that period.

Geography and climate

Agartala is located at ^[2]. 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 : (Mar to Jun) - Warm

★ Monsoon: (Jul to Sep) - Warm and humid

★ Winter : (Oct to Feb) - Cold

Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[3], 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.

Neighbourhoods

Agartala city consists of many ''Para''s, which means "locality" in the local language. Each neighbourhood or ''para'' is usually a municipal ward or division also. The major areas of the city are Krishnanagar, Banamalipur, Dhaleshwar, Shibnagar, Ramnagar, Joynagar, Abhoynagar, Radhanagar, Arundhutinagar, Gol Bazaar and Gurkha Basti. Kunjaban, which an independent town is also part of the Agartala urban area.
These areas are further subdivided into residential blocks, such as Banamalipur is divided into North Banamalipur, Madhya Banamlipur, South Banamalipur, etc.

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.^[4][5]

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.

Economy

The city is the state capital so most of the population is employed in the state & central Government and other Government owned enterprises, such as ONGC, BSNL, etc.
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.

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 a growing population of the Tripuri people in the city.

Transport

National Highway 44 connects Agartala to Assam and rest of India by road.

Agartala is also connected by air - the modernised Agartala Airport connects it to other cities in India.
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.

Education

Agartala has a lot of educational institutions, schools and colleges and also a university.
The major institutes of Higher learning are:

★ '''Umakanta Academy'''

★ '''Shishu Bihar Higher Secondary School'''

★ '''Netaji Subhas Vidyaniketan'''

★ Tripura University

★ MBB College

★ National Institute of Technology (NIT Agartala) (Formerly Tripura Engineering College)

★ Agartala Medical College

★ Women's College

★ Ramthakur College

★ Tripura Govt. Medical College

★ ICFAI university, Tripura

Sports

Agartala has a good sporting tradition, with many sports and games being played. Especially favourite is football (soccer) 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 Football Stadium.

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

★ Ravindra Kanan

★ State Museum

★ Puratan Agartala

References

1. Census March 1 2001
2. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Agartala
3.
4. Agartala Municipality Statistics
5. Agartala Statistics and future outlook

External links

★ About AMC

★

★ 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