Godhra

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Godhra | type = town | latd = 22.77 | longd = 73.72
locator_position = right | state_name = Gujarat
district = Panchmahal
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altitude = 73
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 121,852| population_density =
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Godhra is a town and the originally the name came from "Gou" means "Cow" and "Dhara" means "Flow". The Cow are Flowing in the Panchmahal District, a municipality in Panchmahal district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarter of the Panchmahal district.

Godhra is also one of the religious places in the India which has four bethaks (temples) for Vaishnav Sampraday (Vaisnal Community). Two bethaks are of Lord Gokulnathji, and one each for Lord Gusaiji and Lord Mahaprabhuji. Godhra also has three beautiful Jain temples. The main idol ('Mul Nayak') in the main Jain Temple is that of Tirthankar Bhagawan Shantinath.

Godhra is widely known in India and internationally for being the eye of the storm, which began with Godhra train burning on 27 February 2002, near the Godhra railway station. The incident set off days of riots in Gujarat state. According to an official estimate, 1044 people were killed in the violence - 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus including those killed in the Godhra train fire. Another 223 people were reported missing, 2,548 injured, 919 women widowed and 606 children orphaned. [These figures were reported to the Rajya Sabha by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal in May, 2005. cite news | title = Gujarat riot death toll revealed | publisher = BBC News Online |date=2005-05-11| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4536199.stm cite news | title = BJP cites govt statistics to defend Modi | author - PTI | publisher = ExpressIndia |date=2005-05-12 | url = http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=46626 cite news | title = 254 Hindus, 790 Muslims killed in post-Godhra riots | author = PTI | publisher = Indiainfo.com |date=2005-05-11 | url = http://news.indiainfo.com/2005/05/11/1105godhra-rs.html]

Education

Also, from the education point of view, there is [college] in Godhra for Homeopathy studies, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts, Diploma, ITI in various streams and a technical school [http://yellowpages.webindia123.com/dpy/Gujarat/Godhra/Schools/1/] [http://yellowpages.webindia123.com/dpy/Gujarat/Godhra/Colleges/1/] . Anaj Mahajan Sarvajanik Shikshan Mandal and [http://www.shardamandir.org Sharda Mandir] are among very large groups working in the field of quality education. There are 3 English medium schools, namely, [http://www.ssrvm.org Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidyamandir(CBSE)] ,Rotary English School and Saint Arnold's School. There are four schools having higher secondary education in the city, namely, M & M Mehta High School (Gujarati Medium), The Iqbal Union High School (Gujarati Medium), Rotary (English & Gujarati Medium) and Saint Arnold's School (English & Gujarati Medium).

Godhra has very first Gandhi Ashram, Bharat Ratna Shri Sardar VallabhBhai Patel has started practice as Berister at Godhra... & Mahatma Gandhiji & SVP met first time personnaly at Godhra...This is historic place.

Geography

Godhra is located at coord|22.7500|N|73.6333|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/9/Godhra2.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Godhra] ] . It has an average elevation of 138 metres (456 feet).

"Kanelav Talav", a nice pond set in a scenic setting has offered refuge to generations of Godhra residents. It has beautiful scenery and a check-dam. [http://www.rotary.org Rotary Club Godhra] have developed, with the help of local institutes & organizations, beautiful infrastructure at Kanelav, popularly known as Rotary Kanelav Picnic Point.

Ram Sagar Talav, another pond in the center of the town offers another anchor point that also serves as a place to relax and meet your friends. Ram Sagar Talav has been divided in to two parts, and only a small drainage links them. It has a land scape stood up in the centre of it. At this point, a statue of Sri Swami Vivekananda has been put.

Few miles from Godhra lie the Pavagadh hills. On the peak of hills is famous temple of Goddess Kali. It is one of the oldest places of worship. On the foot hills of Pavagadh is ancient fort of Champaner which was the medieval capital of Gujarat and seat of Chavda Kingdom."'Godhra's People Famous Food is Maize Bread (Makai no rotlo)"'Godhra's People Are very Helpful and always ready to help anybody either who is come from out of state or country.....Godhra's People speaks pure Gujarati Language...Number one School in Godhra is M & M Mehta High School under G.S.S.M.

Godhra is an important junction on Indian Railways line from Mumbai (Bombay) to New Delhi. Also, another important railway line passing through Godhra is Ahmedabad to Bhopal line. The major nearby railway stations are: In the East: Dahod, In the South-West: Vadodara (Baroda), In the West: Anand and Ahmedabad.

Godhra is surrounded by these towns/villages of Panchmahal district(In Alphabetical order):
Dahod
Halol
Kalol
Limkheda
Lunavada
Shahera
Vejalpur

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Godhra had a population of 121,852. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Godhra has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 66%.

Entertainment

Godhra had two major cinema halls, namely Ambika Cinema and Moonlight Talkies, but the former one has been shut down to create a mall instead of that. It was just on the opposite side of main bus station. Moonlight Talkies, being on the Dahod road, has wider audience coverage.Two new mini cinemas have started recently. One of them is just besides Moonlight Talkies and the other is at the Ahmedabad way.

References