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Chamarajanagar CH Nagar
City
Chamarajanagar Railway Station
Nickname: The City of Chamraja Wodeyar IX
Coordinates: 11°55′34″N 76°56′25″E / 11.9260°N 76.9402°E / 11.9260; 76.9402
Country	India
State	Karnataka
Division	Mysuru
District	Chamarajanagar
Named for	Chamaraja Wodeyar IX
Government
• Body	City Municipal Council
Area
• City	18.75 km² (7.24 sq mi)
• Rural	1,210 km² (470 sq mi)
Elevation	720 m (2,360 ft)
Population (2011)
• City	69,875 ^[1]
• Rural	287,924
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	571 313
Telephone code	+91(0)8226
Vehicle registration	KA-10
Website	http://www.chamarajanagaracity.mrc.gov.in

Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is a town in the southern part of Karnataka, India. Named after Chamaraja Wodeyar IX, the erstwhile Raja of Mysore, previously known as 'Arikottara'. Chamarajanagara is the headquarters of Chamarajanagar district. It is located on the interstate highway linking the neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

History

Chamarajanagar was earlier known as Sri Arikottara. Chamaraja Wodeyar, the Wodeyar of Mysuru was born here and hence this place was renamed after him. The Vijaya Parsvanath Basadi, a holy jain shrine was constructed by Punisadandanayaka, the commander of the Hoysala king Gangaraja in the year 1117 AD.

Geography

Chamarajnagar is located at 11°55′N 76°57′E / 11.92°N 76.95°E / 11.92; 76.95.^[2] It has an average elevation of 720 metres (2,360 ft).

Demographics

As of the 2011 census, Chamrajanagar had a population of 69875.^[3] Males constituted 51% of the population and females 49%. Chamrajanagar has an average literacy rate of 60%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 65% and female literacy of 54%. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Transport

National Highway 150A (India) originating from Jevargi, terminates at Chamarajanagara. Another national highway NH-948 connecting Bengaluru to Coimbatore passes through the city. State Highway 80 (Karnataka) and State Highway 81 (Karnataka) are the other two major highways connecting the city.

Chamarajanagar railway station is the southernmost rail point in Karnataka. There is a direct train to Tirupati which starts at three in the afternoon and a direct train to Bengaluru in the morning. The nearest airport is Mysore airport and the nearest international airports are in Coimbatore International Airport and Kempegowda International Airport.

Religious Scenario

Maaravva or Maaramma is the most widely worshiped deity in the town, more than ten temples of Maaravva can be found in the town. Chamarajeshwara Temple and Haralu Kote Anjaneya Temple are the biggest and the oldest temples respectively. Apart from these, the town has many temples. As far as other religious beliefs are concerned, the town has more than 15 mosques, 5 churches, 2 Jain Basadis, and 2 Buddha Viharas.

Bandit Veerappan

Since a lot of the southern area of the district is dense forest, it had provided a good refuge to the notorious bandit Veerappan, responsible for the death of over a hundred policemen. He was shot dead in an encounter with the specially formed Special Task Force (STF) on 18 October 2004 in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu. He had been on the run for over two decades.

The presence of illegal quarrying for black stone imposes a great threat to the forests in the region.