Important jatra :
Place |
Month |
Deity/Saint |
No of days |
Approximate attendence |
Shishuvinal |
March |
Shishunal Shariff |
1 |
20,000 |
Guddaguddapur |
September-October |
Mailara Lingeshwara |
2 |
25,000 |
Yamanur |
March-April |
Raja Bagh Savar Urus |
1 |
20,000 |
Dharwad |
August |
Ulvi Basavanna |
1 |
30,000 |
Dharwad |
February |
Murugendra Swamy |
1 |
30,000 |
Dharwad, a district headquaters on the Pune-Bangalore Road is the
cultural headquarters of North Karnataka.It is the home of Alur Venkatrao, the father of
Karnataka Unification movement, poet Bendre and outstanding Hindustani Vocalists
Mallikarjuna Mansur.
Mentioned as 'Dharawada' in a record of the 12th century of the Kalyani Chalukyas, the
place came under the Sevunas, the Vijayanagara, and Bijapur rulers, Mughuls, Marathas and
Haider and Tipu. the Vijayanagara rulers built a fort here which was strengthened hy
Bijapur rulers. Its door-frame alone remains now. The Durgadevi temple near the fort is
renovated now and the Someshwara on Kalghatgi Rd. has a Chalukyan temple and a tank. The
Mailara Linga temple at Vidyagiri is a Kalyani Chalukyan monument converted into a mosque
by Bijapur army but agam changed as a temple by the Peshwas. The place has many temples
like Venkataramana, Nandi Kola Basavanna, Dattatreya, Ulavi Basavanna etc., The Ivlurugha
Matha is a centre of religious activity. The Sanskrit College is a f'our-storeyed building
of the late 19th Century. The Karnataka Univcrsity (1949), the Agricultural University
(1986) and the All India Radio Station gave new lif'e to the educational and culture life
of the city. Dharwad played a prominent part in the freedom movement.Dharwad firing
in 1921 which killed three Khilafat workers caused a stir in the country.Dharwad has
Chruches of the Basel Mission and the Catholics.
