About Belagavi City
It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi division and Belagavi district
Get to Know About Belagavi City
Belagavi, also known as “Venugrama” or the “Bamboo Village” is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi division and Belagavi district. It is also called as the second capital for the state of Karnataka .The most ancient place in the district is Halsi and this, according to inscriptions on copper plates discovered in its neighborhood, was once the capital of a dynasty of nine Kadamba kings. It appears that from the middle of the 6th century to about 760 the area was held by the Chalukyas, who were succeeded by the Rashtrakutas. After the break-up of the Rashtrakuta power a portion of it survived in the Rattas (875–1250), who from 1210 onward made Venugrama their capital. Inscriptions give evidence of a long struggle between the Rattas and the Kadambas of Goa, who succeeded in the latter years of the 12th century in acquiring and holding part of the district. By 1208, however, the Kadambas had been overthrown by the Rattas, who in their turn succumbed to the Yadavas of Devagiri in 1250.
Belagavi is selected in first phase out of 20 cities, as one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities Mission.
The city is in the northwestern parts of Karnataka and lies at the border of two states, Maharashtra and Goa on the western ghats (50 km from the Goa state border). It is one of the oldest towns in the state, lying 502 km from Bangalore, 515 km from Hyderabad ,500 km from Mumbai ,
Belagavi houses the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre (MLIRC). It also houses the Commando Training Wing which is a part of the Infantry School, where the country’s infantry commandos are trained in endurance, escape and evasion, guerrilla and commando warfare techniques and to live off the land. The commando course at Belagavi is mandatory for all infantry officers. Officers of other arms and services and even some foreign officers undertake the course. Belagavi has a tropical savanna climate. It is known for its pleasant year-round climate. Belagavi is at its coldest in winter November – February temperatures dropping to 7 degrees Celsius the minimum temperature in Karnataka state is usually recorded in Belagavi , and it experiences almost continuous monsoon rains from June through September. Belagavi sometimes receives hail storms during April
Educational institutions
Belgaum is also an important educational hub, consisting of eight engineering colleges, five medical colleges, and some dental colleges across the city and district. Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), the largest university of Karnataka for technical education (for BE, Mtech, MCA, MBA) is based in Belgaum. Basic degree colleges, nine polytechnic colleges and three law colleges are other educational institutions. The Karnatak Lingayat Education Society (KLE), and Karnatak Law Society (KLS), are two educational giants based in Belgaum.
From the late 1970s onwards, Belgaum began seeing a substantial increase in the number of professional education institutions. While initially this was largely in the medical and engineering fields, Belgaum today hosts institutions serving a number of other professional streams as well.
The establishment of the Visvesvaraya Technological University in 1998, with the affiliation of more than 208 engineering colleges, raised the importance of Belgaum as a centre of education in Karnataka. Belgaum also hosts a number of medical colleges. The impact of this growth has considerably changed the cultural, linguistic and industrial profile of the city due to the influx of students from across India (and even across the world), some of whom made Belgaum their home base after completing their education there.
Defence training centres
Belgaum’s salubrious climate, proximity to the coast and strategic position near Portuguese Goa commended it to the British as a suitable location for an army training centre and cantonment, which it continues to be today for the Indian Armed Forces, along with an air force station of the Indian Air Force. The British had a sizeable infantry post here, having realised the military importance of its geographical location. Perhaps that is one of the reasons for Belgaum’s sobriquet “The Cradle of Infantry”.
Development of a rail network for movement of resources and later troops was one of the means employed by both the East India Company and the British to exert control over India. Belgaum houses the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre (MLIRC). It also houses the Commando Training Wing which is a part of the Infantry School, Mhow, where the country’s infantry commandos are trained in endurance, escape and evasion, guerrilla and commando warfare techniques and to live off the land.
The commando course at Belgaum is mandatory for all infantry officers. Officers of other arms and services and even some foreign officers undertake the course. In between the military hospital and the commando training centre there lies the eminent Belgaum Military School, established in 1945 spread over an area of 64 acres
