Wardha

Understand

History Hindu Kingdom of Berar Little or nothing is known of the early history of the District, but we have a mention of the river Wardha so for back as the 2nd century BC. The early mention goes to Berar - the King of Vidharbha. The country of Vidarbha (Berar) was later divided into two (between Berar and his cousin Madhavansena), each ruling on one side of the river (Wardha). Chalukya and Rashtrakuta Kings Wardha with the rest of Berar probably formed part of the Chalukya Rajput dynasty whose capital was situated in the modern Bijapur District and subsequently at Nasik and whose rule lasted from about 550 to 750 AD. Copper-plate grants belonging to this dynasty have been found at Multai in Betul and at Deoli in Wardha. The Deoli plate is dated AD 940 in the reign of the king Krishna III; it records the grant of a village named Talapurumshaka in the Nagapura-Nandivardhan District to a Kanarese Brahman. The Bahmani Kingdom Wardha was subsequently included in the territories of the Bahmani kings of Gul barga near Solapur and Bidar, who established an independent principality in 1351, and were so called because the founder of their line, elected after the revolt from Muhammad Tughlak, was either a Brahman or a Brahman's servant. Mr. Sir A. Lyall says : 'We may venture to describe roughly the Bahmani province of Berar as stretching from the Satpura range southward to Godavari river, from Khandesh and Daulatabad eastward to the Wardha river.' The Imad Shahi Dynasty There is and early mention of an invasion of Berar by the king of Gujarat in 1437 in which the Raja of Gondwana (across the Wardha) aided and abetted. This Raja must probably have belonged to the Chanda line. On the collapse of the Bahmani dynasty in 1518, Berar was ruled for a period by the Imad Shahi princes from their capital at Ellichpur, the founder of the dynasty being a Kanarese Hindu whom the governor of Berar had promoted to high office. The Mughal Empire The Ellichpur kingdom was crushedby the kin

Getting there

The easiest way to get to Wardha is via Nagpur. Wardha is 75 km from Nagpur and would take about an hour and a half to reach.

See

Gitai Mandir. This temple is situated in Gopuri near Vishwa Shanti Stupa. This is a unique temple in India which has no deity and roof. It has just walls made of granite slabs on which 18 chapters of Gitai (Shrimad Bhagwad Gita in Marathi) are inscribed. The wall enclosed a little beautiful park. This temple was inaugurated by Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1980. Beside are two exhibitions about life of Acharya Vinoba Bhave and Jamnalal Bajaj. Kelzar Ganpati temple. The Kelzar Ganpati Temple is situated about 26 km from Wardha on Nagpur Road. This temple is situated on a hill and is surrounded by the scenic beauty of forests and hills. The temple is historical place and its history goes back to "Vashishtha Purana". The place is also mentioned in "Mahabharata". The temple is situated near the "Bor National Tiger Reserve & Bird century".

Magan Sangrahalaya (Museum). This museum was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1938. It is situated in Maganwadi near Centre of Science for village. Purpose of construction of this museum is to spread awareness about research and development of rural industries, agriculture, dairy etc. various types of charkhas, khadi, hadicrafts by rural artisans, methods to promote swadeshi movement etc. are exhibited there. Paramdham Ashram. This ashram was established by Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1934 on bank of river Dham with spiritual purpose. He also establish Brahma Vidya mandir in it. He started Bhoodan movement from here. Also starting point of "Bharat Chhodo Andolan" was this ashram.

1 Sevagram Ashram (Bapu Kuti) (8 km from Wardha), ☏ +91-7152-284753, [email protected]. Old name of village Sevagram was Shegaon. After leaving Sabarmati ashram, Mahatma Gandhi stayed a few days in Wardha City at Bunglow of Jamanalal Bajaj. Thereafter, this ashram was built by him for Gandhiji at outskirts of wardha. Gandhiji arrived here in 1936 and stayed till his death in 1948. It is a group of huts used by Gandhiji, his wife Kasturba and other discip

Eat

The best bakery of the town is "Nirmal Bakery". This bakery offers oven fresh breads, cookies and cakes. You can easily reach by addressing Nirmal Bakery in Wardha. Samadhan is a snacks shop for samosas and aloo-bonda (best at its taste) also next to it there is a novelty juice shop with speciality of badam-shake.