Dantewada
Encyclopedia
Dantewada (Hindi
: दंतेवाडा) is a town and a nagar panchayat
in the Dantewada district
in the state of Chhattisgarh
, India
. It is the administrative headquarters of Dantewada District
.
The town is named after the goddess Danteshwari, the presiding deity of the Danteshwari Temple
located in the town, 80 km from the Jagdalpur
tehsil. The goddess is worshipped as an incarnation of Shakti
and the temple is held to be one of the fifty-two sacred Shakti Peethas
.
, Dantewada had a population of 6632. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Dantewada has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78% and, female literacy is 61%. In Dantewada, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
.
Formed in 2005, Salwa Judum translates as "peace mission", but hundreds of thousands of tribal villagers are caught in the crossfire between Salwa Judum and the Maoists.
Moaists claim the state-backed Salwa Judum is trying to take the land from tribal villagers and hand it over to big corporations to develop.
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
: दंतेवाडा) is a town and a nagar panchayat
Nagar Panchayat
A nagar palika or nagar panchayat is a form of an urban political unit in India comparable to a municipality.An urban centre with more than 30,000 and less than 100,000 inhabitants is classified as a nagar panchayat....
in the Dantewada district
Dantewada District
Dantewada District, also known as Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District , is a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bastar Division...
in the state of Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is the administrative headquarters of Dantewada District
Dantewada District
Dantewada District, also known as Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District , is a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bastar Division...
.
The town is named after the goddess Danteshwari, the presiding deity of the Danteshwari Temple
Danteshwari Temple
Danteshwari Temple is temple dedicated to Goddess Danteshwari, and is one of the 52 Shakti Peethas, shrines of Shakti, the divine feminine, spread across India. The temple built in 14th century by the Chalukyas of the South, is situated in Dantewada, a town situated 80 km from Jagdalpur...
located in the town, 80 km from the Jagdalpur
Jagdalpur
Jagdalpur is a city and a municipality in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. It is the administrative headquarters of Bastar District and Bastar Division, and was the capital of the erstwhile princely state of Bastar. Jagdalpur and its surrounding area comprise a major part of the...
tehsil. The goddess is worshipped as an incarnation of Shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
and the temple is held to be one of the fifty-two sacred Shakti Peethas
Shakti Peethas
The Shakti Pithas are places of worship consecrated to the goddess Shakti or Parvati or Sati or Durga, the female principal of Hinduism and the main deity of the Shakta sect...
.
Geography
Dantewada is located at 18.9000°N 81.3500°E. It has an average elevation of 351 meters (1154 feet).Demographics
India censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Dantewada had a population of 6632. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Dantewada has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78% and, female literacy is 61%. In Dantewada, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Policy
Over the last year, more than 350 people have been killed and 50,000 moved into camps in the Dantewada district, as a result of a battle between Maoist rebels and an Indian government-funded militia called Salwa JudumSalwa Judum
Salwa Judum refers to a militia in Chhattisgarh, India, which is aimed at countering the naxalite violence in the region...
.
Formed in 2005, Salwa Judum translates as "peace mission", but hundreds of thousands of tribal villagers are caught in the crossfire between Salwa Judum and the Maoists.
Moaists claim the state-backed Salwa Judum is trying to take the land from tribal villagers and hand it over to big corporations to develop.