Khairagarh is a town and a
nagar palikaIn India, a nagar palika or municipality is a urban local body that administers a city of population 20,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it interacts directly with the state government, though it is administratively part of the district it is located in...
in
Rajnandgaon DistrictRajnandgaon District is a district of in the state of Chattisgarh in India. The administrative headquarters the district is Rajnandgaon town.-History:The district was carved out from the erstwhile Durg district on 26 January 1973...
in the
IndiaIndia , 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...
n
stateIndia is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of
ChhattisgarhChhattisgarh 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....
. Administered by a nagar panchayat, Khairagarh city is facilitated by primary health centers, schools and a wide network of roads and railway tracks. Khairagarh also flaunts a rich heritage of touristy places that are found in and around the city.
History
Khairagarh was a feudatory state of the former
Central ProvincesThe Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur....
of British India. Pandadah (8 km from khairagarh) is one of the most historical places in
ChhattisgarhChhattisgarh 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....
. The chief, who is descended From the old Nagavansha royal family, received the title of Raja, The King, as an hereditary distinction in 1898. The state included a fertile plain, yielding rice and cotton. Its prosperity was promoted by the Bengal-Nagpur railway, which has a station at Dongargarh, the largest town (pop. 5856 in 1901),
Geography
Khairagarh is located at 21.42°N 80.97°E. It has an average elevation of 307 metres (1007 feet).
Climate
Khairagarh is a generally tranquil place, which complements the musical and academic fervor of the university. This part of India has a hot summer between mid-April to mid-June. Besides these two months, the climate is generally pleasant. One may enjoy monsoon, autumn, winter (mild winter, as temperature does not drop down below 25°C) and spring at one place.
Demographics
India
censusA 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...
, Khairagarh had a population of 15,149. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Khairagarh has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 64%. In Khairagarh, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Transport
The three nearby railway stations, Rajnandgaon, Dongargarh, and
DurgDurg is a city located in Chhattisgarh state, Central India. It is located just east of the Seonath River and is part of the Durg-Bhilai urban agglomeration. The city is an agricultural market and is heavily engaged in milling rice and pigeon peas. Durg gained importance as an industrial centre...
, are 40, 42 and 55 kilometres away from Khairagarh respectively. Direct trains for Vishakhapatnam,
MumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
,
PunePune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
,
AhmedabadAhmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, Howrah,
BhubaneswarBhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...
,
ChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Trivandrum,
AmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
and
New DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
are available from these railway stations, situated on the main train route of Howrah-Mumbai via
NagpurNāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
. The state capital
Raipur is a three-hour journey from Khairagarh University. Raipur and Nagpur airports are at a distance of 100 and 225 kilometres, respectively.
Indira Performing Art and Music University
The Indira Performing Art and Music University (Indira Kala-Sangeet Vishwvidyalaya) is Asia's only university dedicated to visual and performing arts.
Indira Kala-Sangeet Vishwvidyalaya was established under the Act XIX of 1956 of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. After the creation of the new state of Chhatisgarh in 2001, the Governor of Chhattisgarh is the Chancellor and Administrative cum Academic Head of I. K. S. V. Khairagarh.
In 1956, the then-rulers of princely state of Khairagarh donated their palace to open a University of Music and Fine Arts. His Majesty, the late Raja Birendra Bahadur Singh, and Her Majesty, the late Rani Padmavati Devi, named this university after their beloved daughter ‘Indira’.
To join and study at the Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya is a way to enjoy Indian art forms. The university offers a long list of subjects and courses related to diverse art forms like classical vocal music (Hindustani and
CarnaticCarnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
), classical instrumental music (Hindustani and Carnatic), classical dance styles (
KathakKathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...
and
BharatanatyamBharata Natyam or Chadhir Attam, is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music...
), folk dance and music, painting, sculpture, graphics, history of Indian art and culture, and various literatures. The university is involved in teaching and research in Indian performing and visual art forms. The University has forty-five affiliated colleges, one affiliated research center and a good number of recognized examination centers throughout India.
The university is one of a kind in India as it provides degree for different forms of classical dance and music. The rest of the universities provide with diploma courses for the same.