Ballari

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Bellary district.

Ballari Bellary (ಬಳ್ಳಾರಿ)
City
Government
• Mayor	Ms. S.Parvathi Indushekhar
Population  (2001)
• Total	317,000
• Rank	Unranked
Website	www.bellarycity.gov.in

Bellary (Template:Lang-kn pronounced [ˈbəɭɭaːri] ) is a historic city in Bellary District in Karnataka state, India.

Origins of the city's name

There are several legends about how Bellary (ಬಳ್ಳಾರಿ) got its name.

• One of them is that a few devout travelling merchants halting in Bellary, could not find a Shiva Linga for their worship. They then installed a balla (ಬಳ್ಳ) (a measuring cup or seru (ಸೇರು) used to measure grain) upside down as a Shiva Linga and worshiped it. Eventually, that place was turned into a temple dedicated to Balleshwara (ಬಳ್ಳೇಶ್ವರ) or Shiva, which got distorted to Malleshwara (ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರ), and Bellary derives its name from this temple. This temple can still be found in the Fort area of the city, and an annual festival and fair dedicated to Shiva is conducted at the temple premises even today.

• Another legend is that the city is named after Indra, the king of Gods, who slew a Rakshasa (demon) named Balla who lived nearby. Balla-ari means 'enemy of Balla' (ari – enemy in Sanskrit).

• The third legend derives the city's name from the old Kannada word Vallari and Vallapuri.

History

Main article: History of Bellary

Core area of Western Chalukya monuments, roughly corresponding to Sindavadi-1000 (ಸಿಂದವಾಡಿ-1000)

Numerous neolithic archeological sites have been discovered around Bellary, such as the ash mounds at Sanganakallu, Budhihal, Kudithini, Tekkalakote, Hiregudda and Kupgal. The Sanganakallu settlement, spread over an area of 1,000 acres (4.0 km²), is one of the largest neolithic complexes known around Bellary.

Some of the events in the Ramayana have been related to places around Hampi, the celebrated capital of the Vijayanagara empire.

Historically, the Bellary area has been known by many names, such as Kuntala Desha, Sindavadi-nadu (ಸಿಂದವಾಡಿ-ನಾಡು) and Nolambavadi-nadu (ನೊಳಂಬವಾಡಿ-ನಾಡು).

Bellary was ruled in succession by the Mauryas, Satavahanas, the Pallavas, the Kadambas, the Badami Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas, the Kalyani Chalukyas, the Southern Kalachuryas, the Sevuna Yadavas, and the Hoysalas, and also ruled briefly by the Cholas during the wars between Kalyani Chalukyas and the Cholas.

After the Sevuna Yadavas and the Hoysalas were defeated by the Islamic sultanates of Delhi, the Vijayanagara Empire arose under Harihara I and Bukka I who dominated the Bellary area. Bellary itself was ruled by the family of Hande Hanumappa Nayaka, a Palayagara of the Vijayanagara rulers. After the fall of the Vijayanagara empire, the Hande Nayakas of Bellary were successively subsidiary to the Adilshahi sultanate, the Mughals, the Nizam, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, and finally the British Empire after the Nizam ceded a large part of the southern Deccan to the British East India Company. The Hande Nayakas ceased to be rulers of Bellary after Major Thomas Munro disposed of the palayagars of the ceded districts and established the Ryotwari land revenue system.

In 1808 AD, the ceded districts were split into Bellary and Kadapa districts, and in 1867 AD, the Bellary Municipal Council was created. Further in 1882 AD, Anantapuram district was carved out of the Bellary District. The Maratha princely state of Sandur was surrounded by Bellary district.

As of 1901 AD, Bellary was the seventh largest town in Madras Presidency, and was one of the chief military stations in Southern India, garrisioned by British and native Indian troops under the British Indian Government. The town included a civil railway station to the east of the Bellary Fort, the cantonment and its railway station on the west, the Cowl Bazar and the suburbs of 'Bruce-pettah' (currently spelt Brucepet) and 'Mellor-pettah', named after two British officers once stationed in the town. The industries in the town included a small distillery and two steam cotton-presses. The steam cotton-spinning mill established in 1894 had 17,800 spindles, and employed 520 hands.

On 1 October 1953 AD, the Bellary district of Madras State was divided on linguistic basis. Areas with significant Kannada speaking population were transferred to Mysore state, which would later become Karnataka state. Areas of the district with significant Telugu speaking population were merged into Anantapuram and Karnulu districts in what would later become Andhra Pradesh state. Bellary city itself, with both Kannada and Telugu speaking populace in large numbers, was included into Mysore state after a protracted debate and controversy.

The Bellary City Municipal Council was upgraded to a City Corporation in 2004.Bellary Population as of 2011 409,000

Geography and Climate

Bellary
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     2     31 17     2     34 19     15     38 23     23     39 26     61     39 26     61     35 25     72     34 24     88     33 24     131     33 23     95     32 23     44     30 20     14     30 17 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: myweather2
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.1     88 63     0.1     93 66     0.6     100 73     0.9     102 79     2.4     102 79     2.4     95 77     2.8     93 75     3.5     91 75     5.2     91 73     3.7     90 73     1.7     86 68     0.6     86 63 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Bellary is located at 15.15°N 76.93°E / 15.15; 76.93. It has an average elevation of 445 metres (1459 ft). The city stands in the midst of a wide, level plain of black cotton soil. Bellary has a semi arid climate. As the city lies in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats, it receives little rain from the southwest monsoon. Temperatures remain high throughout the year, but the months from March to June are especially hot, with high temperatures reaching 45 °C (110 °F) frequently. The months from November to February are relatively mild, with average temperatures of around 22 °C (71 °F). The city receives about 24 inches (610 mm) of rain every year mainly in the months from August to October.

City features

The rocks

Granite rocks and hills form a prominent feature of Bellary, and granite quarrying is big business. The city is spread mainly around two huge rocky granite hills, the Ballari Gudda (ಬಳ್ಳಾರಿ ಗುಡ್ಡ) and Kumbara Gudda (ಕುಂಬಾರ ಗುಡ್ಡ) (Gudda – hill in Kannada). These two hills are dominant features of the city, and are visible from every part of the city.

• Ballari Gudda

Ballari Gudda has a circumference of nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) and a height of 480 feet (150 m). The length of this rock from north-east to south-west is about 1,150 ft (350 m). To the east and south lies an irregular heap of boulders, but to the West is an unbroken monolith, and the north is walled by bare rugged ridges. This hill is also said to be the world's second largest monolithic hill.

• Kumbara Gudda

The other hill is called Kumbara Gudda (wikimapia). This hill, when viewed from the south-east looks like the profile of a human face and is also known as Face Hill.

• Others

Apart from these two hills, there are a number of other smaller granite hills within the city, the prominent among them being:

1. Kaate Gudda (ಕಾಟೇ ಗುಡ್ಡ) (wikimapia) opposite the Municipal Junior College, which also houses a water tank & pumping station. This is also nicknamed Kaage Gudda (ಕಾಗೆ ಗುಡ್ಡ), for its teeming flocks of Crows (Kannada : kaage=crow)
2. Eeshwara Gudda (ಈಶ್ವರ ಗುಡ್ಡ), behind the Anaadi Lingeshwara Temple in Parvati Nagar-Shastri Nagar area. This has now been quarried extensively and almost flattened with all loose boulders removed, making way for residential occupation.(wikimapia)
3. The one housing a water tank, adjacent to the Bellary Central Jail (wikimapia)
4. Adjacent to St. John's High School in the Fort Area (wikimapia)

It is also very common to find small boulders and rocks at numerous places within the city.

Bellary fort

The Indian Flag painted on the fort walls on the hill is visible from many parts of city.

Bellary Fort is built on top of Ballari Gudda or the Fort Hill. The Fort was built round the hill during Vijayanagara times by Hande Hanumappa Nayaka. Hyder Ali, who took possession of the Fort from the Hande Nayaka family in 1769, got the fort renovated and modified with the help of a French engineer. The lower fort was added by Hyder Ali around the eastern half of the hill. Legend has it that the unfortunate French engineer was hanged, for overlooking the fact that the neighbouring Kumbara Gudda is taller than Ballari Gudda, thus compromising the secrecy and command of the fort. His grave is believed to be located near the east gate of the fort, though some locals believe it to be the grave of a Muslim holy man.

The fort was classified as 1st class by the British Administration. This fort gave Bellary its ancient importance, and led to its selection by the British rulers as the site of a cantonment.

The fort is divided as the Upper Fort and the Lower Fort.

• The Upper fort

The Main Entrance for the UpperHill Fort at Bellary.

Mantapam Inside the UpperHill Bellary Fort.

The upper fort (wikimapia) is a polygonal walled building on the summit, with only one approach, and has no accommodation for a garrison. The upper fort consists of a citadel on the summit of the rock at 1,976 feet (602 m), guarded by three outer lines of fortification, one below the other. It contains several cisterns, excavated in the rock. Outside the turreted rampart are a ditch and covered way. The main turret on the east currently features a huge mural of the Indian Flag facing east (wikimapia). There is only one way up to the fort, which is a winding rocky path amongst the boulders. On the top, outside the citadel is a small temple, the remains of some cells and several deep pools of water. Within the citadel are several strongly constructed buildings, and an ample water supply from reservoirs constructed in the clefts of the rocks. Muzzaffar Khan, the Nawab of Kurnool, was confined here from 1823 to 1864 for the murder of his wife.

• The Lower fort

The lower fort (wikimapia) lies at the eastern base of the rock and measures about half a mile in diameter, and probably had an arsenal and barracks. It consists of a surrounding rampart numerous bastions, faced by a deep ditch and glacis. The entrance to the lower fort is via two gates, one each on the western and eastern sides. Just outside the eastern gates of the lower fort is a temple dedicated to Hanuman – the Kote Anjaneya Temple (Kote (ಕೋಟೆ) – fort in Kannada) (wikimapia). Later additions to the lower fort by the British include the Commissariat stores, the Protestant church, orphanage, Masonic lodge, post-office and numerous private dwellings. Now the lower fort contains a number of public buildings, government offices, schools & educational institutions and churches.

British colonial buildings

The following is a list of buildings built during the British colonial period. Despite many of them having been partially modified, they retain the typical colonial British style architecture.

• Bellary Central Jail
• The Wardlaw High School Complex
• St. Philomena's School Complex

The old school building has been demolished to give way to a modern building. However, the facade of the older structure has been retained as a 'heritage structure'. The adjoining convent and church remain intact.

• St. John's School Complex

The old school building has been retained as a 'heritage building' but not used. The classes are held in buildings built much recently.

• St. Joseph's School Complex
• The main building of VIMS ((Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences))

This was originally a part of the British cantonment’s infantry barracks converted into a military jail, called the Alipore (Allipura) jail, towards the end of the 19th century. The jail lodged prisoners of war drawn from the various theaters of the First World War, including France, Denmark and Turkey. Even the crown prince of Turkey was an inmate of the jail, and his body was buried in Bellary’s Turkish martyrs’ cemetery.

In 1920, this military jail became an additional civilian prison, Bellary Central Jail, when over 2,000 Mappilas from Travancore were imprisoned here. Famous personalities of the freedom movement were imprisoned here, such as C. Rajagopalachari, V. V. Giri, Tekur Subramanyam, Kamaraj Nadar, Potti Sri Ramulu, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Bezawada Gopala Reddy, E.V. Ramasamy Naicker, O. V. Alagesan, Bulusu Sambamurti and Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao.

This jail was closed (the only other in the subcontinent to be closed, apart from the Cellular Jail at Port Blair) in 1958 and the old buildings and entire area of 173 acres (0.70 km²) was converted into the Medical College campus in 1961. However, unlike the cellular jail, the entire Alipore jail with over 14 jail blocks was not considered for the status of National Heritage Museum. The records pertaining to this historic jail in Madras Presidency were sent to the National Archives in Chennai. The jail blocks were assigned to the Govt Medical College. All the blocks except one were converted into laboratories and hostels.

The lone jail barrack still standing amidst the Medical College structures was saved from demolition due the efforts of people like Tekur Ramnath (son of Tekur Subramanyam) and Bahadur Seshagiri Rao. The director of VIMS, Dr Devanand has proposed to preserve a portion of this barrack as a National Heritage Centre, naming it the "Swatantra Samara Soudha" (Freedom Fighters Museum).

• The Government Wellesly TB & Chest Diseases Hospital.
• The Tehsildar's Office
• The DC's Office
• The District and Sessions Court
• The Jail Superintendent's Residence
• The District Chief Judge's Residence
• The DC's Residence
• The Residence of Superintendent of Police

A part of the sprawling land attached to this building has been converted into a recreational facility for the local police forces (called the Police Gymkhana). Additionally, the formerly northern entrance to the residence has been relocated to the east of the compound. (wikimapia)

• The Railway Stations (both City & Cantonment)

Mahatma Gandhi spent about 8 hours on 01.10.1921 at the City Railway station during his visit to Bellary.

Parks, gardens and green spaces

Borey Fruit

Jaali

Whirlnut

Situated in a naturally arid region with semi-desert flora, the city has slowly accumulated greenery over the past few decades due to the collective efforts of the city residents, the regional Forest Department and the Municipal Council/Corporation. The following is a short list of major green spaces in the city:

• The Ballari and Kumbara rock hills

The two main rock hills form the major natural lung spaces in the city, accommodating a host of flora including various species of Ber (Kannada :Borey), the thorny Acacia (latronum, nilotica , pennata, ferruginea, catechu, chundra, etc. locally classified as jaali in Kannada), and the interesting Whirlnut (Gyrocarpus americanus Jacquini – illustration) that is not found elsewhere in the city.

• Kuntegadda Park

Officially called the Golden Jubilee Park or the Dr.Rajkumar Park, this former slum area has been changed into a beautiful urban park due to the efforts of a succession of District Commissioners starting with Ms. Gouri Trivedi and Ms. Manjula. The park features an artificial lake formed out of a disused granite quarry hole, a fountain with a daily musical show, a children's play area and a variety of garden flora.

• Bellary Zoo

Established in 1981, this zoo and children's park covers nearly 2.4 hectares, and hosts a variety of fauna including Blackbuck, Spotted deer (Chital), Jackal, Crocodile, Indian Peafowl, Cobra, Python, Bear, Panther, Boar, etc. This zoo is due to be relocated to a new facility.

• Kaategudda Park

This hill hosts a variety of trees and is famous for its resident flock of crows.

• Nagaruru Narayanarao Park in Vaddarabanda

This has now fallen into disuse.

• Basavanakunta Park

This disused granite quarry hole is being filled up to form an urban park.

• Parvathinagar Park

Run with funds donated by the Jindal Vijayanagar Steels corporation.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Bellary had a population of 409,000.Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%Bellary has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 82% of the males and 77% of females literate12% of the population is under 6 years of age.While Kannada is the administrative and predominant language, Telugu is also widely spoken by the residents, along with Dakhni (Deccan Urdu). A majority of the population is multilingual, speaking both Kannada and Telugu, and some including Dakhni and Hindi as well.

Education

Main article: Education in Bellary

Most graduate education in Bellary falls under the jurisdiction of Gulbarga University and Visvesvaraya Technological University. The following is an abridged list of educational institutions of historical importance in the city:

• Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS)
• St. Philomena's High School & Good Shepherd Convent

This school in Cantonment was founded in 1885. In 1901, a technical class was run at the high school by the nuns of the Order of Good Shepherd, and the pupils were almost all Europeans or Eurasians.

• Wardlaw Composite Jr. College

This school in Kaalamma Street was founded as a school in 1846 by Rev. R S Wardlaw, D.D. of the London Mission, and raised to second grade college in 1891. For a long time, it was the only Arts college in the Ceded Districts. In 1903–04 it had an average daily attendance of 319 students, of whom 17 were in F.A.Class. This is the oldest educational institution in the Bellary town and continues to offer quality education to the people of Bellary to date. Prof. U. R. Rao of ISRO studied in this institute.

• Municipal Junior College

This school on Ananthapur Road is over 150 years old. One of the oldest institutions in the town, it was started as a composite school for students from the Class IV elementary to Class VI form school final with English as the medium of instruction along with other languages like Telugu, Kannada and Urdu, besides ancient languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian.

John Neale was the first headmaster of the school, followed by eminent people such as Arcot Ranganath Mudaliar, T. D. Logan, Arcot Bheemachar, K. S. Vedantham, B. Madhava Rao, and Bahaddoor S. Seshagiri Rao. The foundation for the present building on Anantapur Road was laid on 16 July 1926 by R. G. Grieve, Director of Public Instruction, Government of Madras when Nagaruru Narayana Rao was the chairman of the Bellary Municipality

• Moulana Abul Kalam Azad High School (MAKA High School)

The Municipal High School was bifurcated in the 1950s and the Municipal Muslim High School located in the Fort area was later renamed Moulana Abul Kalam Azad High School. Janaab Meer Mohammed Hussain became the headmaster of the new school.

Medical facilities

State owned

The biggest chunk of medical facilities are owned and maintained by the government, under the jurisdiction of VIMS. The most prominent hospitals in the city are:

• Government Medical College Hospital/ Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS)

This Academic Institute with an adjoining Medical College Hospital was commissioned in 1966, and currently has 680 beds. It is locally known as OPD, referring to the Out Patient Department of the hospital located in Cantonment.

• Women & Children's Hospital or The District Hospital

Founded in 1842 as Sabhapathy Mudaliar Hospital, with 40 beds. Rai Bahadur A. Sabhapathy Mudaliar donated the building for the hospital.

Now popularly known as Ghosha hospital. Situated in the heart of city, it is spread over an area of 15 acres (61,000 m²) and has 210 beds for Paediatrics, Gynecology and Post Mortem cases. A 20 bedded Infosys ward has been added recently for the treatment of Japanese Encephalitis cases. This hospital is soon to be shifted to the VIMS campus.

• Government Wellesley Tuberculosis & Chest Diseases Hospital

Locally known as just TB Sanitarium/Sanatorium, it was started in 1929 during British rule and is spread over a spacious area of 20 acres (81,000 m²) in the Cantonment area.

• The Urban Health Center

Was constructed in 1999. Located in the heart of the City and has a daily capacity intake of about 120–140 outpatients.

Private facilities

• The numerous private and/or charitable hospitals in the city far outnumber the government facilities, though not in facilities provided. Historically private facilities were of limited sophistication; however, this trend has been slowly changing, with private entrepreneurs investing much into acquiring more sophisticated infrastructure and expertise.
• The city also boasts of a few good private diagnostic laboratories.

Travel and transport

Road

• Bellary is well connected by road to different parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa. The following are the major highways passing through the city :

• National Highway 63, connecting Ankola in Karavali Karnataka (west coast) to Gooty in Andhra Pradesh.

This is a major route for the mining trucks transporting Iron and Manganese ore from the Sanduru hill ranges to the sea port at Mangalore and Karwar. This highway also connects the city to Hubli, Hospet and Hampi.

• State Highway 19, connecting Bidar to Srirangapatna.

This highway connects the city to Raichur, Gulbarga and Bidar in the North and Bangalore and Mysore in the south.

• State Highway 132, connecting the city with Adoni, Kurnool, Vinukonda, Guntur, Vijayawada.
• The city is served by the North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), offering travel services to almost all parts of Karnataka, many parts of Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Pune and many parts of Maharastra. Additionally, a sizable number of private businesses offer travel services to important destinations.

• The main inter-city bus station is located in the now empty Nalla Cheruvu (నల్ల చెరువు) (Telugu – Black Lake or Tank) basin. This is a new improvement over the older bus stand located near Gadigi Chennappa Circle. The old bus stand still serves state owned buses connecting rural locations and city buses.
• An truck stationing facility, located in the Nalla Cheruvu basin, serves lorries and hauliers.

Railway

• During British rule, Bellary was served by The Southern Mahratta Railway, connecting Bellary with Hubballi on the west and Guntakallu on the east, and thus to Madras.

• Currently, two railway stations serve the city, both built during British rule. The city station (Bellary Junction) and the Cantonment station (Cantonment). The city is served by the Hubli–Guntakal line and the extended Bellary–Rayadurgam–Chitradurga line and falls under the jurisdiction of South Western Railway. Bellary is well connected by Rail to Bangalore, Raichur, Anantapur, Hindupur, Tirupati, Hubli, Guntakal, Adoni, Guntur, Vijayawada, Howrah, Pune, etc. Guntakal is an important junction near Bellary from where trains to Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and to most of the places in India are available.

Air

• Bellary Airport

The civilian Bellary Airport, located at the far end of the Cantonment area, has previously been serviced by Vayudoot and Air Deccan, linking Bellary with Bangalore, Goa and other nearby destinations. However, the services have been limited and inconsistent, with currently no commercial service available from this airport.

• Vidyanagar Airport

Bellary is currently served by Vidyanagar Airport, located at the JSW Steel Ltd. complex, Toranagallu in Sanduru Taluk, 40 kilometres from Bellary. Bangalore based Charter airline, Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Ltd (TAAL), operate sightseeing charter flights to Hampi and Mysore since October 2002.

• International Airport

A new international airport is being planned by the Infrastructure Development Corporation of Karnataka (iDecK), to be constructed near Sanganakallu on the north-eastern end of the city, around Chaganur and Siriwar villages. Nodal agency Infrastructure Development Department, Karnataka Government, has identified 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) for the airport.

The contract for the development and operation of this greenfield airport has been awarded to Chennai-based MARG Limited, which has incorporated a special purpose vehicle, MARG Krishna Devaraya Airport Pvt. Ltd. In addition to terminal buildings, runways and control towers, MARG will develop access facilities and build utilities necessary to serve the airport during the operational phase.

Intra-city

• The intra-city transport network is serviced by city buses connecting important points within the city.
• The city is also served by private but unregulated auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws.

Places of tourist interest

Within the city

Near Durgamma Temple, Bellary.

Yogini Kolhapuri Mahalakshmi temple at Vidyanagar, Bellary.

• Bellary Fort is a place of historical, archeological and geological interest. Daytime is most suitable for visits. The hill fort is illuminated on Sundays and days of national importance.
• The city is host to a number of Hindu temples of varying antiquity, examples being the Bellary Durgamma temple in the Gandhinagar area, the Malleshwara temple in the Fort area, the Laxminarayana temple on Brahmin Street and the Yogini Kolhapuri Mahalakshmi temple at Vidyanagar.
• Kuntegadda Park (the Golden Jubilee Park or Dr.Rajkumar Park) is a paid-entry urban park suitable for people of all ages. It features a musical fountain show in the evenings.
• Bellary Zoo
• A museum to exhibit findings from the Sanganakallu and other neolithic sites is proposed to be built at the Kannada and Culture complex, adjacent to the Deputy Commissioner’s residence in Patel Nagar, Bellary. The proposed museum complex aims to bring into focus the history and cultural heritage of Bellary. There are also plans to create an audio-visual time capsule of landmark of the people of the region through the ages. A fully built two-storied building of about 8,000 sq ft (740 m²) has been made available by the district administration for the museum.

Around and near-by the city

• Hampi, the capital of the famed Vijayanagar Empire is 70 km away from the city.
• Daroji Bear Sanctuary is the only sanctuary in North Karnataka for the Indian Sloth Bear, and is located 50 km away from the city to the west. In October 1994, The Government of Karnataka declared 5,587.30 hectares of Bilikallu reserve forest as Daroji Bear Sanctuary . However, the hills that stretch between Daroji of Sandur taluk and Ramasagar of Hospet Taluk in Bellary district have always been a host to the Indian Sloth Bears.
• The Gavisiddeshwara temple is a place of religious importance, located 25 km away from the city in the Hirehaalu mandal of Raayadurga taluk in Andhra Pradesh.
• Raayadurga town in Andhra Pradesh, located 40 km from the city, features a hill fort of more antiquity than the Bellary Fort. The hill is also a host to a wide variety of wild life, including peafowl. bears, jackals, and panthers.
• Donimalai, Sanduru and Narihalla Dam on the Sanduru hill range are places of natural beauty. The Kollur Mookambika Water Sports facility features boating and other water sports in back waters of the Narihalla Dam.
• TungaBhadra Dam and the Gunda forest are 60 km away, near Hospet.
• Ashoka Siddapura, 30 km to south of Bellary, is an important archeological site where Emperor Ashoka's edicts were found. The nearby Brahmagiri village is the ancient site of Ishila, one of Emperor Ashoka's provincial capitals. One of his earliest rock edicts, dated circa 3rd century BC, in Brāhmī script and Prakrit language containing Kannada words were discovered here. Nearby is Ramagiri, a hillock that has mythical associations with the epic Ramayana and has a temple dedicated to Rameshwara built circa 926 CE.
• Shirekola village, 25 km to the south of Bellary, has as temple dedicated to Raghavendra Swami.

Industries

Steel industry

The city is surrounded by numerous iron and steel plants, owing to the availability of huge deposites of Iron and Manganese ore in the Sanduru hill ranges and surroundings. The following is an abridged list :

• Bellary Steels and Alloys Limited (BSAL), Navakarnataka Steels and Shatavahana Ispat are on the outskirts of the city.
• JSW Steel Ltd is a unit of Jindal Steels located at Toranagallu in Sandur taluk, 30 km from Bellary. JSW has further announced an investement of ₹15,131 crore (US$1.8 billion) on capacity expansion and a captive power plant. Additionally, Jindal Saw Pipes plans to set up a steel plant in Bellary at ₹130.88 crore (US$16 million)
• The Arcelor Mittal group and Brahmani Industries Karnataka Ltd. have signed individual MoUs to invest in Steel plants in the district to invest ₹30,000 crore (US$3.6 billion)and ₹36,000 crore (US$4.3 billion)respectively, each to set up 6 million tonne per annum integrated steel plants with captive power plants on site. The projects of both companies will be located in and around Bellary district and will provide employment to 10000 and 25000 people respectively.
• Bhushan Steel will be setting up a 6 million tonne per annum integrated steel manufacturing facility in the district, at an investment of ₹27,928 crore (US$3.3 billion).

Textiles and garments

• Sarees

The growth of the famed cotton and silk Ilkal saree is attributed to the patronage provided by the local chieftains in and around the town of Bellary. Additionally, the nearby town of Rayadurgam, formerly in Bellary district, but now in Andhra Pradesh, is also renowned for its silk and cotton sarees. Similarly Molakalmuru, a town in Chitradurga district but much closer to Bellary than its district headquarters, is known for for its silk sarees branded by the town's name. However, Bellary itself has no saree manufacturing industry.

• Cotton processing

With cotton being one of the major agricultural crops around Bellary historically, the city has had a thriving cotton processing industry in the form of ginning, spinning and weaving plants. The earliest steam cotton-spinning mill was established in 1894 AD, which by 1901 AD had 17,800 spindles, and employed 520 hands.

The city continues to thrive in this sector with one spinning mill and numerous cotton ginning and pressing mills, hand looms and power looms.

• Garment manufacture

Bellary has a historic garment industry dating back to the First World War period, when the Marathi speaking “Darji” (tailor) community with its native skills in tailoring migrated from the current Maharashtra region to stitch uniforms for the soldiers of the colonial British Indian Army stationed at Bellary. After the war, the community switched to making uniforms for school children and gradually, the uniforms made here became popular all over the country.

Currently, Bellary is well known for its branded and unbranded denim garments, with brands like Point Blank, Walker, Dragonfly and Podium being successfully marketed nationally and internationally. There are about 260 denim garment units in Bellary with nearly 3000 families working in these units. The Karnataka State Government has proposed to build an apparel park at Bellary at the cost of ₹27 crore (US$3.2 million), setting aside 154 acres (0.62 km²) of land for the purpose at Mundargi and Guggarahalli villages on the south of Bellary city.

Rice milling

• S.S.Sai Pavan Rice Mill (SPRM)
• Sri Gurunath Rice Mill
• Srinavas modern rice industries operated by Grandhi family
• Sri SAI Rice Mill, Located at Anathapur Road operated by the Raju Family
• Sri Balaji Rice Mill
• Thirumula Rice Mill

Other industry

• The 500 MW Bellary Thermal Power Thermal Station (BTPS) is located 19 km away from city at the Kuditini village. This is the second Thermal plant in Karnataka after the Raichur Thermal Power Thermal Station.

Noted personalities

• Arcot Ranganatha Mudaliar – Former Deputy Collector of Bellary, Politician and Theosophist. He served as the Minister of Public Health and Excise for the Madras Presidency from 1926 to 1928.
• Bahaddoor S. Seshagiri Rao – Former principal of the Municipal High school, National Award winning teacher and associate of the Gandhi Bhavan in Bellary.
• Basavarajeshwari – Politician and Industrialist
• Bellary Raghava – Noted dramatist. The auditorium Raghava Kala Mandir in Bellary is named after him.
• Dharmavaraṃ Rāmakr̥ṣṇamācāryulu (1853–1912) – Noted dramatist.
• Gali Janardhan Reddy – Chairman, OMCPL, and incumbent minister for State Tourism Development in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
• Jayanthi – Renowned cinema actress; was born in Bellary.
• Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao (1854–1919) – Noted dramatist.
• K.C.Kondaiah – Politician and Industrialist
• Mundlur Diwakar Babu – Politician, District Congress President and former Cabinet Minister in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
• Nagaruru Narayana Rao – Former Chairman of the Bellary Municipality. A public park in the town is named after him.
• Rai Bahadur A. Sabhapathy Mudaliar – Philanthropist; The Women & Children's Hospital or The District Hospital was initially named after him, following his donation of land and building to the hospital.
• Ravi Belagere – Publisher of the Hai Bengaluru Tabloid
• Tekur Subramanyam – Indian Freedom Fighter, First post-independence MP of Bellary, elected thrice in a row since 1952, Political Secretary to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

External links

• Official Website of Bellary City Corporation