HISTORY OF ATHANI

Athani is a big town next to Gokak in the Belagavi district of Karnataka, India. It is 140 kilometers from the city of Belagavi, 70 kilometers from Vijayapura and Miraj, 110 kilometers from Kolhapur, 200 kilometers from Hubballi, and 590 kilometers from Bengaluru. The main profession here is agriculture, particularly sugarcane, jawar, and grapes. The river Krishna flows around the southern part of Athani Taluk. It is the largest sugar production taluk in Karnataka. Athani is the oldest municipaltown of Karnataka; it was established in 1853 according to the municipal act of 1850.c

Transportation

Athani is connected to various places like Shedbal, Vijayapura, Miraj, Sangli, Chikkodi, Ugar, and Jamkhandi and the town has NWKRTC bus service. The nearest railway station is Ugar railway station which is 35 km from the city and Miraj junction 75 km from Athani. Belagavi and Kolhapur are the nearest airports. There are 24×7 buses for the cities Vijayapura and Belagavi. There is a proposal for a new railway line between Vijayapura – Shedbal- Athani to connect Vijayapura with Belagavi. A survey of this 112.3-km new railway line is completed and submitted to South Western Railway Hubballi. The city is well connected by roads. The three state highways pass through the city: SH-12 (Jewargi-Sankeshwar), SH-31(Jath-Jambothi), and SH-72 (Nippani-muhanddi). Four major roads pass through the city.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Athani had a population of 62,886 acc to the area 14.64sqkm. Males constitute 61% of the population and females 59%. Athani has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average, with 69% of the males and 79% of females literate. 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Climate.

Being situated in upper region of Belagavi district which lies in the elevated terrain of north-western Karnataka, Athani has a tropical climate.it is known for its moderately climate throughout the year . Athani receives rainfall from both the northeast and the southwest monsoons and the wettest months are June–September.  It has a distinct normal climate in every season. extreme climate should not found here.The june and august mounths have a good deal of rainfall, while the winters have very little. The coldest month is december with an average low temperature of 25.3 °C and the hottest month is may with an average high temperature of 40 °C. Winter temperatures rarely drop below 20 °C (54 °F), and summer temperatures seldom exceed 30–40 °C.The driest month is January, with 10 mm of rainfall.

Culture

Athani has typical North Karnataka culture. Janapada (folk) songs and dances are found in villages surrounding Athani. The god of the town is the Siddheshwara. The Siddheshwara Temple and is prayed by the locals on Mondays every year in Athani Devotional Siddeswara fair takes place. Sri MurughSendra Shivoygi’s birthplace, Nadi Ingalgav falls in the Athani Taluk. Sri Shivyogi MurughSendra Swamiji is a great saint lived in Gachhinamath in Athani. He is shivasharna. He makes many pavadas to bless people he is one of great saint in Karnataka in his name there is mathas in Dharwad and Chitradurga. And he make pavada on a child and thant child get cured from disease he is called Marulashankar Devaru he had power of detecting underground water he is a great saint who lived in Gachhinamath in Athani. The Raghavendra swamji Rathotsava takes place in Athani. In this city there are five mathas:

And in this city an ancient of 500 years old temple Amruthalingeshwar temple is the Kokatnoor Yallama, Katageri Lakkavva, Avarkhod Hanumappa are other holy places that draw devotees from as far afield as Maharashtra.
Aigali husbandry fair is the biggest husbandry fair in India. Many fairs take place in the villages surrounding Athani. Athani has produced many well-known Kannada poets and writers. Its contribution to Kannada literature is considerable. Kannada is the main language, and Marathi is also spoken here.

Athani Taluk

Athani Taluk is the largest taluk in a Belagavi district; it has a total area of 1997.7 km2,  74% is cultivated. This includes 115 inhabited villages and hamlets with a rural population of 4,07,485 as per the 2011 census. The total population of taluk is 5,25,832 . The taluk is bounded by Sangli district of Maharashtra in the north, Vijayapura district in the east, and Krishna river in the south.it flows 110 kms in the taluk.Geologically the area is covered by Deccan Trap formation. The average annual rainfall is 582 mm. The two rivers that flow here are Krishna and Agrani river. Agrani is beside the pandegao, shirur, ajur, sambargi, nagnur (p.a.), tawanshi, and kalloti.

The five largest towns of Athani Taluk (sorted in order of decreasing population) are Athani, Ugar, Ainapur, Kagawad, Shedbal. The river Krishna flows around the Athani taluk. Five sugar industries are in this taluk. They are located in Athani, Kagawad, Kokatnur, Ugar and Kempwad. There are four hobalis in this taluk: Athani, Kagawad, Telsang and Anatapur. Most of the land is fully fertile; some of the land is dry and hilly.

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