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In the Indian state of Assam, the Guwahati is the largest city and the largest metropolis in the North East India. Earlier Guwahati in known as Gauhati. As tradition says there was cow market, in local language cow is called Gau- so the buying and selling cows in the market (haat), so the name comes Gauhati, Another tradition says there was only Betelnut market in local language betel is called Guwa, so the name comes Guwahati. The main Guwahati city is located on the south bank of river Brahmaputra. The ancient city Pragjyotishpur and Durjaya (North Guwahati) were the capital of ancient state Kamrupa. There are many ancient Hindu temple like Kamakhya, Umanada, Basistha are in the city.
The myths and history of Guwahati is dated back to the thousands of years. The exact date of the beginning of the city is not known. According to Hindu scripture Puranas and some other sources it is assumed that Guwahati is one the ancient cities of Asia. According to epic Mahabharata it was the capital of ancient king Narakasura and Bhagadatta. The Shakti temple called shaktipith kamakhya temple is located at Nilachal hill, a place of Tantric and Vajrayana Buddhism practices. The astrological temple Navagraha located in the Chitrachal hill and also Basistha temple is one of the important mythological site.
During earlier periods of the city's history it was known as Pragjyotishpora, and was the capital of Assam under the Kamrupa kingdom. According to Hiuen Tsang Descriptions during the reign of the Varman king Bhaskarvarman around 7th century AD the city stretched for about 15 km.
The city was the seat of the Borphukan, a clan of Ahom tribe, the civil-military authority of the Lower Assam region appointed by the Ahom kings. The residence of Borphukan was in the present Fancy Bazar area, Guwahati and his council-hall, called Dopdar, was about 300 yards to the west of the Bharalu River. The Person Majindar Baruah, the personal secretary of the Borphukan, had his residence in the present-day Deputy Commissioner's residence.
The Mughals invaded Assam seventeen times, but were defeated by the numerically inferior yet formidable Ahoms in the Battle of Itakhuli and the Battle of Saraighat. During the Battle of Saraighat, fought in Saraighat in 1671, the Mughals were defeated due to the strong leadership and diligence of LACHIT BORPHUKAN. The great embankment called ‘Momai-Kata Gorh’, named after an incident in which LACHIT had to slay (Kata) his own maternal uncle (Momai) for being lazy in building the embankment (Gorh) that runs along the outskirts of the city, stands as a proof of the hard work and war-readiness on the part of the Ahoms. There was an ancient boatyard in DIGHALIPUKHURI, probably used by the Ahoms in medieval times. Medieval constructions include temples, ramparts, etc. in the city.
The Burmese ruled the city from 1817 to 1826. After the First Anglo-Burmese War, the city came under the rule BRITISH EMPIRE. It played an active role during the independence struggle of India. From the main centre of the central part the city is extending in all direction mainly south and western side. Last few years southern Guwahati area such as Ganeshguri, Beltola, Hatigaon, Sixmile, Panjabari forming the sub centre in and around capital area Dispur. The old main city having only with Panbazar, Paltanbazar Fancybazar and Uzanbazar area.
Among the city corridors, the most important is the corridor formed along the Guwahati-Shillong Road towards the south almost 15 km from the city-centre. The GS Road corridor is an important commercial area with retail, wholesale and commercial offices developed along the main road; it is also a densely built residential area in the inner parts. The capital complex of Assam at Dispur is situated in this corridor. This corridor has facilitated the growth of a southern city sub-centre at Ganeshguri, along with other residential areas to the south developed during the past few decades.
The corridor extending towards the west from the city-center contains a rail-road linking not only Guwahati but also other parts of the north eastern region east of Guwahati to western Assam and the rest of India. The corridor links residential and historically important areas such as Nilachal Hill, Pandu, and Maligaon before it separates into two; one towards North Guwahati via the Saraighat Bridge and the other continuing west towards Borjhar Airport to Goalpara. The third major corridor extends towards the east from the city-center linking Noonmati and Narengi, and has facilitated residential growth along with it. Highway NH-37, which encircles the city's southern parts and links the southern corridor in Noumile to the western corridor in Jalukbari is currently supporting rapid development. Similarly, the VIP Road linking Zoo Road with the eastern corridor and recently completed Hengerabari - Narengi Road are supporting massive residential development to the east.
The Brahmaputra River flows to the north of the metropolis. The city is bordered on the south by the foothills of the Meghalaya plateau and to the east by the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary. The Bharalu River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, flows right through the heart of the city. To the south-west of the city lies Deepor Beel, a permanent freshwater lake with no prominent inflows apart from monsoon run-off from the hills that lie to the south of the lake. The lake drains into the Brahmaputra, 5 km to the north, and acts as a natural storm water reservoir for the city. There are many hills in the city. Guwahati has a humid subtropical climate, falling just short of a tropical savana climate. The average annual temperature is 22.2 °C.
Population:
Guwahati is one of the fastest growing cities in India. According to 2011 census the population of Guwahati is 9,62,000. However unofficial population estimated 21 lakh.
The percentage of child population of Guwahati is 9.40%. The average literacy rate is stated to be 91.47% with male literacy at 94.24% and female literacy at 88.50%. The sex ratio has been recorded to be 933 females per 1000 males and child sex ratio to be 940 girls per 1000 boys. The statistics of religion is Buddhism 0.02%, Christianity 0.93%, Hinduism 84.74%, Islam 12.45%, Jainism 0.96%, and Sikhism 0.36%
Media and Communications:
Assamese daily newspapers published from the city are Dainik Agradoot, Asomiya Pratidin, Asomiya Khobor, Amar Asom, Dainik Janambhumi, Janasadharan, Niyomiya Barta, Dainik Asom, Ajir Asom, and GanaAdhikar. English dailies are The Assam Tribune, The Sentinel, The Telegraph, The Times of India and Eastern Chronicle. Eclectic Northeast Magazine is a leading Guwahati-based monthly Northeast magazine with an online version. G Plus is the only English weekly tabloid published from Guwahati.
Doordarshan Kendra Guwahati provides composite satellite television services to Northeast India. The Guwahati-based 24-hour regional news channels include News Live, DY365, Pratidin Time, Prag News, Assam Talks, News18 Assam/North-East. The Guwahati Radio Station of state-owned All India Radio was inaugurated on 1 July 1948 as Shillong-Guwahati Station. The Headquarter of the Shillong-Guwahati Station was shifted from Shillong to Guwahati in 1953. It is a full-fledged Regional broadcasting station with 3 channels; the Guwahati A & B Channels are AM Channels and the CBS Channel is a FM Channel. The other FM stations include 92.7 BIG FM, Radio Gup-Shup 94.3 FM, RED FM 93.5 and Radio Mirchi. Telecom Services are BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Jio.
Places of Worship/shrines:
- Guwahati Kamakhya Temple.
- Guwahati Balaji Temple
- Guwahati Basistha Temple
- Shri Digamabar Jain Temple, Fancy Bazar
- Ganesh Temple Ganeshguri
- Buddha Temple, Railway Colony
- Navagraha Temple, Silpukhuri
- Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Fancy Bazar
- Nepali Temple, Paltan Bazar.
- Christ Church, Panbazar
