Etapalli Explained

Etapalli
Other Name:Etapali
Settlement Type:Village
Pushpin Map:India Maharashtra
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Maharashtra, India
Coordinates:19.6°N 80.23°W
Subdivision Type:Ettapalli
Subdivision Name: India
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Maharashtra
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Gadchiroli
Unit Pref:Metric
Elevation M:120
Population Total:81,713
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Language
Demographics1 Title1:Official
Demographics1 Info1:Marathi
Demographics1 Title2:Spoken
Demographics1 Info2:Marathi, Madia, Gondi, Halbi
Timezone1:IST
Utc Offset1:+5:30

Etapalli is a village and a tehsil in Gadchiroli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Etapalli is known for its rich forest and a range of mountains called Surjagarh, located at the distance of 15 km from etapalli. It can be reached by road.

The Surjagarh consists of a range of 4 mountains which are straight, nearly vertical, and difficult to climb. Each year, the indigenous people climb them in large numbers when there is a pilgrimage on an auspicious day in the first week of January. This is the only time when the mountains can be climbed due to their religious significance. As is the belief of the tribes, the "bada deo ", the greatest god resides on the mountain; women are not permitted to climb the mountain.

Despite the difficult trek, men of all ages and even children climb up the mountain some with a male goat on their shoulders for sacrifice. These men first worship at the base and they are greeted with dancing. Huge crowds of women, children, and other people wait at base for the men of honour to climb up and come down safely from the dangerous place.

The meaning of the name Surjagarh is the fort of the sun. The name is derived from a fort built in a single stone on one of the mountain roof. It is said to have been built by the famous Veer Baburao Sadmake, the freedom fighter. He used the fort for keeping himself and his army safe and hidden from the British army.

Surjagarh is also known for its rich source of iron ore. It is said that the iron ore deposits at Surjagarh are so largethat it can fulfill whole India's iron requirements for next 120 years. Because of the iron deposits, there have been many struggles between mining companies and the villagers. There have also been many incidences of bloodshed supposedly related to this mining.

Despite the disapproval of the natives of Surjagarh, thousands of mature trees were cut down; the forest of Surjagarh suffered serious loss

The villagers claimed that the former state government and the mining companies deceived the villagers by taking a fake approval from dummy villagers that they presented at a general meeting which took place 45 km from Surjagarh. This matter was raised at an international indigenous peoples conference organized by the United Nations by one of the activists, Lalsu Nogoti.

Demographics

As per the 2011 census of India, the population of the tehsil was 81,713.

References

  1. https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/21494/download/24626/PC01_C01_27.xls Census India 2001
  2. https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/11382/download/14495/DDW27C-01%20MDDS.XLS Census India 2011