Kaladhungi Explained

Kaladhungi (कालाढूंगी)
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:India Uttarakhand#India
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Uttarakhand, India
Coordinates:29.28°N 79.35°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: India
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Uttarakhand
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Nainital
Unit Pref:Metric
Elevation M:393
Population Total:10600
Population As Of:2024
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Languages
Demographics1 Title1:Official
Demographics1 Info1:Kumaoni, Hindi
Timezone1:IST
Utc Offset1:+7:00
Postal Code Type:PIN
Postal Code:263140[1]
Registration Plate:UK 04

Kaladhungi is a town and a nagar panchayat in Nainital district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

The place is located just on the foothill, a good climate but summers are hot, located 26 km west of Haldwani on the Haldwani-Ramanagar road. Nainital is at distance of only 30 km to the north and Bajpur at about 19 km to south-west. It has a road connecting to Delhi via Bajpur, Tanda, and Moradabad.

Overview

The name Kaladhungi comprises two words - Kala meaning black and dhung meaning stone. Kaladhungi literally means Back Stone. In this region, black stones rich in iron cntent are found. In earlier time, the town used to be the center of booming iron factory based on local ore and forest charcoal.

In this route there are beautiful forests on the north side. Kaladhungi has been a local commercial center for the surrounding villages in the plains, for over a century now.[2]

Kaladhungi is a Tehsil headquarters, has an Co-Ed Intermediate Govt. College (Atal Utkrisht Government Inter College, Kaladhungi), Girls Intermediate Govt. Colleg and Hospital, with normal facilities like electricity, water, telephone, banks, post office, etc.

It is a very fertile land and a variety of fruits and vegetables like mangoes, lychee, papaya, guava, bananas, Luckaat (vegetables - potato, cauliflower, tomato, cabbage, peas, beans, eggplant, gourds, calabash, pumpkin, bitter gourd, coriander, turmeric, ginger, mustard, fenugreek, spinach, etc.). The main crops are wheat, rice, mustard, sugarcane, corn, soybean, gram, pigeon pea, green gram and red lentil.

Geography

Kaladhungi is located at 29.28°N 79.35°W.[3] It has an average elevation of 393 metres (1,289 feet) from the sea level.

Demographics

India census,[4] Kaladhungi had a population of 6,126. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Kaladhungi has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 53%. In Kaladhungi, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Local attractions

Jim Corbett, the famous man-eater hunter and a great environmentalist lived at Choti Haldwani, 2 km west of Kaladhungi on Ramnagar road for most years of his life. His house has now been converted into a museum in his memory by the government, known as 'Jim Corbett Museum', a must-see for the tourist going to Nainital taking Kaladhunigi-Nainital road. There are also the graves of his two dogs in the compound of the museum.Another attraction is the Bajauniyahaldu village.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kaladungi Pin code. pin-code.net. 11 July 2021.
  2. https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V18_335.gif Nainital District
  3. http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/39/Kaladhungi.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kaladhungi
  4. Web site: Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional). https://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. 2004-06-16. 2008-11-01. Census Commission of India.