Dewas

An old photograph of Goddess Chamunda Mata's Temple on Dewas Tekri (Hill).

The name Dewas is derived from the Devi Vaishini hill in the city, commonly known as Tekri.[6] The hill has a temple of the deities Devi Tulja Bhawani, Chamunda Mata and Kalika Mata. The word Dewas is believed to be a sandhi of the words Dev (deity) and Vas (abode in Marathi), so Dewas means house of the god. Swami Shivom Tirtha wrote the history of the hill (Tekri ) of Dewas in his book, Sadhan Shikhar. Inspired by the area, E.M. Forster wrote The Hill of Devi in 1953.[7]

The district takes its name from its headquarters town, Dewas, which is said to be derived from the legend that Dewas rests at the foot of a 300-foot (91 m) conical hill known as Chamunda hill on whose summit is the shrine of Goddess Chamunda. The image of the goddess is cut into the wall of a cave, known as Devi Vashini or the goddess's residence. From this, the name Dewas (dev-vas) seems to have been derived.[8]

Dewas was formerly the capital of two princely states of British India. The original state was founded in the first half of the 18th century by the brothers Tukaji Rao (Senior) and Jivaji Rao (Junior), from the Pawar clan of the Marathas. They had advanced into Malwa with the Maratha Peshwa, Baji Rao, in 1728. The brothers divided the territory among themselves; their descendants ruled as the senior and junior branches of the family. After 1841, each branch ruled its own portion as a separate state, though the lands belonging to each were intimately entangled; in Dewas, the capital town, the two sides of the main street were under different administrations and had different arrangements water supply and lighting.

The senior branch had an area of 446 sq mi (1,160 km²) and a population of in 62,312 in 1901, while the area of the junior branch was 440 sq mi (1,100 km²) and had a population of 54,904 that same year.[9] Both Dewas states were in the Malwa Agency of the Central India Agency.

Dewas Junior & Dewas Senior Darbars (Courts) was composed of Sardars, Mankaris, Istamuradars, Thakurs and Jagirdars.[10][11]

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  The Old Palace (Rajwada) of Dewas Junior.
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  The Durga Bagh Palace, Dewas Junior State.
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  Shree Lakshmi Narayan Bhawan Club, Dewas Junior State.
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  Shree Narayan Tower, Dewas Junior State. The Clock Tower is named after HH Raja Srimant Narayanrao (Dada Sahib) Puar of Dewas Junior State.
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  The Gate at Shree Malhar, The Residence of His Holiness Shri Shilnath Maharaj.
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  The Law Courts, Dewas Junior State.
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  HH Raja Narayan Rao Pawar with Dewas Junior Nobility (Sardars, Mankaris, Thakurs and Jagirdars).

After India's independence in 1947, the Maharajas of Dewas (Jr. & Sr.) acceded to India, and their states were integrated into Madhya Bharat, which became a state of India in 1950. Later, in 1956, Madhya Bharat was merged into Madhya Pradesh state.[12]

Dewas lies northeast of Indore, southeast of Ujjain, and southwest of Shajapur. The city is located on the level plains of the Malwa plateau; to the south, the land rises gently to the Vindhya Range, which is the source of the Chambal and Kali Sindh rivers that flow north through the district on their way to the Ganges. The main river in Dewas is Kshipra.

As of the census, Dewas had a total population of 289,550, of which 150,081 were males and 139,469 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 35,437. The total number of literates in Dewas was 215,088, which constituted 74.3% of the population with male literacy of 79.9% and female literacy of 68.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Dewas was 84.6%, of which male literacy rate was 91.1% and female literacy rate was 77.7%. The Scheduled Castes population was 56,366, while the Scheduled Tribes population was 9,861. Dewas had 57,397 households in 2011.[1]

Dewas Collectorate (originally known as Lakshmi Niwas Palace of Dewas Junior. This was illegally demolished by the local administration in March 2023, despite an ongoing case and strong opposition by the citizens of Dewas.)

[14] The Member of Parliament from Dewas is Mahendra Singh Solanki of BJP who was elected in the Lok Sabha Election 2019.[15] As of the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, the member of the Legislative Assembly for Dewas is Gayatri Raje Pawar.[16]

Dewas was known for being a production centre of retail opium in the 1800s, as noted in the 1895 first report of the Royal Commission on Opium.[17] Rapid industrialisation took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but due to inadequate infrastructure, the pace has slowed since the late 1980s. In recent years, some industries have closed their operations due to a shortage of sufficient infrastructure to support growth; there is a shortage of water due to excessive usage in previous decades.

The city has many industrial units providing employment to thousands of workers. The largest companies include Tata International, Kirloskar, John Deere, Eicher Motors, Gajra Gears,[18] Cummins Turbo Technologies, STI Sanoh Steel Tubes Plant and Coparo Steel Tubes Unit. Dewas is known as the Soy Capital of India and is a major part of the soy bean processing industry in the country with major Soyabean Products brands like Kriti Nutrients, Prestige Agro-Tech, Mittal Soya Protein, Adani Agri Logistics etc.

Dewas is also one of the prominent Pharmaceutical Hubs of Madhya Pradesh and India as well with many pharmaceutical products manufacturing facilities and labs in Industrial areas of Dewas. Industrial Manufacturing Units of Ranbaxy Laboratories and Sun Pharma Industries are also situated here.

Electricity Generating Dewas Wind Hills

Due to its location above sea level at one corner of the Malwa plateau, constant wind flows in the region are suitable for harvesting wind energy. There are more than 100 wind mills on a series of hills 13 km (8.1 mi) from Dewas, generating around 60 megawatts (MW) of power. These were financed by a few private companies (mainly Suzlon Energy) which sought a reliable power supply.[19][20][21]

A Currency Printing Unit of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) is situated in Dewas. Also known as Bank Note Press (BNP). It is an industrial unit of SPMCIL, established in the year 1974 is wholly owned by Government of India, Ministry of Finance and Department of Economic Affairs. BNP Dewas prints Indian Currency Notes (known as Indian Rupee or INR; Symbol: '₹') of denominations ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹2000 and is capable of printing Bank Notes of any denomination. The bank notes are printed with high security features which are necessary to impede forgery and to meet the essential standards of Reserve Bank of India. The unit has skilled and trained manpower totaling around 1400 employees in production. BNP campus is spread over an area of 185 hectares of land. In addition to the high security printing complex, there is a specialized Ink factory unit which produces Security Inks for BNP Dewas and other units of SPMCIL for the printing of other government documents. There is also a residential complex with nearly 1400 quarters for employees to reside. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) provides security and fire coverage for the printing complex and transportation of bank note consignments.

In terms of print media, Satyakaar a daily evening newspaper is published from Dewas. Along with this, newspapers like Dainik Bhaskar, Naidunia, Patrika etc. published from Indore are also circulated here.

Dewas is known for the Devi Chamunda temple and the Devi Tulaja Bhavani temple situated on a 300-foot (91 m) hilltop (Tekri). A broad flight of stone steps leads to two shrines to the goddesses, Choti Mata (Chamunda Mata) and Badi Mata (Tulja Bhavani Mata). Numerous other temples spread over the Tekri can be explored on foot.[23][24]

• Shri Sheelnath Dhuni at the Tekri foothills is a place of worship for followers of Saint Sheelnath Maharaj's of Gorakh Nath Sumpradaya. Sheelnath Maharaj belonged to a royal family of Jaipur and later became a Yogi of Gorakh Nath Sumpradaya, who lived in Dewas in his old age.[25]
• The Pawar Chatries near the Meetha talab of Dewas are examples of Maratha architecture in the area.[26]
• Kailadevi temple at Dewas is the largest in the state. It is situated at Mishri Lal Nagar (Agra Bombay Road). It was established in December 1995 by businessman Mannulal Garg. This modern temple was built by South Indian artists; it houses a 51-foot (16 m) statue of Lord Hanuman. The original Kaila Devi Temple is located on the banks of the Kalisil river in Karauli district of Rajasthan. The temple is devoted to the tutelary deity of the former princely rulers of the Karauli state, Kaila.[27][28]
• Mahadev mandir is a temple in Shankar Gadh built by the Dewas ruler Shrimant Sadashive Rao Maharaja (Khase Saheb) in 1942. The temple is located on a small hill south of the city.[29]
• Mahakaleshwar temple, Bilwali - Bilavali village is situated 3 km north of Dewas.[29]

• Tukoji Rao III Puar, (Ruler of Dewas Senior State)
• Vikramsinh Rao I Puar, (Ruler of Dewas Senior State)
• Krishnaji Rao III Puar, (Ruler of Dewas Senior State)
• Tukoji Rao IV Puar, (Politician)
• Gayatri Raje Puar, (Politician)
• Vikram Singh Rao II Puar, (Politician)
• Edward Morgan Forster, (English Author based in Dewas Senior State, who wrote 'Hill of Devi')
• Madhav Vinayak Kibe, (Statesman & Dewan of Dewas Junior State)
• Kumar Gandharva, (Indian Classical Singer)
• Digvijay Bhonsale, (Rock/Metal Musician)
• Neha Hinge, (Model & Actress)
• Anant Sadashiv Patwardhan, (Politician)
• Mukul Shivputra, (Indian Classical Singer)
• Kailash Chandra Joshi, (Politician)
• Sajjan Singh Verma, (Politician)
• Deepak Joshi, (Politician)
• Manoj Choudhary, (Politician)
• Tejsingh Sendhav, (Politician)
• Manohar Untwal, (Politician)
• Rajendrasingh Baghel, (Politician)
• Hukam Chand Kachwai, (Politician)
• Mahendra Solanki, (Politician)
• Ashif Shaikh, (Social Worker)
• Mishrilal Gangwal, (Politician)
• Bapulal Kishan, (Politician)

• Maratha Empire
• List of Maratha dynasties and states

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dewas.

• Government website on Dewas district
• Dewas travel guide from Wikivoyage