Raipur

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Chhatisgarh State is situated between Orissa and Jharkhand in the East and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the West. The state originally formed part of Madhya Pradesh. The capital is Raipur.

Raipur District is situated in the fertile plains of Chhattisgarh Region. This District is situated between 22o 33' N to 21o14'N Latitude and 82o 6' to 81o38'E Longtitude. The District is surrounded by District Bilaspur in North, District Bastar and part of Orissa state in South, District Raigarh and part of Orissa state in East and district Durg in West. The district occupies the south eastern part of the upper Mahanadi valley and the bordering hills in the south and the east. Thus, the district is divided into two major physical divisions, Viz., the Chattisgarh plain and the Hilly Areas.

Raipur was founded by the Kalchuri King Ram Chandra of Raipur last quarter of the 14th century AD. Now, Raipur is the Headquarters of the District and Division of the same name Centrally located in the newly formed State Chhattisgarh. Raipur is the biggest city of the Region and a fast developing important industrial centre. The establishment of Chili Steel Plant in the country has given added momentum to the pace of development of the city.

Places to see

Champaran (Champajhar)
The village is identified with Champaranya, the birth place of the Saint Vallabhacharya, the reformer and founder of the Vallabh Sect for whom this place has religious sanctity. A temple was constructed in honour of Guru Swamy Vallabhacharya. Near to this Temple, there is the temple of Champakeshwara Mahadeva.

Sirpur or Shripur
Sirpur or Shripur the city of wealth has been mentioned in ancient epigraphic records and dates back to a periods ranging from between the Fifth and the Eighth century A.D. It was then the capital of the Sarbhapuriya and Somvanshi Kings of Dakshin Kosala or Chhattigarh. It was an important centre of Buddhist from the 6th the 10th century A.D. and was visited by Hieun Tsang, the 7th Century Chinese Pilgrimist and Scholar. Excavations in and around the village have yielded scores of temple sites constructed of bricks, stone pillars and sculptures such as the Shiva Temple of Panchayatan style and the beautiful sculpture of Mahishasuramardini.Two Buddhist monasteries have also been found.

Turturiya
The Forest village Turturiya Situated on the bank of a spring called Turturiya or Sursuri Ganga contains numerous buddhist remains of 8th Century A.D. and the Brahmanical remains of later period. The site yielded numerous exquisitely sculptured pillars, remains of STUPA made of fine bricks, traces of bathing Ghats, Lingams figures of four armed Vishnu, Ganesha, a man hunting a lion with sword and a man wrestling with an animal. There are numerous heaps of ruins all of bricks, picked with stone. The place is of a great archaeological and anthropological interest.

Rajim
Situated on the right bank of the river Mahanadi was one of the important urban centres in the Mahakoshal region. It is famous for its fine group of temples. The main temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu known as Rajivalochana Temple. The twelve pillars of the temple have tall single figures sculptured on the face like Durga with eight arms, the Ganga and Yamuna and exquisitely carved incarnation of Vishnu, Rama, Varaha (boar) and Narasimha (Man-cum-Lion) etc.

There is also a black stone statue of the Budha meditating under the Bodhi tree. There are other temples around the main temple of Rajivalochana dedicated to different incarnations of lord Vishnu such as Vamana (dwart) Narasimha (Man-cum-Lion) Badrinath and Jagannath. Of the ruins of numerous temples found nearby the most remarkable is that of Kuleshvara Mahadeva Temple. The tongue of the land on which the temple stands became severed from the main land by the river and is now actually on an island. Three inscriptions belonging to Somavanashis, Nalas and Kalchuris are found here.