Khandwa

This article is about the municipality in Madhya Pradesh, India. For its namesake district, see Khandwa District.

Khandwa
City
Kishore Kumar Memorial Khandwa Junction Foot Over Bridge Dhuni Wale Dada Darbar Sant Singaji Samadhi Sthal Jalmahotsav Craft
Khandwa Show map of Madhya Pradesh Khandwa Show map of India
Coordinates: 21°49′N76°21′E / 21.82°N 76.35°E / 21.82; 76.35
Country	India
State	Madhya Pradesh
District	Khandwa
Government
• Type	Mayor–Council
• Body	Khandwa Municipal Corporation
•  Mayor	Amrita Amar Yadav [1] (BJP)
Elevation	309 m (1,014 ft)
Population  (2011) [2]
• Total	200,738
Language
• Official	Hindi [3]
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	450001,450051
Telephone code	+91 - 733
Vehicle registration	MP-12
Website	khandwa.nic.in

Khandwa is a city and a nagar nigam in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Khandwa district, formerly known as East Nimar District.

Khandwa is a major railway junction; the Malwa line connecting Indore with the Deccan meets the main east–west line from Mumbai to Kolkata. ^[4]

History

The name of the city is derived from "Khandav Van", which literally means Khandav Forests.

Ancient history

Recent explorations in the beds/tributaries of Narmada have revealed traces of the Paleolithic men in the East Nimar district. Omkar Mandhata, a rocky island on the bank of the Narmada river, about 47 miles north-west of Khandwa, is said to have been conquered by the Haihaya king Mahishmant, who had named the same as Mahishmati. ^[5]

During the rise of Buddhism, the East Nimar region was included in the Avanti Kingdom under Chand Pradyota Mahesana, which was later added to the growing empire of Magadha by Shishunaga. From the early 2nd century BCE to late 15th century CE, the Nimar Region (earlier a part of Khandesh) was ruled by many dynasties, which include Mauryas, Shungas, Early Satvahanas, Kardamakas, and Abhiras (Ahir Gavli). ^[6] Vakatakas, Imperial Guptas, Kalchuris, ^[7] Vardhanas (of Harsha Vardhana fame), Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Paramaras, Faruki Dynasty. ^[8]

Geography

See also: List of cities in Madhya Pradesh

Khandwa is located at 21°50′N76°20′E / 21.83°N 76.33°E / 21.83; 76.33 . ^[9] It has an average elevation of 313 metres (1026 feet).

Climate

Climate data for Khandwa (1991–2020)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	35.5 (95.9)	39.5 (103.1)	43.3 (109.9)	46.7 (116.1)	47.6 (117.7)	46.3 (115.3)	42.2 (108.0)	39.4 (102.9)	40.6 (105.1)	40.1 (104.2)	40.1 (104.2)	34.5 (94.1)	47.6 (117.7)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	28.6 (83.5)	31.5 (88.7)	36.7 (98.1)	40.3 (104.5)	41.7 (107.1)	37.2 (99.0)	31.1 (88.0)	29.6 (85.3)	31.6 (88.9)	34.0 (93.2)	32.1 (89.8)	29.8 (85.6)	33.7 (92.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	10.9 (51.6)	13.5 (56.3)	18.6 (65.5)	23.6 (74.5)	26.7 (80.1)	25.1 (77.2)	22.8 (73.0)	22.1 (71.8)	21.7 (71.1)	18.6 (65.5)	15.1 (59.2)	11.4 (52.5)	19.1 (66.4)
Record low °C (°F)	1.7 (35.1)	0.2 (32.4)	6.0 (42.8)	11.1 (52.0)	17.2 (63.0)	16.0 (60.8)	15.1 (59.2)	14.5 (58.1)	12.2 (54.0)	8.5 (47.3)	4.6 (40.3)	1.2 (34.2)	0.2 (32.4)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	5.7 (0.22)	2.8 (0.11)	3.8 (0.15)	2.1 (0.08)	7.1 (0.28)	125.9 (4.96)	295.1 (11.62)	222.1 (8.74)	194.6 (7.66)	39.7 (1.56)	10.1 (0.40)	2.4 (0.09)	911.3 (35.88)
Average rainy days	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.4	0.6	5.8	12.2	11.9	7.7	2.0	0.7	0.2	42.8
Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST)	33	23	17	14	20	42	66	72	62	42	36	33	38
Source: India Meteorological Department [10]

Demographics

^{[ needs update ]} As of the 2011 Census of India, Khandwa had a population of 200,738, of which 102,901 were males and 97,837 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 24,801. The total number of literates in Khandwa was 151,545, which constituted 75.5% of the population with male literacy of 78.9% and female literacy of 71.9%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Khandwa was 86.1%, of which male literacy rate was 90.4% and female literacy rate was 81.7%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 27,430 and 8,139 respectively. There were 39002 households in Khandwa in 2011. ^[2]

Religions in Khandwa (2011) [11]
Religion			Percent
Hindus			67.18%
Muslims			29.29%
Jains			1.30%
Christians			0.86%
Sikhs			0.68%
Buddhists			0.57%
Other or not stated			0.12%

Languages of Khandwa (2011) ^[12]

1. Hindi (67.4%)
2. Urdu (15.0%)
3. Nimadi (6.14%)
4. Marathi (4.13%)
5. Sindhi (3.30%)
6. Gujarati (1.14%)
7. Others (2.87%)

Hindi is the most spoken language. Nimadi is the local dialect. Urdu, Marathi and Sindhi are also common. ^[12]

Culture and cityscape

Hanuwantiya tourist complex

Ganguli House (Gauri Kunj), Kishoreda's ancestral home

• Ganguli House, the ancestral home of Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar. Also named Gauri Kunj, after their mother. ^{[13] [14]}
• Samadhi of Kishore Kumar. ^[15]
• Four Kunds located in four directions of the city, called Padam Kund, Bheem Kund, Suraj Kund and Rameshwar Kund. ^[16]
• Dada Darbar, popularly known as Shri Dadaji Dhuniwale.
• Shree Vitthal Mandir Khandwa the temple was founded by shree swami sacchidanand swami maharj in 1850, temple is made up of sheesham and sagvan wood. Great example of architecture.

Notable people

Kishore Kumar as a young man

• Ashok Kumar, actor
• Anoop Kumar, actor
• Kishore Kumar, actor and singer
• Makhanlal Chaturvedi, poet
• Saroo Brierley, born in Ganesh Talai as Sheru Munshi Khan prior to adoption to Australia
• Bhagwantrao Mandloi, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

Transport

The nearest commercial airport is Indore. It also has an airstrip which is rarely used for occasional aircraft landings, located on Nagchun Road.

Khandwa has a major railway junction located on the Jabalpur-Bhusaval section of Howrah–Prayagraj–Mumbai line. ^[17]

Educational institutes

• Dr. C.V. Raman University, established in 2018
• Government Medical College, established in 2018
• Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Khandwa, established in 1992

In popular culture

• The town was featured in the 2016 Australian biographical film Lion , which was based on the extraordinary search for his birth family by Khandwa-born Saroo Brierley, who got lost as a child and ended up in Australia after being adopted.

See also

• Mahishmati
• Burhanpur

References

1. "खंडवा नगर निगम चुनाव: भाजपा की अमृता अमर यादव बनीं मैडम मेयर | Amrita Amar Yadav became Mayor of Khandwa Municipal Corporation". Patrika News (in Hindi). 17 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
2. "Census of India: Search Details". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
3. "52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
4. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Khandwa"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 771.
5. Subodh Kapoor (2002). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography, Volume 2. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 435. ISBN   9788177552997.
6. B.H. Mehta (1984). Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands Vol II. Concept Publishing Company. p. 569.
7. "Kalachuris of Mahismati". CoinIndia. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
8. Charles Eckford Luard, Ram Prasad Dube (1908). Indore State Gazetteer. Superintendent government printing, India, Original from University of Minnesota. p. 221.
9. "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Khandwa, India". fallingrain.com.
10. "Climatological Tables of Observatories in India 1991-2020" (PDF). India Meteorological Department . Retrieved 8 April 2024.
11. "Table C-1 Population By Religious Community: Madhya Pradesh". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
12. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Chhattisgarh". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
13. Santoshi, Neeraj (4 August 2014). "Kishore Da's house lives in neglect in Khandwa". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
14. "Kishore's memories come alive at singer's birthplace". Zee News. 4 August 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
15. "Curfew drowns music riot on Kishore b'day". The Times of India. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
16. "Tourism". khandwa.nic.in. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
17. "Khandwa Railway Station Map/Atlas CR/Central Zone - Railway Enquiry". indiarailinfo.com. Retrieved 27 June 2025.