The city of Jabalpur was first chosen to become the capital of newly formed Madhya Pradesh but later the decision was changed and Bhopal was chosen the capital of the state because of the defence settlements and largely urbanised sttlements within the city of Jabalpur. It is bordered by Katni to the north, Umaria to the north-east, Dindori to the east, Mandla to the south-east, Seoni to the south, Narsimhapur to the south-west and Damoh to the north-west. Jabalpur is the administrative headquarters of Jabalpur district (the second most populous district of Madhya Pradesh) and Jabalpur division.
Historically, a center of Kalchuri and Gond dynasties, Jabalpur developed a syncretic culture influenced by the intermittent reigns of the Maratha and Mughal empires. In the early nineteenth century, it was gradually annexed in British India as Jubbulpore and incorporated as a major cantonment town. During the Indian independence movement, Jabalpur became the site of the historical Indian National Congress session in Tripuri which elected Subhash Chandra Bose as Congress President for the first time. Post-independence, there have been demands for a separate state of Mahakoshal with Jabalpur as its capital. During the early 1990s, the city gained national prominence following dozen cases of teenage self-immolationsin the aftermath of Mandal Commission protests of 1990.
Geographically an important place, the ruling Gond dynasty of Jabalpur lent its name to the primordial continental mass Gondwanaland. Jabalpur was also the epicenter of a major earthquake in 1997. The geographic center of the contiguous Indiais located 30 km east of Jabalpur in Katangi village. Jabalpur is known for its picturesque marble rock formations (Bhedaghat) across the banks of the river Narmada. Being the army headquarters of five states (Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand), one-sixth of the city is occupied by the Indian Army.
Jabalpur is also the birthplace of the game of snooker, a historic heart of Hindi literature movement and a prominent regional education hub. It is also a major spiritual center being the birthplace of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Osho Rajneesh and the site of an important Jain shrine, the Pisanhari Madiya. These factors lie behind the oft-quoted city's moniker Sanskaardhaani (संस्कारधानी) or the Cultural Capital (of Madhya Pradesh). Several important federal and state institutions are located in Jabalpur including the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board, Tropical Forest Research Institute, several ordinance factories and West Central Railway zonal headquarters.
जबलपुर का नाम, इतिहास, भौगोलिक स्थिति, आदि की जानकारी :
जबलपुर मध्य भारत के महाकौशल क्षेत्र में मॉ नर्मदा के पावन किनारे स्थित प्राचीन स्थल है । इसके नाम से संबंधित कई किवदंतियां प्रचलित हैं ।
इनमें से एक कल्चुरी समय की पान्डुलिपी पर आधारित नाम जाउलीपट्टन है । एक अन्य मान्यता के अनुसार इसका नाम जबालि ऋषि पर आधारित है जिन्होंने नर्मदा किनारे वर्षों तपस्या की थी । अन्य मान्यता अरबी के जबल शब्द से जोड़ती है जो यहॉ की पर्वतमालाओं के लिये प्रयुक्त किया माना जाता है और मध्यपूर्व से संबंधों की ओर इंगित करता है ।
मान्यता कुछ भी हो , इस क्षेत्र का सम्रद्ध और विविध प्राचीन एवं सांस्क्रितिक महत्व निर्विवाद है । आचार्य विनोबा ने तभी तो ओशो रजनीश और महाऋषि महेश योगी की इस भूमि को संस्कारधानी नाम दिया ।
जबलपुर का क्षेत्र अपने विशिष्ट ज्ञान के लिये जाना जाता है और शिक्षा का बड़ा केन्द्र है । इस क्षेत्र के प्राक्रतिक संसाधन इसे पर्यटन के लिये उपयुक्त बनाते हैं । यह शांत तथा दीर्घकालीन उद्देश्य के लिये अच्छा स्थान है ।
पाषाण युग से आज तक के इतिहास से परिपूर्ण इस क्षेत्र का अपना विशिष्ट महत्व है । |
Shankar Ji