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Distance from:
is 304.85 Kms.
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Nestled at 3,400ft in the Sahyadri mountains of the Western Ghats, Chikmagalur is situated in the south-western part of Karnataka. Barely 250km from state capital Bangalore, it lies at the foothills of the Baba Budan range and offers an ideal getaway for those looking at a quiet weekend. Typical of Ghat topography, the town offers unending vistas of mountains, streams, and coffee and pepper plantations.
A number of rivers, such as Bhadra, Hemavathi, Tunga, Netravathi and Vedavathi, originate in the hills surrounding the town. Chikmagalur today serves as the headquarters of a district by the same name. It was here that coffee was first cultivated in India in 1670 by Baba Budan, a Muslim saint who brought coffee seeds from Yemen, and after whom the mountain range to the north.
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History of Chikmagalur city
Chickmagalur, meaning "Town of the younger daughter", is a beautiful town located in the foothills of Bababudangiri range. The town is known for its coffee and tea estates. The scenic hill station of Kemmeangundi is about two hours away from Chickmagalur. In the early 1980"s, Indira Gandhi contested for elections from Chickmagalur and won by a huge margin. It was then that the town gained popularity. Hiremagalur, meaning "Town of the elder daughter", is about 5 kms away from Chickmagalur. This village boast of a unique temple of Lord Rama.It is common folklore that when Parashurama met Lord Rama he asked to see him in the pose when he got married to Sita Thus, it is said that the temple at Hiremagalur has the positions of Lakshmana and Sita interchanged.
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Geography and Climate of Chikmagalur city
Chikmagalur is located at 13.32° N 75.78° E.It has an average elevation of 1037 metres (3402 feet). The hillstations around Chikkamgaluru are famous summer retreats since they remain cool even during summers. The temperature of the city however varies from 17-20 °C during winter to 32-35 °C during summer.Chikmagalur records an average annual rainfall of 1886 mm.
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Economy of Chikmagalur city
Agriculture is the economical back bone of the Chikmagalur district with coffee cultivation forming the major part of it. Agricultural production in the district is spread over three seasons - namely Kharif, Rabi and Summer. Important crops grown are cereals, i.e. rice, ragi, jowar, maize and minor millets, pulses like red gram, horse gram, green gram, avrekai (Hyacinth Beans), black gram and Bengal gram. Oil seeds like ground nut, sesamum, sunflower, castor and commercial crops like sugarcane, cotton, and tobacco are also grown here.
Coffee is cultivated in Chikmagalur district in an area of around 85,465 hectares with Arabica being the dominant variety grown in upper hills and Robusta being the major variety in the low level hills. There are around 15000 coffee growers in this district with 96% of them being small growers with holdings of less than or equal to 4 hectares. The average production is 55,000 MT comprising of 35,000 MT of Arabica and 20,000 MT of Robusta. The average productivity per hectare is 810 kg for Arabica and 1110 kg of Robusta, which are higher than the national average.
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Flora and Fauna of Chikmagalur city
There is a wide variety of flora and fauna in the park. The park is covered with thick hilly forests, mostly evergreen and semi-evergreen near the coastal plains on the western portion; and the shoal–grassland habitat at elevations above 1400m on the Western Ghats. Plantations of Eucalyptus, Casuarina, Acacia auriculiformis and Grevillea robusta are found here. The park is surrounded by Coffee and Tea plantations on the northern and eastern boundaries.The wild animals seen in the park include tiger, leopard, wild dog, jackal, lion-tailed macaque, common langur, sloth bear, gaur, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, Malabar giant squirrel, giant flying squirrel, porcupine and the mongoose.
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