Puttur, Karnataka

Puttur
—  city  —
Puttur Location in Karnataka, India
Coordinates: 12.77°N 75.22°E / 12.77; 75.22
Country	India
State	Karnataka
Region	Tulu Nadu
District	Dakshina Kannada
Government
• MLA	Shakunthala Shetty T
Elevation	87 m (285 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	53,091
Languages
• Official	Kannada,Tulu
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	574201
Telephone code	8251
Vehicle registration	KA 21

Puttur (Tulu:ಪುತ್ತೂರು/Kannada:ಪುತ್ತೂರು/Konkani:ಪುತ್ತೂರು) is a city in Dakshina Kannada district, in Karnataka state of India. It is the headquarters of the Puttur Taluk. The city is located 52 km from Mangalore, along the Mysore-Mangalore highway, in a hilly region between the coast and the Western Ghats. according to 2011 estimation city has a population of 53091. The major occupation of its inhabitants is agriculture. The National Research Centre for Cashew and main CAMPCO Factory is located in puttur.

The other towns which are very close to Puttur are Sullia (35 km), Uppinangadi (12 km), Bellare (25 km) and Vittla (Vittal) (15 km).

Geography

Puttur is located at 12.77°N 75.22°E / 12.77; 75.22. It has an average elevation of 87 metres (285 feet).

The town municipal area comprises portions of surrounding villages namely Balnad, Padnoor, Kabaka, Bannur, Chikkamudnoor, Kemminje, Aryapu villages in addition to the thickly populated Puttur Kasaba, the original Town area. Puttur is also known as the rich town of the district

Civic Administration

Puttur Town Municipal Council was formed in the year 1973 by upgrading the Town Panchayath. The area covered by the then TMC was only Puttur Kasaba village extent being 11 km². Later in the year 1996 the portions of adjacent villages, which were developing as part of this Town, were merged to form the present Town Municipality extending the area to 34 km² with 27 councilor wards.

Puttur is the second biggest town in the District, situated on Mangalore-Mysore Highway (Bantwal-Mysore State Highway 88) and is 52 km away from Mangalore, the District head quarter. Puttur was the Taluk Headquarters to the present Sullia Taluk, Belthangady Taluk and present Vittla (Vittal) Firka of Bantwal Taluk. After the taluk reorganization Puttur is the taluk headquarters with 37 Village Panchayaths covering 68 villages. Even after the reorganization of Taluks, Puttur continues to be a center for the economic, educational & medical services for the surrounding Taluks. The southern portion of this Taluk is surrounded by the villages of Kerala State.

People/Communityy

People here belongs to Dravidian race. Mejority of people speak Tulu language along with other languages like Kannada, Konkani, Byari Language,Kodava, Malayalam.

Economy

Agriculture

Puttur is the second largest city in mangalore, which is a largest market for arecanut in Karnataka.Puttur is an agro based town of the Coastal region surrounded by several hillocks with lush green forest situated in the belt of Western ghat heavy rainfall. The Major occupation of the people is agriculture. The crops grown mainly are paddy, areca, coconut, cashew, rubber, cocoa bean, chilli, vanilla, pepper and plantains. In addition dairy farming, sericulture and horticulture activities supplement the earnings of the people to some extent.

Campco Chocolate Factory

It is a joint venture of Government of Karnataka and Government of Kerala. It is an enterprise to promote the welfare of cocoa bean growers of both the states. It is the Biggest Factory of its kind in the Asian Continent with imported machineries from Holland. The Factory produces cocoa butter of which major Portion is exported. The different varieties of Chocolate produced here are having indigenous market and some portion is exported. The Nestle company has an agreement with Campco and produces chocolate in its brand name. This chocolate factory has given a new life to the Cocoa Growers of both the States. When commissioned, this was the largest chocolate factory in the country. Puttur Chamber of Commerce and Industry:Is an organisation of trading community.The main contributors to the growing economy is the members of PCCI.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Puttur had a population of 52000. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. The average literacy rate is 79%, which is higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 75%. About 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.Tulu, Kannada, Konkani and Malayalam are the languages spoken here .

History

As per one theory, Puttur got its name after pearl "Mutthu" in Kannada and town of pearl "Mutthur" slowly renamed itself to Puttur.The famous believed myth is Centuries ago,due to draught priests were performing rituals with rice as prasad in the Holy pond of Mahalingeshwara temple,suddenly the water started coming from all the corners to turn those rice into pearl. Other theory, is Puttur derived its name from "Puttha" in Tulu, meaning snake nests (ant hills/ mounds inhabited by snakes).

Transport

Rail: Puttur railway station falls on the railway line linking Mangalore and Bangalore. It is around 1 km away from center of the town.

Air: The nearest airport is Mangalore International Airport which is at a distance of around 55 km from Puttur

Road: Puttur is situated on Mangalore-Mysore state highway and it is 52 km away from Mangalore. It is also connected to the national highway NH-48(Mangalore-Bangalore) through Uppinangadi which is at a distance of 12 km from city.

Tourism

Sri Mahalingeshwara Temple: This is an ancient temple of said to be built in 11-12th Century, Lord Shiva (popularly known as Puttur Mahalingeshwara) is main deity of this temple. You will find the photo/idle of this deity in most of the houses/shops in the entire puttur taluk as the deity is believed to be the protector of Puttur Taluk. In the premises of this temple we find unique pond on the western side. It is said that in olden days pearls were found to be growing in the pond. In the local dialect muttu means pearls, which brought the name Mutthur to this place later called as Puttur. During the month of April the car festival is celebrated for 10 days with much gaiety and fervor. The town is at its colorful best with the dazzling, light and marvelous display of fire crackers. More than a lakh people visit Puttur during the festival. Another special about the famous Mahalingeshwara temple of Puttur is that elephants can never enter the temple premises. The story goes that once a thief entered the temple and stole the main Idol and when he could not escape he threw the idol into the pond in front of the temple. It went so deep that an Elephant was brought to lift it up. A rope was tied to the idol and dragged by the elephant that Lord Mahalingeshwara became angry with the elephant for dragging him hard and he cursed the elephant that no elephant shall enter the premises of his temple, if entered would fall dead.

Juma Masjid Kallega: It is said that about 300 years ago Tippu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore who was fighting against the British took possession of part of Puttur. A mosque was built in Puttur at Kalle near Puttur. Later the Kalle was called as Kallega by the local people. This is the oldest mosque of town.

Bendru Theertha (Hot Spring): About 15 km from Puttur there is a natural hot water spring (in Tulu language known as Bendru Theertha). It is believed by the local people that the water is said to be more auspicious and a dip in the lake drives away all skin diseases like eczema, allergic rashes and many more ailments. It is situated in a scenic spot by the side of river Seerehole which flows west ward and merges with Arabian Sea. It is the only hot water spring in South India.

Beeramale Hill: Beeramale Hill is an attractive tourism spot of Puttur. The height of the Hill is around 1000 feet from the Sea Level. The Dooradarshan TV Relay Center is established on this Hill. An open auditorium, a library are open to public. Sri Vishwakarma Temple is situated on one side of this hill.

Dr. Shivarama Karanth Balavana: K. Shivaram Karanth, Jnanpith Award recipient stayed here for about 40 years. Dr. Karanth made most of his literary contributions and cultural endeavors at Balavana. He was a literary giant and most of this literary contributions were published here. Those books earned great name and fame for himself and Puttur. Now Balavana is taken over by the Government of Karnataka and a government appointed committee manages this property. The Balavana is situated about 2 km from Puttur in Parladka.

A library of his literary works and an attractive museum is established and is open to the public. A swimming pool was built to teach the children swimming. Summer camps are held here for the children of town and surrounding villages to bring out the hidden talents of children in the field of arts and cultural activities.

'Shri Gopalakrishna temple' situated in Shibara. Which is built around 300 years ago.

Mai De Deus Church: It is one of the ancient church built in 1830 by the Roman Catholic missionaries from Goa in Gothic style. This holy church is renovated with elegant architectural beauty.

Maril church: A church built in 1999.

Peer Mohalla Juma Masjid, Koornadka: Koornadka is very historical place in puttur at the period of Tippu Sulthan some soldier families settled at this place and they name this place as koor because they are originated from koor which is in Afaganistan (ABU KHAN, SAYYED , SHEIK SAHEB , PATNI WALA ,MOIDEEN PATAN, KOORG SAHEB families). They are follower of Imame abu hanifa and sufi saints. In 1899 one great powerful sufi saint "Peer Zade Murshad Habeebulla Sha masthan Sayyed Rahamath Aali sha" came to this place to teach Islam and he survived many mureeds.^{[citation needed]} After death of sufi saint one of his mureedi Janabi Mashubi donated the land for construct the masjid in koor and the mureeds of this saint named this masjid as Peer Mohalla Masjid. Now this place is call as KOORNADKA.

Education

**Information Technology and Computer Training Centers'

• • Crust Centre for Research and Development, Puttur.

**Engineering colleges'

• • Vivekananda College of Engineering & Technology, Puttur.

**General Course colleges

• • St. Philomena College, Darbe, Puttur.
  • St. Philomena Pre University College,Darbe,Puttur
  • St. Philomina Boys High School Darbe, Puttur
  • Sri Vivekananda College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Puttur.
  • Vivekananda Polytechnic, Puttur
  • Vivekananda College of Education, Puttur.
  • Government Junior College, Puttur.
  • Mar Ivanios College of Education, Perabe, Puttur.
  • Sandeepani Higher Primary School
  • Vivekananda Law College, Puttur.
  • Indus College Puttur
  • Indus National College Puttur
  • Shri Mahalingeshwara ITI Kombettu, Puttur
  • [[Ambika Padavi Poorva Vidyala,Nellikkatte,Puttur
  • Vidya Rashmi Vidyalaya Savanoor Puttur]]

List of Primary and High Schools

• • St. Victors Girls High School, Puttur.
  • St. Victors English Higher Primary School, Puttur.
  • Mai De Deus Higher Primary School, Puttur.
  • Little Flower Higher Primary School, Puttur.
  • Bethany. English.med.high schoo,Darbe,Puttur
  • Vivekananda English Medium School
  • Mountain view salmara, puttur
  • Government Junior College Kaniyoor
  • Bushra English Medium School,Kavu
  • Sudana Residential School, Nehru Nagar.
  • Government Junior College High School, Puttur
  • Sri Ramakrishna High School, Puttur
  • Govt Primary School, Near Mahalingeshwara temple, Puttur
  • Govt Higher Primary School, Mukve
  • Vidya Rashmi Vidyalaya Savanoor,Puttur
  • Sarvodaya High school Sulyapadavu Puttur

Healthcare

Puttur town provides moderate health-care facilities through both Government and private hospital set-ups. Being a Taluk headquarters, Puttur has Government Community Health Centre (a referral hospital). It provides specialty health care facilities also. However, generally the major role is played by the private practitioners and hospitals. There are quite good and affordable modern and Ayurveda health care centres, dental clinics, Homeopathy clinics provide health care facility.

List of Hospitals

• Aadarsha hospital
• Ashwini Hospital Nellyady, 35 km from Puttur.
• Chethana hospital
• Dhanvanthari hospital
• Govt Hospital Puttur.
• Mahaaveera Hospital
• Puttur City Hospital
• Srinivasa nursing home.
• Sri sathya sayi hospital
• City Hospital
• Girija Clinic
• Sushrutha Ayurveda Hospital

Nearby Places/Cities/Towns

• Bellare
• Belthangadi
• Mangalore
• Madikeri
• Kasargod
• Siddapur
• Subramanya
• Sullia
• Bantwala- B.C. Road
• Vittla (Vittal)
• Uppinangadi
• Dharmastala
• Moodabidire

External links

• City of Puttur official site
• Maps of Puttur
• Shree Mahalingeshwara Temple, Puttur
• Janathe | ಜನತೆ.ಕಾಂ Daily News Portal publishing from Puttur
• National Research Centre for Cashew
• Crust Business Consulting - Consult for Cheapest Website Designing
• Puttur e suddi paper
• Hotel Super Tower- A Hotel in Puttur