Dewas District is a district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The town of Dewas is the district headquarters. Dewas District roughly corresponds to the territories of the twin princely states of Dewas. The district straddles the Vindhya Range; the northern portion of the district lies on the Malwa plateau, while the southern portion lies in the valley of the Narmada River. The Narmada forms the southern boundary of the district. The district is bounded to the east by Sehore District, to the south by the Harda and Khandwa districts, to the west by the Khargone and Indore districts, and to the north by the Ujjain and Shajapur districts. Dewas District is part of Ujjain Division. Devsaal Rawats of Uttarakhand are said to have their origins in Dewas at the time of legendary kingVikramāditya. Dewaw is around 152.7Km from Bhopal and around 40.8 Km from Indore by road. Dewas District is now divided into nine tehsils namely Sonkatch, Dewas, Bagli, Kannod, Tonk Khurd, Khategaon, Hatpiplya, Satwas, Udaynagar. Dewas tehsil is situated on the north-western part of the district, Sonkatch on the north-eastern part, Bagli on the south, Kannod on the south-central part and Khategaon on the South-east. Dewas, the headquarters of Dewas tehsil, which is also the district headquarters, is situated on National Highway and is also connected by broad-gauge railway line of western Railway.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Dewas District has a population of 1,563,715, roughly equal to the nation of Gabon or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 319th in India. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 19.48%. Dewas has a sex ratio of 941 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 70.53%.
Languages
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 92.82% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 2.13% Bhili, 1.90% Urdu, 1.31% Gondi, 0.68% Marathi and 0.66% Gujarati as their first language. Languages spoken include Hindi, Maalvi, Bangla, English, Marathi and Bareli Rathwi language, a Bhil language with approximately 64,000 speakers.
Places of interest
Pushpgiri Tirth, Sanwer, Sonkatch
Shri Digambar Jain Teerth Kshetra, Pushpagiri is located west toward Sonkatch in the area of the Songiri Hills. The temple here is dedicated to Lord Mahavir. This Jain kshetra is a sprawling 250-acre complex housing Jain Sthanaks, schools, hospital, museum, cottages, shopping centers and a idol of Bhagwan Paraswanath in an Yogic posture, one of the tallest Jain idols.
Kheoni or Khinvi wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1955. The area of reserved forest is 115.320 sq km and of protected forest is 16.678 sq km and totalling to 132.778 sq km. This sanctuary houses different types of animals, birds, and aquatic creatures.
Kavadia Hills
This pahaad, situated next to Potla and Pipri villages in Bagli Taluk, Dewas district is a series of small rocky mountains. There are total seven mountain-like formations of shaped interlocking basalt columns that were probably created simultaneously as a result of volcanic eruption millions of years ago. These rock columns are arranged in a pattern that gives an appearance of a man made structure. Most of the columns are hexagonal and interlocked with similar rocks on all the edges that emit a musical sound when struck. Most visible columns are 8 to 10 feet long but there can be longer rocks further deep inside the mountain. Although basalt columns are not unique and are found at several places around the world, the quality, quantity, geometrical arrangement and location of this place is unique.
Gidya Khoh
Situated on the Indore-Nemawar , Gidya Khoh or Gidiya Khoh lies in the Dewas District, and has a waterfall surrounded by a valley. The waterfall cascades from a height of 500–600 ft. Khudel devta temple is located here. Gidya Khoh is located about 48 km south of Dewas and 42 km east of Indore, and Double Chwki is the nearest junction from which Gidya Khoh is 9 km away.
Dewas' water management programs
The United Nations awarded Dewas district's community water management works the 3rd place under the category of "Best Water Management Practices" for 2011–2012. The United Nations also praised Bhagirath Krishhak Abhiyan of Dewas district, started by district administrator Umakant Umrao. A documentary film made by Public Service Broadcasting Trust about Dewas water revolution was featured on Lok Sabha TV.
