Shimoga

The name of the city is derived from the term "shivmoga". A version of etymology is due to the story that Lord Shiva drank the Tunga river water using "Mogge", hence the name Shiva-mogga". Another version of etymology is that the name is derived from the term "Sihi-Mogge", meaning "sweet pot".[5]

The district formed the southern tip of the Emperor Ashoka's Mauryan Empire in the third century BC. It was ruled during later centuries by the Kadambas (4th century), Chalukyas (6th century), Ganges, Rashtrakutas (8th century), Hoysalas (11th century), and the Vijayanagara rulers (15th century). The city got an independent identity under the Keladi Nayakas' rule during the 16th century. From the late 17th century, the city had been a part of the Kingdom of Mysore until the independence of India in 1947, when the Mysore state merged into the Republic of India.

During the Satyagraha movement, Mahatma Gandhi also visited the place to instigate the fight for national freedom.[4]

On 1 November 2006, the government of Karnataka announced the renaming of Shimoga to "Shivamogga", along with nine other cities in the state. The central government approved (12 cities) the request in the October 2014 and the city was renamed on 1 November 2014.[6][7][8][9]

Shimoga is one of the important centers for the high school and the pre-university education in Karnataka. Notable institutes in Shimoga for pre-university (PU) education include: Sri Aurobindo PU College and PACE PU College.

The village of Gajanur hosts a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (central school) which is a boarding school. Kuvempu University is located in Shankarghatta, at a distance of 20 km from Shimoga.

Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences is the medical sciences college at Shimoga and managed by Government Departments. Subbaiah Institute of Medical Sciences is located at Purale.[10] It also has two engineering colleges, Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering and PES Institute of Technology and Management.

As of 2011 Indian Census, Shimoga had a total population of 322,650, of which 162,018 were males and 160,632 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 32,691. The total number of literates in Shimoga was 254,531, which constituted 78.9% of the population with male literacy of 81.4% and female literacy of 76.3%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Shimoga was 87.8%, of which male literacy rate was 90.8% and female literacy rate was 84.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 40,737 and 9,192 respectively. Shimoga had 76009 households in 2011.[1]

Kannada is the most widely spoken language in Shimoga.[11]

According to the Shimoga City Municipal Corporation,[12] the city has a total area of about 50 square kilometres (19 sq mi). Most/all these hills are part of the Western Ghats, a region known for plentiful rainfall and lush greenery and declared during 2012 as a World Heritage site. Tunga River flows through Shimoga.

Shimoga is governed by a Municipal Corporation called the Shivamogga City Corporation. The total area under the it is 70.01 sq kms, with a population of 3,22,650 (Census 2011).[17] Shimoga has been selected under the Smart Cities Mission of the Indian Government under Round 2 of selections.[18] Shimoga was upgraded to a Municipal Corporation from a Municipal Council in 2013.[19] The latest Mayoral elections of Shimoga City Corporation were held in January 2020 in which BJP leader Suvarna Shankar was elected the Mayor and Surekha Muralidhar was elected as the Deputy Mayor. Since they were elected by elected representatives belonging to their party, we can say that the corporation has direct elections.[20] The Corporation has a Council of 35 elected members.[20] In 2018, Smt. Charulatha Somal took charge as the Municipal Commissioner of Shimoga City Corporation.[21]

RMC Yard, Shimoga

APMC of Shimoga is main marketing point of arecanut, the major commercial crop grown in the district and well as in neighbouring districts like Uttara Kannada. Shimoga has the biggest areca nut market, and known for procuring high quality areca nuts. Other agricultural produces like rice, chili, coconut etc. are also marketed in APMC.

Shimoga IT Park is an information technology hub built just outside Shimoga near the future Shimoga Airport. The IT Park consists of a 100000 sq ft office building with 24/7 electrical capacity, diesel backup generators, and high speed T1 data connections for use by IT industries such as data centres, call centres, aerospace, robotics, etc.[22]

KSRTC Bus Stand

Shimoga is well connected by road to major cities like Bangalore, Mangalore, Hubli. Two major National Highways pass through the City.

The city has two railway stations, and there are trains that run to and from Bangalore, Mysore, Tirupati and Chennai.

Shimoga Airport is under construction in Sogane, 6 km south of Shimoga.[23] The nearest international airports are Kempegowda International Airport and Mangalore International Airport.

• Sarekoppa Bangarappa, a politician and former Chief Minister of Karnataka
• K. S. Eshwarappa, a politician and former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka
• Kuvempu, a National poet, Jnanapeetha winner
• Shekhar Naik, a former captain of the Indian blind cricket team
• D. H. Shankaramurthy, Former Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly
• Khadi Shankarappa, a freedom fighter
• Shimoga Subbanna, a playback singer
• Kiccha Sudeep, an actor and director in Kannada cinema

• Alada Halli, Shimoga
• Tumkur

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shimoga.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Shimoga.

• Shimoga Zilla Panchayat
• Shimoga Profile
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detailed map of Shimoga district 1959
• Shimoga City Website
• Shimoga IT Company Goodwill Infomedia