Shravasti district

This article is about the district. For the historical town, see Sravasti.

Shravasti district श्रावस्ती जिला
District of Uttar Pradesh
Location of Shravasti district in Uttar Pradesh
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
Administrative division	Devipatan
Headquarters	Bhinga
Tehsils	2
Government
• Lok Sabha constituencies	Shravasti
Area
• Total	1,858.2 km2 (717.5 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,114,615
• Density	600/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Demographics
• Literacy	49.13 per cent
Website	Official website

Shravasti District is one of the districts of the Uttar Pradesh state of India and Bhinga town is district headquarters. Shravasti district is a part of Devipatan Division. According to Government of India, the district Shravasti is one of the minority concentrated district in India on the basis of the 2001 census data on population, socio-economic indicators and basic amenities indicators.

History

Main article: Sravasti

Shravasti, the north-eastern town of Uttar Pradesh, is located near the West Rapti River. This town is closely associated with the life of Gautama Buddha, who is believed to have spent 24 Chaturmases here. Age-old stupas, majestic viharas and several temples near the village of "Sahet-Mahet" establish Buddha's association with Shravasti. It is being said that the Vedic Bharat period king Sravasti(8th king of Ikshwaku dynasty) founded this town. Shravasti was the capital of the Kosala Kingdom during his reign . This prosperous trading center was well known for its religious associations. Sobhanath temple is believed to be the birthplace of the Tirthankara Sambhavanath in Jainism, making Shravasti an important center for Jains. According to Nagarjuna, the city had a population of 900,000 in 5th century BCE and it even overshadowed Magadha's capital, Rajgir.

As mentioned in the 'Bruhatkalpa' and various Kalpas of the fourteenth century, the name of the city was Mahid. There are subsequent mentions showing that the name of this city was Sahet-Mahet. It is also mentioned that a vast fort covered this city in which there were many temples having idols of Devkulikas.

Today a great rampart of earth and brick surrounds this city. During excavation in 'Sahet-Mahet' near Shravasti City, many ancient idols and inscriptions were found. They are now kept in museums of Mathura and Lucknow. At present, the archaeological department of the Indian Government is doing excavation to perform allied research.

Geography

Shravasti—part of historic Awadh—was carved out from Gonda district on the south and Bahraich on the west. Shrawasti also borders Balrampur on the east, and Nepal's districts Dang-Deukhuri to the northeast and Banke district nepal to the northwest. Shravasti district headquarters Bhinga is about 170 kilometres from Lucknow [up state headquarter ] the state capital.

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Shravasti one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Shravasti district has a population of 1,114,615, roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Rhode Island. This gives it a ranking of 414th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 572 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,480/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was -5.25 %. Shrawasti has a sex ratio of 875 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 49.13%.

Education

With a literacy rate of 34.2 per cent in 2001, it had the lowest literacy rate amongst districts in Uttar Pradesh.