Kalyan

Kalyan is a city in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division and a part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It is a neighbouring city of Mumbai and is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.

Kalyan is within the administrative division (tahsil) at a taluka level of Thane district. Kalyan and its neighbouring township of Dombivli jointly form Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, abbreviated as KDMC. It is a founding city corporation of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Kalyan is the 9th biggest city in Maharashtra and 28th in the country.

History

The name ‘Kalyan’ is believed to be from Kalyan swami, a great slave of Sadguru Samartha Ramdas Swami who arrived at Durga Devi temple on Shri Durgadi fort, which was won by Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and the fort was well used as Navy stations in Swarajya dynasty. The temple is renovated several times by Hindus. A big fair is held at Durgadi fort in Navratri.

In pre-independent India, the British Raj spelled Kalyan as Kallian, Cullian, Callian and sometimes as Callianee. Over the centuries, the city has seen attacks by various foreign armies, including the Mughal, the Portuguese and the British. The Marathas were held in high regard by the locals for being their only line of defense against invasions.

Walter Hamilton, a foreign visitor passing through India, described Callianee as ‘A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of Hindustan, and the Adjacent Counties’ in Volume 2 on page 150 of his 1820 book.

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  A post 1857 map by John Tallis focused on the events of the Rebellion. The author spells Kalyan as “KALYAN LANJA”/”Calliannee”.

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  India, by Edward Weller, for the Weekly Dispatch Magazine, c.1859. Spelled “Callianee”.

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  India, 1861, a map by J. and C. Walker. Spelled as “Killiannee”.

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  India, by Alexander Keith Johnson, from his “Royal Atlas of Modern Geography,” London, 1873. Spelled “Kalyan”.

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  Leipzig: Verlag con Velhagen & Klasing, 1881. Spelled as “Kalyan”

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  Letts’s Popular Atlas, 1883 (Letts & Co., London), Spelled “Kalliannee”.

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  Cram atlas map, 1885. Spelled as “Callian”.

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  A documented map of Kalyan area 1955 from the US military. Spelled “Kalyan”.

Anandi Gopal Joshi, from Kalyan, along with Kadambini Ganguly, was one of the first two Indian women to obtain a degree in Western medicine. An 1886 graduate, Joshi is also believed to be the first Hindu woman to set foot on American soil.

There are many historic temples on banks of lakes like Kala Talav and Pokharan in old Kalyan. The Samadhis of Saints Shri Sahajanand Swami, Shri Rammaruti Maharaj and Shri Malang Baba are situated in Kalyan, which makes the city spiritually capitalized. Fairs on Hindu new year day- Gudhi Padwa, Ganeshotsav and Navratri are good to watch.

Around Kalyan

Durgadi Fort

The city of Kalyan was surrounded by a fort wall, the construction of which began during Shah Jahan’s reign and was completed during Aurangzeb’s reign in 1694 A.D. This city wall, which ran in excess of 2000 yards, 2123 to be precise, was guarded by 4 gates and 11 towers. The fort wall enclosed an area of 70 acres and on a high mound near the Kalyan creek, where the current Ganesh ghat stands, was a fine fort since as early as 1570.

The wall of the fort along the top of the inner bank of the ditch, and, near the north end, had a gateway known as the Delhi or Killyacha Darwaja.

Under the Marathas (1760–72), a new gate about 150 feet (46 m) to the south of the Ganesh gate was opened near the mansion of Ramji Mahadeo Biwalkar, the Peshwa’s Governor. In the citadel of the fort Marathas built a small wooden temple of Durgadevi behind the mosque, and called the fort Durgadi Killain in honor of the goddess, a name which it still bears. The fort measures 220 feet (67 m) in length and somewhat less in breadth. Under the English rule, the fort wall was dismantled and stones carried to build the Kalyan and Thane piers and a dwelling for the customs inspector in the west of the Kalyan fort. The gate to the north-west is almost the only trace of the fort wall, which is of rough stone masonry. During 1876 the original idol of the goddess Durga was stolen.

Demographics

The majority of Kalyan citizens are Hindus with Muslims being a significant minority..

Climate

Transport

Trains, Buses and Auto-rickshaws are the important mode of transport in and around Kalyan. 200,000 Kalyan citizens travel daily by local trains.

Kalyan Junction railway station is on the railway line between Mumbai and Karjat/Kasara. The city of Kalyan has access to four railway stations on the Central line – Thakurli Station, Vitthalwadi, Shahad Station and Kalyan Junction. Kalyan Junction serves as an important railway station for the people in and around Mumbai.

Civic amenities

With a population of more than 700,000, Kalyan is a part of the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation established in 1983, with municipalities of Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath and 81 other villages. It was then one of the largest urban local bodies in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and in the state, with an area around 209 km² (81 sq mi). The government of Maharashtra has decided to delete major area of the corporation limits on different occasions. Presently the total area of the corporation has remained, and measures about 67 km² (26 sq mi).

Government

KDMC is a municipal corporation in Thane district of Maharashtra State, India. The municipal corporation was formed in 1983 to administer the twin townships of Kalyan and Dombivli. The municipal corporation has a population 15,18,762 citizens as per the 2011 census. Due to its highly educated population it is often called the second cultural capital of Maharashtra after Pune. Kalyan was once famous as a port in ancient times. Records of its existence as a premier port in the region have been found in ancient Greek manuscripts.

The corporation is governed by Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act 1949. The following authorities are given charge to carry out the provisions of the act:

• A corporation
• A standing committee
• Ward committees
• Municipal commissioner

Both the cities are divided into 122 wards. Municipal Corporation consists of Councillors elected directly at Ward Elections. The number and boundaries of the Wards into which the city is divided is specified by the State Election Commissioner. There are five Councillors nominated by the corporation. As per the provisions of the Act, the total number of Councillors is 121. The Corporation elects one of its members as the Mayor and another to be the Deputy Mayor.

Gallery

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  KDMT Buses

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  Kalyan Railway Junction

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  Kalyan Junction during the 26 July floods

Notable people

• Vishwanath Bhoir– MLA, (Kalyan West)
• Tushar Deshpande – Indian Cricketer. (Fast Bowler)
• Pranav Dhanawade – Indian Cricketer. (Record holder for most runs 1009*)
• Ashish Dixit – Indian Actor
• Ganpat Gaikwad– MLA, BJP (Kalyan East)
• Anandi Gopal Joshi – first Indian female physician
• Gavin Packard – Indian actor
• Pramod Ratan Patil– MLA, MNS (Kalyan Rural)
• Narendra Pawar – Ex-MLA, BJP (Kalyan West)
• Lalit Prabhakar – Indian actor
• Shrikant Shinde – Member of Parliament (Kalyan)
• Sneha Wagh – Indian Television actress