Ankola

File:Lakshmi Narayan Mahamaya Ankola.jpg

Lakshmi Narayana Mahamaya Temple Ankola

Ankola ಅಂಕೋಲ
City and Taluka
Ankola Location in Karnataka, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Karnataka
District	Uttara Kannada
Area
• Total	7.42 km2 (2.86 sq mi)
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	101,549
• Density	1,928.44/km2 (4,994.6/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Kannada
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	581 314
Telephone code	+91-8388
Vehicle registration	KA-30
Website	www.ankolatown.gov.in

Ankola (Kannada: ಅಂಕೋಲ, is a panchayat town and a taluka in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state, India).The name of the place is derived from a forest shrub Ankola grown on the coastal hill side and worshiped by the Halakki Vokkaligas as a totem.

Ankola is a small picturesque town surrounded by temples, schools, paddy fields and mango groves. It is located on the coast of the Arabian sea and has natural beaches. Ankola is famous for its native breed of Mango called Ishaad as wells as its bountiful cashews.

Geography

Ankola is located at . It has an average elevation of 17 metres (55 feet). The Gangavali River (also known as Bedti) is a prominent river that flows near the town. Summer temperatures range between 30 °C and 35 °C while winter temperatures drop down marginally to between 20 °C and 33 °C.

Belekeri is a natural port located nearby which is mainly used to ship iron ore to China and Europe.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Total population of Ankola Taluk is 101,549 living in 21,079 Houses, Spread across a total 309 villages and 20 panchayats . Males are 51,398 and Females are 50,151 . Ankola Town Panchayat has a population of 22,249 of which 11,034 are males while 11,215 are females as per report released by Census of India 2011.

Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 2025 which is 9.10% of total population of Ankola (TP + OG). In Ankola Town Panchayat, Female Sex Ratio is of 1016 against state average of 973. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Ankola is around 1013 compared to Karnataka state average of 948. Literacy rate of Ankola city is 90.63% , higher than the state average of 75.36%. In Ankola, Male literacy is around 94.63% while female literacy rate is 86.69%.

Ankola Town Panchayat has a total administration over 5,271 houses, to which it supplies basic amenities like water and sewerage. It is also authorized to build roads within Town Panchayat limits and impose taxes on properties coming under its jurisdiction.

Ankola's population includes diverse communities. The main languages spoken are Kannada and Konkani .Among the Muslims, Urdu is common. Kannada is the predominant language in Ankola while Konkani and Urdu are spoken by minority of the population.

Villages of Ankola

Villages of Ankola include:

• Achave
• Adigon
• Adlur
• Agragon (Agragone)
• Agsur
• Algeri (Alageri)
• Andle
• Aversa
• Balale
• Baleguli
• Belambar
• Belekeri
• Belse
• Bhavikeri (Bavikeri)
• Bidrager
• Bilehoingi
• Bobruwada
• Bogribail
• Bole
• Brahmur
• Devigadde
• Dongri
• Devarbhavi
• Gundabala
• Halvalli
• Harwada (Harvada)
• Hattikeri
• Padmapur Heggar
• Makkigadde
• Heggarnikotebavi
• Hichkad
• Hillur
• Hittalamakki
• Hoskeri
• Joog
• Jamgod
• Kabgal
• Kanasigadde
• Kalleshwar
• Kammani
• Kanagil (Kangil)
• Kendige
• Keni
• Kenkanishivapur
• Kogre
• Kumbarakeri
• Kuntgani
• Lakkeguli
• Laxmeshwar
• Manigadde
• Manjaguni (Manjuguni)
• Mogta
• Moralli
• Nadibag
• Navagadde
• Nellurkanchinbail
• Poojgeri
• Sagadgeri
• Shetgeri
• Sheveguli
• Shikliturli
• Shinganmakki
• Shirgunji
• Shirur
• Sunksal
• Surve (Soorve)
• Takatgeri
• Torke
• Tenkankeri
• Ulware
• Vaidya Heggar
• Vandige
• Varilbena
• Vasar Kudrige
• Wadibogri

Salt Satyagraha

In 1930, after the success of Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha, Karnataka decided to conduct its own. On 13 April, in the presence of about 40,000 people M.P. Nadakarni broke the salt law in Ankola. Revu Honnappa Naik brought the first packet of salt auctioned for 30 rupees. After the auction Swami Vidyananda addressed the gathering in which leaders like Karnad Sadashiva Rao, Smt Umabai Kundapur, Dr Hardikar, T.S. Naikand others participated. The police promptly arrested the leaders but the Sathyagraha continued for 45 days with full tempo. Salt Sathyagraha was offered in nearly 30 centres like Mangalore, Kundapur, Udupi, Puttur, Padubidre, etc. in Karnataka. Students came out in large numbers to prepare salt and sell it from house to house. When Gandhiji decided to raid the salt depot at Dharsana, a similar raid was undertaken in Karnataka at Sanikatte. A group of volunteers led by Sridhar Panduranga Balaji collected a few maunds of salt and carried it to Kumta, where the whole stock was sold in 15 minutes.

Four taluks in Karnataka namely Hirekerur in Dharwad district and Ankola, Sirsi and Siddapura in North Kanara district were selected for organizing the no-tax campaign. Despite repressive measures by the authorities, the campaign was a huge success. More than 1500 activists were arrested in Karnataka for participating in the Civil-Disobedience Movement during 1930-31. These historic events led to Ankola being named the "Bardoli of Karnataka".

Beaches

Ankola lies on the coast of the Arabian Sea and has many beautiful beaches, such as Belekeri Beach, Nadibag, Gabitkeni, Honne gudi Beach(5 km from Ankola), Honey Beach and Keni beach.

Culture

Folk Dance

Yakshagana Artists

A popular folk dance in Ankola is Yakshagana. There's also a tribal dance called Suggi.

Festivals

An annual mela called 'Bandihabba' is celebrated on Buddha Poornima in the month of May. This is an important festival to be celebrated for nine days. On the ninth day, Mela is conducted near Shantadurga temple and people from around the town and village throng the temple and celebrate it.

Another big festival called 'Karthik' is celebrated during November when five temple deities will be out of Ankola town on Palakki for a night stay and will return next morning. The entire town celebrates this town with fire works.

Temples

Ankola houses many temples such as famous Honna Raka Temple, beautiful Mahamaya, architectural Venkataramana Temple, and traditional Shantadurga(Famously known as Bhumidevathe), Eeshwara devasthana. Migrated Konkani Saraswats are said to have brought with their Kuladevtas with them. Considering this to be their safe haven, they are said to have established the Kuladevata temples in Ankola. Some of the migrated Goan Deities are Lakshmi Narayan Mahamaya(Nagve Mahmamaya) from the Nagve village in Salcette Goa, Kundodari Mahamaya (Kudteri Mahamaya) from Curtorim in Salcette Goa, and the Aryadurga temple from the Anjediva (Aryadweep) island of Goa. The Shantadurga temple is assumed to be the gram devta of the village is still a question of debate, since many saraswat families do consider it to be their Kuladevta, but the locals state that the deity present is not of Konkani or Goan origin but currently a Dravidian deity.

Cuisine

Usual diet contains boiled white rice (called Kuchige akki) and fish, basale soppina hulaga (a vegetable sambar) & Koli Asi (chicken curry). Fish is consumed by a large part of population. Special Preparations - 1. Kotte Roti - A form of idli-like preparation, steam cooked in a conical shaped container constructed using jackfruit leaves. Kajmiji is a local sweet.

Transportation

Public road transportation to Ankola is handled by NWKRTC (North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation ) .Road transportation is a crucial link for the population.Other modes of transportation such as inland water navigation,are also in use.Railway station is about 3 km from the town.

By roadroads and railways

• It is well connected to Mangalore and Goa by bus and train. Rail services are fairly regular .Ankola is connected to Bangalore is connected by road. The National Highway 17( NH17 now NH66) passes through Ankola.
• Eastern direction - Connected to Hubli, Hyderabad by National Highway 63.
• Northern direction - Connected to Karwar, Goa by Road, Railways.
• Southern direction - Connected to Gokarna, Murdeshwar,Udupi by Road, Railways.
• Western direction:Arabian Sea & Beaches.

The rivers offer inland water navigation,usually in traditional ferries or mechanised boats. Hubli to Ankola railway facility has been pushed to backburner,due to the stay order from Supreme Court of India.[1]

Nearest Airports

• Goa International Airport
• Belgaum Airport
• Hubli Airport
• Kempegowda International Airport
• Mangalore AirportKaravali

News and Media

• Karavali Munjavu is a local news paper with a district wide circulation.
• Arya news, City News, Canara News, and Nuthana News are some prominent news channels.

Schools and Colleges

The city and the taluk has a lot of government, government aided and private educational institutions.Nirmala Hrudaya, PMHS, Shri Manjunath Swamy High school, Jai Hind Highschool, KLE's(Karnataka Lingayat Education) institutions,Governments Schools and colleges are some of the known educational institutions of Ankola. Gokhale Centenary College offers various pregraduate, undergraduate and also limited postgraduate courses.In 2007, Government First Grade College was started in Poojageri ( 2 km from Ankola) with a whopping student strength. This college offers bachelor's degree in Arts,Science, Commerce and Business Administration.Ankola taluk also has seen an increasing number of Preuniversity colleges being established in the recent years. The rural areas generally have primary and highschool facilities.