Barwani District was formed on 25th May 1998. It was carved out of West-Nimar, Khargone district. Barwani is situated on the south-west side of Madhya Pradesh as well as Holy River Narmada is its northern border. The district is surrounded by Satpuda (in South) and Vindhyachal (in North) forest ranges. The name Badwani originated from the forests of Bad which had surrounded the city in old times. Wani is the old word for the Garden. And hence the city got its name Badwani which means Garden of Bads. Barwani is still pronounced as Badwani but it spells Barwani.
As per as the population is concerned according to the census of 2001 Barwani District has a population of 10, 81,039.
History of Barwani District
Before 1948 town Barwani was the capital of old Barwani State. This small State was spared by British, Mughals and Marathas because of its rocky terrain and less productive soil. The Rana dynasty ruled the state throughout the history. The history of this dynasty goes back to 13th century. Town Barwani was also known as Badnagar and Siddha Nagar. The place is also famous for Chool Giri, Jain pilgrimage centre of Bawangaja.
Barwani has a Historic Symbol which is known as Tir-Gola. It is located at Khandwa-Baroda Road, in front of Sagar Vilas Palace and was built in the memory of late son of Raja Ranjit Singh.
Geography of Barwani District
Barwani District of Madhya Pradesh is situated between latitudes 21 degrees 37 minutes to 22 degrees 22 minutes North and Longitudes 74 degrees 27 minute to 75 degrees 30 minutes east. The district of Barwani is bounded by the state of Maharashtra in South, Gujarat in far West, district Khargone on the East and district Dhar on the North. The district is triangular in shape with the highest point in the West. The town Barwani is situated near the left bank of the Narmada River.
Tourism of Barwani District
Some of the well known tourist places of Barwani District are Bawangaja and Beejasan.
Bawangaja (Chool Giri) is an important Jain pilgrimage centre. It is 6 Kms from district headquarter Barwani. There are 11 temples on the hill and they belong to 15th century. It has world`s tallest statue of Lord Adinathji. Jain saints Kumbhakarna and Indrajeet were said to attain Nirvaan from this place only. Beejasan is situated on the Agra-Mumbai national highway, 20 Kms from Sendhawa towards Maharashtra. It is famous for the temple of Goddess Beejasani (Durga).
How to Reach Barwani District
The nearest airport of Barwani District is Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Indore, which is 150 KM from Barwani, provides connectivity to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengalooru, Pune, Raipur and Nagpur in India with major airlines operating on these routes.
Barwani has Western Railway Reservation Counter (Ratlam Mandal) at Ambedker Park on Rajghat Road. The nearest railway station is situated at Indore, which is one of the major commercial railway stations of western railway. Another nearer railway station is Khandwa, which is 180 km from Barwani. Khandwa is situated on Central Railway and it is connected with Barwani via State highway Number 26.
Barwani district is fairly well connected to other parts of Madhya Pradesh and India with national and state highways. The city is connected to the Agra-Bombay NH-03 by Khandwa-Baroda SH-26 at the distance of 45 KM at Julwaniya. There are bus services to and from all major and minor cities near Barwani. The major cities are Indore, Khandwa, Ujjain, Dewas, Dhar, Ratlam, Khargone, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Baroda.
