Remember our post about new symbol of Hindu Muslim Friendship? Here are few snaps from the same temple..

This is in continuation to our Earlier post about Latur History.

This small video tells about how Indian Tricolor was first time seen in Latur. An interesting insight about the freedom struggle in Latur.

If Latur is known for something in business world, it must be the large agriculture market here. The market which is spread over 12 hectares of land, more than 30lakh Qtls commodities being dealt, it contributes to over 300 Cr. Rs worth transactions each year.
Here are two pictures of a normal day in the market yard.

Those who live away from Latur must be missing many things about the city. And I’m sure one of them must be the beautiful temples and gardens here..

Here are some snaps from Virat Hanuman temple clicked by me today..

Very few of us know about the online directory by BSNL. You can search phone number by name / address or you can even find out whom does a particular phone number belong. The Directory is very simple to use and quick to search.

Check out the directory at this link.

Latur is an old town with Historical and Mythological background. The book “Ratnapur Mahatmya” has a detailed insight of city’s history. The city was known as various names in the past including Satyapur, Shreepur, Ratnapur, Lakshapur etc.
The city has many Monkery and ancient temples. The idol at “Keshavraj Temple” is considered to be self generated. A replica of the idol can be found in National Museum at Delhi. The idol is supposed to be more than 2000 years old. The temple is Hemadpanthi is style which gives an idea about the age of the current temple being more than 500 years old. The Jain Monkery in Latur is more than 700 years old. The SuratShahavali Mosque adjoining is built up by Aurangzeb. The Gramdaivat Siddheshwar has a history of more than 500 years. The temple was renovated in 1910. Some stone inscription at the temple says about the age of the temple.
The city also has historical background, with Satvahanas and Rashtrakutas having ruled over the city. It was also a part of Ashoka’s empire. King Amogha of Rashtrakutas used to proudly call him “Lattlurvasiya” (Citizen of Lattlur).
In 1670 AD, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had visited the city. In Peshva times, “Laturi coin” was part of the currency. Thus Latur played very important role in history at every time span; the Satavahanas, the Sakas, the Chalukyas, the Yadavas of Deogiri, the Delhi Sultans, the Bahamani rulers of South India, AdilShahi, the Mughals and the Princely State of Hyderabad.
Latur has always been famous for business and training. The old business community used to stay In old Latur, towards the north of Khadak Hanuman. Lad was main businessman community in earlier times. Other businessmen communities included Brahmin, Maratha, Yalam, Jains etc. Later Lad community had some trouble with Nizam dynasty so Marwadis were invited from Rajasthan for business. Since then Marwadis are ruling the business community in Latur.
Lokmanya Tilak visited Latur in 1891 and initiated a Ginning factory. Latur got a name of fame in National market with this factory. A Vegetable oil factory was also subsequently started in Latur by Dalda, which was first Vegetable oil factory in Asia.
Barshi Light Railway (BLR) was introduced in 1911 which improved the transportation to Latur. The population was also increasing with the increase in business activities. World War I saw a stiff increase in the cotton rates and Latur Market got a higher place in Global market.
Later with time, the cotton industry saw a decline and Grain market got a rise. Today Latur is well known for the grain market and oil industries.
Latur was earlier part of Gunjoti Tahsil but looking at the glory of Latur, it got the status of Tahsil by Nizam government. Later on 15th August 1982, Latur got the status of District place. Latur was connected to Mumbai and Hyderabad via BroadGauge lines in 2004.
Latur has always been a progressive city and the progress route has never come on a backfoot in entire lifetime of the city. And we wish the progress will never take a back seat.

Recently we undertook a test based on knowledge of “Latur City and District” for Rotaract Club of Latur Midtown. Following are the questions we asked in the quiz.
Try if you can answer these questions. Put your answers as comment to this post for the reference of other Laturkar.

Click here for the quiz.

PS: You may receive a surprise prize if you answer all 20 questions correctly.

The Hanuman Temple at Bakali (?????) in Shirur Anantpal Taluka has a history of more than 300 years. It is said that 250 Acres of land was donated to this temple by a devotee long ago. The donation included lands at various places in Latur and neighboring Bidar district. However, only 16 acres of land is remaining now with the trust.

In 1766, A muslim Tahsildar in Nizam government provided funds to build up stone gate and Naubatkhana in front of the temple. Later various businessmen from Latur, Nanded and Solapur have provided funds to reconstruct and maintain the temple.

The Manjara river has a pin turn near the temple. Thats the reason the village is called as Bakali. {Pin turn is called as ??? in Marathi}.

The temple is also a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity. For ages, bunch of people from Turukwadi comes to this temple in the month of Moharram.

The temple hosts a 5 day yatra on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. The fair consists of various auspicious activities as well as wrestling games.

The place is around 40 km away from Latur. The route goes via Babhalgao – Gaur – Masalga – Halki – Ujed.

P.S: Women are not allowed inside the main temple.