Latur.. 16 Roads That Lead To Jagdamba

Latur.. 16 Roads That Lead To Jagdamba, a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.

Latur (lang-mr|लातूर) is a city in Marathwada region in the Maharashtra state of India. It is headquarters of Latur District and Latur Taluka. It is known for its educational technique (famously called the Latur Pattern), the food-grain trade and oil mills. Vilasrao Deshmukh was the leader who lifted Latur from small town to one of the largest cities in the Marathwada region.

Latur has an ancient history, which probably dates to the Rashtrakuta period. It was home to a branch of Rashtrakutas which ruled the Deccan from year 753-973AD. The first Rashtrakuta king Dantidurga was from Lattalur (Kannada: ಲಟ್ಟಲೂರು), probably the ancient name for Latur. Anecdotally, Ratnapur is also mentioned as a name for Latur.
The King Amoghavarsha of Rashtrakutas developed the Latur city, originally the native place of the Rashtrakutas. The Rashtrakutas who succeeded the Chalukyas of Badami in 753 AD called themselves the residents of Lattalut.
It was, over the centuries, variously ruled by the Satavahanas, the Sakas, the Chalukyas, the Yadavas of Deogiri, the Delhi Sultans, the Bahamani rulers of South India, Adilshahi, and the Mughals.
Later in the 19th century it became part of the independent princely state of Hyderabad. In 1905 it was merged with surrounding areas and renamed Latur tehsil, and became part of Osmanabad district. Before 1948, Latur was a part of Hyderabad state under Nizam. The chief of Nizam's Razakar army Qasim Rizwi was from Latur.
After independence and the merger of Hyderabad with the Indian Union, Osmanabad became part of Bombay Province. In 1960, with the creation of Maharashtra, it became one of its districts. On August 16, 1982, a separate Latur district was carved out of Osmanabad district.
The city is a tourist hub, surrounded with many historical monuments including the Kharosa Caves, as well as Sri Satya Sai Baba Temple. The administrative headquarters of the Aurangabad Division.


Latur is situated 636 metres above mean sea level. The district is situated on Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary. On the eastern side of the Latur is Bidar, whereas Nanded is on the northeast, Parbhani on the northern side, Beed on the Northwest and Osmanabad on the western and southern side. The entire district of Latur is situated on the Balaghat plateau, 540 to 638 metres from the mean sea level.
Temperature : Annual temperatures in Latur range from 13 to 41 °C (55 to 106 °F), with the most comfortable time to visit in the winter - October to February. The highest maximum temperature ever recorded was 45.8 °C (114.4 °F). The lowest recorded temperature was 6.9 °C (44.4 °F). In the cold season the district is sometimes affected by cold waves in association with the eastward passage of western disturbances across north India, when the minimum temperature may drop down to about 2 to 4 °C (36 to 39 °F).[13]
Rainfall : Most of the rainfall occurs in the monsoon season from June to September. Rainfall varies from 9.0 to 693 mm/month. Average annual rainfall is 725 mm.
Latur Earthquake of 1993[edit]
Main article: 1993 Latur earthquake
Latur had a devastating earthquake on 30 September 1993 resulting in a huge loss of life. The earthquake measured only 6.3 on the Richter scale but more than 30,000 people were estimated to have died mainly due to poor construction of houses and village huts made of stones which just collapsed on people who were fast asleep in early morning hours. It struck southern Marathwada region of Maharashtra state in central-western part of India and affected Latur, Beed, Osmanabad and adjoining districts about 400 km south-east of Mumbai (Bombay). It was an intra-plate earthquake. Latur was almost completely destroyed and life came to a standstill. The earthquake's focus was around 12 km deep - relatively shallow causing shock waves to cause more damage. The number of lives lost was high as the earthquake occurred at 03.53 a.m. local time when people were fast asleep.
After the earthquake, seismic zones were reclassified and building codes and standards were revised all over India.
Economy[edit]

There is evidence to believe that Latur was developed as a trading hub nine decades ago. It lies on a major trade route that used to connect north-west India's sea and land ports to the Deccan region.[citation needed]
Industry[edit]
[show]Population growth
The city is a major sugarcane and edible oils, soyabean, grapes and mango production center. A fine blend of mango with locally grown mangoes was developed as Keshar Amba.
Till 1990, Latur languished as a city, remaining an industrially backward. In 1960, region of Marathwada was merged with Maharashtra. This was the time when the industrial development of the Marathwada region began, propelled through designated backward area benefits. And it was only when the MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) began acquiring land and setting up industrial estates that it began to grow. but still the majority small and medium scale industries are agriculture based and not industry based.
City is now home to some best known brands. There are Tinna Oils, Kirti Gold, Videocon, and Kalantry Group's Agro Processing and dal manufacturing units to name a few. Many players have their manufacturing bases in Latur, in the sectors of Agro Processing and Edible Oils and consumer durables, plastic processing, aluminium processing, agriculture and biotech. Among Agro Processing Ramkee Infrastructure along with IL&FS would be starting their plant in Latur, which is Largest Agro Based SEZ in Maharashtra.
The Latur, Additional Latur and Khandapur MIDC Industrial Areas are prominent industrial zones on the outskirts of the city, with various major multinational groups having set up manufacturing or processing plants in and around the city. There is one Special Economic Zone (SEZ) have been approved by central government for this city and these are, in Agro Processing SEZ. An electronic goods major Videocon will soon establish plant for manufacturing of CFL's & Remote Controls.
Edible oils[edit]
Latur is famous for processing of Edible Oils.
Archer Daniels Midland Company operates:
Oil seed processing division at Latur, Maharashtra
Animal Health & Nutrition division at Latur, Maharasthra
Biodiesel production plant at Latur, Maharasthra
Kirti Group also has three such plants in Latur.
Trade and industries[edit]

Latur has the largest trading centre for soyabean in India. The green city is inside what is called 'Sugar Belt' of Maharashtra. The district has more than eleven sugar factories, which makes it among the highest sugar-producing districts of India. It also has oil seeds, commodities and fruit market.
Latur is also known for high quality grapes and houses many state and privately owned cold storage facilities. A grape wine park spread over 1.42 square kilometres (350 acres) has been established near Ausa, 18 km from Latur city. A brand new Latur Food Park, spread across 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres) is under construction at Additional MIDC Latur.
Latur is major transport junction to south India.
Latur Sugar Belt[edit]
The Latur region is known as the "Sugar Belt of India". This region houses over eleven large sugar factories. Vilasrao Deshmukh, who served as chief minister of Maharashtra for two terms, Shri Keshavrao Sonawane (Ex Cabinet min. Mah.State)started the co-operative movement which helped Latur become the most developed District in the region. Most of the sugar factories of the Latur sugar belt work on the co-operative basis.
Latur Food Park[edit]
The park is being planned on a 50-acre (200,000 m2) plot at Harangul near Latur city. Ramky(India) is the consultant for the project.
The location is best suited for processing grapes, turmeric, mangoes, pomegranates, citrus fruits and custard apple.
Common facilities planned are cold-storage, effluent treatment and social infrastructure.
Information technology: Latur IT Park[edit]
The city now has an Infotech Park with state-of-the-art facilities waiting for Infotech companies to start operations. Latur Infotech Park has state-of-the-art modern facilities for software companies. The park is located in an attractive locality surrounded by greenery in Old MIDC. The IT park has total build-up area of 24,866 sq ft (2,310.1 m2) with 32 units.