Raipur district is situated in the fertile plains of Chhattisgarh Region. This District is situated between 22o 33' N to 21o14'N Latitude and 82o 6' to 81o38'E Longtitude. The District is surrounded by District Bilaspur in North, District Bastar and part of Orissa state in South, District Raigarh and part of Orissa state in East and district Durg in West. The district occupies the south eastern part of the upper Mahanadi valley and the bordering hills in the south and the east.

Raipur district is administratively divided into 13 Tehisils and 15 revenue blocks. It comprises of two Lok Sabha Constituencies (Raipur and Mahasamund) and 13 Vidhansabha constituencies. Industrial development in this district is mainly because of availability of wide spread Minerals, Coal, Electricity and cheap labour cost.

HISTORY

Raipur district is important in historical and archeological point of view. This district was once part of Southern Kosal and considered to be under Mourya Kingdom. Raipur city had been the capital of the Haihaya Kings, controlling the traditional forts of the Chhattisgarh for a long time. The town of Raipur has been in existence since the 9th century, the old site and ruins of the fort can be seen in the southern part of the city. Satawahana Kings ruled this part till the 2nd-3rd century AD.

In the 4th Century AD the king Samudragupta had conquered this region and established his domination till Fifth-Sixth Century AD when this part had come under the rule of Sarabhpuri Kings. For some period in Fifth-Sixth Century A.D., Nala kings dominated this area. Later on Somavanshi kings had taken the control over this region and ruled with Sirpur (Sripur-The city of Wealth) as their capital city. Mahashivgupt Balarjun was the mightiest emperor of this Dynasty. His mother, the widow Queen of Harshgupta of the Somavansh, Rani Vasata built the famous brick temple of Lakshman. The Kalchuri Kings of Tumman ruled this part for a long time making Ratanpur as capital. The old inscriptions of Ratanpur, Rajim and Khallari refer to the reign of kalchuri kings. It is believed that the King Ramachandra of this dynasty established the city of Raipur and subsequently made it the capital of his kingdom.

Another story about Raipur is that King Ramachandra's son Brahmdeo Rai had established Raipur. His capital was Khalwatika (Now Khallari) . The newly constructed city was named after Brahmdeo Rai as 'Raipur'. It was during his time in 1402 A.D. that Hajiraj Naik the temple of Hatkeshwar Mahadev was constructed in the banks of river Kharun.The decline of this dynasty's rule came with the death of king Amarsingh Deo. This region had become the domain of Bhosle kings after the Amarsingh deo's death. With the death of Raghuji the III, the territory was assumed by the British Government from Bhonsla'a of Nagpur and Chhatisgarh was declared a seperate Commissionery with its Headquarters at Raipur in 1854. After independence Raipur district was included in Central Provinces And Berar.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Champaran: The village is identified with Champaranya, the birth place of the Saint Vallabhacharya, the reformer and founder of the Vallabh Sect for whom this place has religious sanctity. A temple was constructed in honour of Guru Swamy Vallabhacharya. Near to this Temple, there is the temple of Champakeshwara Mahadeva.

Sirpur or Shripur: Sirpur or Shripur the city of wealth has been mentioned in ancient epigraphic records and dates back to a periods ranging from between the Fifth and the Eighth century A.D. It was then the capital of the Sarbhapuriya and Somvanshi Kings of Dakshin Kosala or Chhattigarh. It was an important centre of Buddhist from the 6th the 10th century A.D. and was visited by Hieun Tsang, the 7th Century Chinese Pilgrimist and Scholar. Excavations in and around the village have yielded scores of temple sites constructed of bricks, stone pillars and sculptures such as the Shiva Temple of Panchayatan style and the beautiful sculpture of Mahishasuramardini.Two Buddhist monasteries have also been found.

The Lakshmana Temple found here is a brick temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is the only brick temple of its size still standing in this State. The door frame is of stone and a figure of the reclining Vishnu on the Sheshnag may be found on the Lintel. This temple was built by Vasata, the widow queen of Harsh Gupta of the Somvansh. Another temple is the GANDHESHESHWARA TEMPLE (formerly Gandharveshvara) and is interesting because of the Epigraphic records and Genealogy of the Kings of the Somvansh. Some extremely good Vaishnav sculptures are to be found in the Mandapa and several Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Sculptures have been collected in the precincts of the temple .

The most interesting feature of the Sirpur site is that archeological pieces connected with the Shaiv,Vaishnav, Jain and Buddhist religions (of approximately the same age) have been found side by side. The ruins are seen on the banks of numerous tanks existing within a radius of about 6 kilometers around Sirpur.

Turturiya: The Forest village Turturiya Situated on the bank of a spring called Turturiya or Sursuri Ganga contains numerous buddhist remains of 8th Century A.D. and the Brahmanical remains of later period. The site yielded numerous exquisitely sculptured pillars, remains of STUPA made of fine bricks, traces of bathing Ghats, Lingams figures of four armed Vishnu, Ganesha, a man hunting a lion with sword and a man wrestling with an animal. There are numerous heaps of ruins all of bricks, picked with stone. The place is of a great archaeological and anthropological interest.