| History |
The District Rajnandgaon came into existence on 26th Jan' 1973, by way of division of District Durg. The Rajnandgaon state was ruled by Somvanshis, Kalchuris and Marathas. The Rajnandgaon was originally named as Nandgram. The Palaces in the town of Rajnandgaon reveals its own tale of the rulers, their society & culture and the splendid tradition during that time. The contribution of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi and Baldeo Prasad Mishra in the field of Hindi literature has a special mention. The District Kawardha was latter bifurcated from the District on 1st July 1998.
The idols of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, Padumlal
Punnalal Bakshi and Baldeo Prasad Mishra at Muktibodh Smarak Parisar also
known as Triveni Parisar Rajnandgaon. |
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The District Rajnandgaon is in the central part of Chhattisgarh. The District headquarter Rajnandgaon is on the Bombay - Howrah line of southeastern railways. The National Highway 6 (Great Eastern Road) also passes through the town of Rajnandgaon. The nearest airport to the District is at Mana(Raipur), about 80 kms away.
| General details |
Total area
6396.28 sq.km.
Forest area
2987.14 sq.km.
Climate
Tropical
Average Rainfall
1274 m.m.
Main Crop
Paddy
Minerals
Limestone, Chinaclay, Quartzite, Quartz, Granite,White
Clay
Total Population
1283224
Total Male Population
634342
Total Female Population
648882
Sex Ratio
1023
Literacy
percentage
77.2
| Public Representatives |
The District Rajnandgaon comes under the parliamentary constituency 11- Rajnandgaon comprising the complete District of Rajnandgaon and some parts of the adjoining District Kawardha.
Parliamentary |
MP |
Party affiliation |
11-Rajnandgaon |
Shri Devwrath Singh |
INC |
The District is divided into six assembly segments as given below
Assembly |
MLA |
Party Affiliation | Contact address |
| 83-Chowki(ST) | Shri Sanjeev Shah | BJP | Rajmahal,Ambagarh
Chowki, Dist. Rajnandgaon |
| 84-Khujji | Shri Rajinderpal Singh Bhatia | BJP | Village - Chhuriya, Post - Chhuriya, Distt. Rajnandgaon |
| 85-Dongargaon | Dr. Raman Singh | BJP | Mukhya Mantri Niwas, Raipur (C.G.) |
| 86-Rajnandgaon | Shri Udai Mudliyar | INC | Kusum Bhavan, G.E.-Road, Post - Rajnandgaon, Distt.Rajnandgaon |
| 87-Dongargarh(SC) | Shri Vinod Khandekar | BJP | Ganesh Ward No. 8, Kalkapara, Dongargarh |
| 88-Khairagarh | - | - | - |
| Rivers |
The principal river of the District is Sheonath, a
tributary of Mahanadi.The river originates in the border of Chowki block
and flows in north eastern direction. The main tributaries of Sheonath are
Kharkhara, Sonbarsa, Amner, Surhi, Karra, Murkati, Sankari, Fonk and
Hanf.

| Tribes |
The three blocks of the District namely Mohla, Manpur & Chowki are tribal blocks. The main tribes of the District are Gond, Kanwar, Halba & Baiga. The tribal population of the District is around 25.16% of the total population. These tribal areas are adjoining to Gadchiroli District of Maharastra and Baster District of Madhya Pradesh. The economic and social conditions of these tribes are similar to that of tribals of Baster. They mostly live in far flung areas and dense forests. The economic activities of these tribes are focussed on tendu leaf collection and minor forest products.
| Sports |
|
The District has a rich culture of sports, which has
produced many national and international sports personalities. Rajnandgaon
is well know as NURSERY OF HOCKEY and has a great history of organizing
HOCKEY and CRICKET tournaments every year at international and national
level respectively. |
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Hockey :-The Mahant Sarveshwar Das memorial all India Hockey tournament was started in the year 1941.The tournament generates great enthusiasm in the sports loving public of the district, in which all national teams as well as neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh club teams participate. Sh.A.R.Bestian did the district proud, by representing the region in 1970 Rome Olympics. Local players of SAI Training Centre Rajnandgaon have won the Bronze medal in School National, names of players are Mrinal Choubey, Anil Soni, Sanjay Yadav Laxminarayan and Sunil Navghare. |
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Cricket :- Rajnandgaon has the distinction of organising Ranji trophy matches since 1988. From the year 1996 the Rani Suryamukhi Devi all India cricket tournament is organised by District Cricket Association and Digvijay Stadium Samiti every year, in which many national teams participate. |
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Chess :- The District has brought glory in the field by Ku. Kiran Agrawal, an International Grand Master. She represented the country in many International tournaments.
Body Building :- Body builders Shri A.K.Singh brought laurels to the District in International and Shri Devendra Dewangan & Shri Tameshwar Banjare in National Championships respectively.
Basket ball :- Rajnandgaon
Known as the Nursery of Hockey, has slowly started producing quality basketball
players also. Since the starting of S.A.I. Training Centre at Digvijay Stadium
Rajnandgaon under the able guidance of SAI basketball Coach many
basketball players have represented the Country in various International
basketball Championships namely Kamal Singh (Junior India), Shravan Kumar
Bishnoi has represented the Country in Youth Asian Championship held at
Yakuts(Russia) and China, also represented junior Indian team as
Captain in invitation Tournament held at Kotakapura, attended Senior India camp
held at New Delhi, Mukesh Mishra attended Junior India camp held at Bhavnagar
(Gujrat), Devendra Yadav, Ku. Radha Soni and Ku. Manda Meshram have represented
the country in South Korea, Kunal Waghela have attended Indian School Camp held
at
Many Basketball players have won gold, Silver and Bronze medals in various National Basketball Championships since 2001 after starting of the S.A.I. Training centre at Rajnandgaon namely Sumit Prasad (one Gold and one Bronze), Mukesh Mishra (one Gold), Shravan Kumar (four Gold), Naim Aslam (three Gold and one Bronze), Pintu Rathore (three Gold and one Bronze), Kunal Waghela (two Gold), Ku. Vani Jha (eight Gold), Ku. Manda Meshram (six Gold, two Silver and one Bronze), Ku. Radha Soni (two Silver), Ku. Bhavana Khandare (two Gold), Ku. Keshar Sahu (one Gold), Saurabh Dewangan (one Gold), Kamal Singh, Amit Roy, Akash Kadam, Devendra Yadav, Ku. Gayatri Mahobia one Bronze medal each.
Volleyball :- The field is led by by SAI Volleyball Coach Mr. K. P. Sreejit and International Volleyball player Ku. Rekha Padam. Many players have won Medals in National Volleyball tournament and many players have represented the state teams in various Nationals.
S.A.I. Traninig Centre
Rajnandgaon (C.G.)
SAI means Sports Authority of India (Bhartia Khel Pradhikaran). It is an autonomous body of under the ministry of Human Resources and Sports, with its Head Quarter at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium New Delhi.
SAI runs many Sports development schemes like Centre of Excellence (C.O.X.), Special Area games (S.A.G.) and Sports Authority of India Training Centre (S.A.I.T.C.) etc, besides conducting various National Camps for the upgradation of Sports in the Country.
SAI Training Centre Rajnandgaon was established at Digvijay Stadium on
At present centre have players in Basketball and Hockey (Boarding and Day Boarding) and Volleyball (Only Day Boarding).
Facilities in Boarding Scheme :- Free Loading & Boarding (Diet & 75/- per day per trainee), free group insurance, free Sports kit with shoe and track-suits, TA/DA for the tournament, tuition fees, Medical care (up to 300/-) free scientific training by well qualified Coaches.
Facilities in Day Boarding Scheme :- Free group insurance, free Sports kit with shoe track-suits, TA/DA for the tournament, stipend Rs.500/- per month per trainee; free scientific training by well qualified Coaches.
Selection
Criteria:-
Selection criteria are based on State Winner/Runners–up in the recognized
State Championships or participation in Recognized National and or on
performance basis. For Volleyball and Basketball exceptionally tall players
(more than 6 feet) regardless of their performance are considered. Selection
trails probably organized in the month of April or May every year. (There may be
changes as per requirement.)