Dewas is a city in the Malwa region of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dewas district and is an important industrial centre in the state, located on National Highway 52 (formerly NH-3, the Agra–Mumbai road) about 35 km north-east of Indore. The city is known for the twin hills of Chamunda and Tukoji Rao (commonly called Tekri), which house temples that draw pilgrims from across the region.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| State | Madhya Pradesh |
| District | Dewas |
| Region | Malwa |
| Languages | Hindi, Malvi |
| Major highway | NH 52 |
The name Dewas is popularly derived from Devi Vaishini ("the seat of the goddess"), referring to the goddess Chamunda enshrined on the Tekri hill that overlooks the city.
During the era of the princely states, Dewas was unusual in being divided into two separate states, Dewas Junior and Dewas Senior, each ruled by a different branch of the Puar (Pawar) Maratha dynasty. The two states were established in the 18th century by brothers Tukoji Rao I and Jivaji Rao, who received the territory in connection with the Maratha campaigns in Malwa. Both branches ruled adjacent portions of the same town, occasionally even sharing the same street as a boundary, an arrangement that continued until the integration of the princely states into the Indian Union after independence.
The English novelist E. M. Forster served for several months in 1921 as private secretary to the Maharaja of Dewas Senior, Tukoji Rao III, and recorded his impressions of the court in his memoir The Hill of Devi (1953).
After 1948 the two Dewas states were merged with other Malwa principalities to form Madhya Bharat, which was in turn merged into the new state of Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act.
Dewas lies on the Malwa Plateau at an elevation of around 555 metres above sea level. The terrain is gently undulating, with black cotton soil suitable for soyabean, wheat and gram cultivation. The climate is sub-tropical, with hot, dry summers, a monsoon season from June to September, and mild winters.
Dewas is one of the more industrialised towns of Madhya Pradesh. The Madhya Pradesh Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (MPAKVN) industrial area on the city's outskirts hosts a range of manufacturing units in sectors such as automotive components, soya processing, textiles and pharmaceuticals.
Dewas is well connected by road, lying on National Highway 52, which links it to Indore, Ujjain and Agra. The city is served by Dewas railway station on the Western Railway, on the Indore–Ujjain–Bhopal corridor. The nearest airport is Devi Ahilyabai Holkar International Airport at Indore.
The hill of Tekri, with shrines to Chamunda Mata and Tulja Bhavani, is the principal landmark of Dewas. The Navratri festivals attract large numbers of devotees, with the climb to the temple complex (and a ropeway in operation) forming part of the pilgrimage. The city has long-standing associations with Hindustani classical music; the gharana tradition of Dewas, nurtured under the patronage of the erstwhile rulers, is associated with vocalists of the Gwalior and Jaipur–Atrauli traditions, and Dewas was the home town of the renowned vocalist Kumar Gandharva.
The city is governed by the Dewas Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam). Dewas district is part of the Indore administrative division of Madhya Pradesh and lends