Chintamani, Karnataka

Chintamani is a Taluk Headquarters in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south eastern part of Karnataka. Chintamani is one of the well planned and developed Towns in the District of Kolar (before splitting) and presently Chikkaballapur. Chintamani is known for its silk and tomato production and their largest markets in Karnataka.

Word Chintamani refers to a precious stone or gem that's been documented since centuries in the Hindu Scriptures and Literature. However the naming of the town as 'Chintamani' doesn't have any relevance or relation with this gem. It's said that the town is named after a Maratha chieftain Chintamani Rao.

Most of the temples currently seen and being offered worship, have been built mostly during the 19th Century. List below are the few monuments that narrate the history of the place. Sri Hari Hareshwara Temple, Azad Chowk – This temple was built around the 19th century by Sri Karupakula Subbarayappa. The temple later received restoration and alteration works by the family members. The temple spans over an area of around 25000 square feet (160 ft x 150 ft). The temple is surrounded by a commercial complex on its East Side, while the other sides are bounded by a high wall. Within the temple complex are the temples dedicated to the Hindu deities Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu. Most of the Sabarimala Trips originate at this temple by offering the various rituals and attaining the pence (diksha).

Chintamani lies in the southeast of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is in the heart of the Mysore Plateau at an average elevation of The Taluk geographically lies between and The Chintamani Town lies between
Chintamani was originally a part of Kolar District since the Formation of State of Karnataka in 1950 until on 23 August 2007, when the Government of Karnataka carved out the new district of Chikkaballapur from the old Kolar district. Chintamani was then included into the new district of Chikkaballapur. Chintamani is one among the 6 Taluks of Chikkaballapur District. The Taluk Headquarters which is Chintamani Town is 36 km from the District Headquarters Chikkaballapur and about 74 km from State Capital Karnataka. The Taluk is bound by Sidlaghatta on West, Bagepalli on North West, Kolar on South West, Srinivaspur on South East and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh on East.

The Taluk covers an area of 892  km2; the Town or the Chintamani Hobbli constitutes 15.208 km2 (5.872 mi2) of the total area.

Chintamani falls in the Tropical Semi Arid (Steppe) Type of climatic region of India. The climate here is moderately hot and dry. The months of March to May of the summer season are very hot with temperatures of around 38 °C. The region receives very less rainfall of about 40 to 75 cm annually. The area receives rainfall during both South West Monsoon and North East Monsoon Season.

Taluk mostly consists of Clayey Loam Soil. This soil has moisture retention capacity and allows deep furrowing and is suitable for cultivation of cereals, vegetables and pulses.

The Taluk doesn't have any perennial rivers. River Papagni has got its catchment basin on the hills of Ambajidurga. The basin over the years has got completely ruined with no vegetation and with soil erosion. Recently, under NREGA guidelines about 73,111 plants are planted and being nurtured to improve the conditions at the catchment basin and inflow of the once existing river.

Chintamani has a few large lakes that take care of the Town's thirst for water. Kanampalli Lake is the main water reservoir for the Town. Besides other lakes include – Ambajidurga Lake, Gopasandra Lake, Malapalli Lake, Nekkundipete Lake. Under the 100 Crore Grant Scheme, these lakes are being rejuvenated and storage is being upgraded with modern facilities.

The economy is agriculture based. Chintamani is famous for its succulent Tomatoes, Groundnuts, Mangoes, Bananas and Silk Production. Chintamani is also famous for snacks such as chakli, nippat, groundnuts and others. The Chintamani Tomato Market is one of the biggest in Karnataka. It is also famous for some drinks like nannari. Chintamani plays its role even in the production and export of Agarbatti. It is also famous for its silk industry and dairy milk farms and it is also famous for onions.

The Town fall under the KSRTC wing of the State Transport Department. Chintamani has an excellent and state of the art KSRTC Bus Service. Since few decades there has been a large Bus Depot and Bus Terminus in the town, well located, maintained and periodically upgraded/developed by the authorities. All the routes operational from the town have a computerized ticketing system in place since last few years. Proposals for the GPS Tracking are under consideration and due implementation shortly. Additional to that private buses have added to the efficiency of road transport in Chintamani. The town is catered mostly through the Suvarna Karnataka Sarige type of KSRTC Buses. The mostly catered route outside the district is Chintamani – Bangalore. Apart from this there are a numerous routes that cater to many of the important Towns & Cities around that include – Mysore, Chitradurga, Shimoga, Tirupati, Hindupur, Gowribidanur etc. There are number of routes that connect the town with the adjacent town of the Chikkaballapur and Kolar Districts. The KSRTC has provided its employees with a Residential Quarters and required amenities at a prominent location in the town. As well the Town has one of the main depots in the region. In the recent years, there has been a greater involvement by the authorities in the up gradation of the Transport Facilities. As part of this, the main Bus Terminus on the Chelur Road has been modified in phase manners to include – RCC Flooring, Improved Bus Shelters, Public Toilets, Commercial Shops, Signage and Information Systems. As well there have been Bus Stops constructed at every village and town on the route between Chintamani – Bangalore as part of this project. And local bus service is in its way of implementation with the goal to cater the local villages and nearby places of importance on the lines of BMTC

Apart from State Transport Corporation, the area has a number of private players, who cover many of the routes as well along with some of those that are not covered by the KSRTC. The KSRTC Bus Depot is located on the Bangalore Road and that of the Bus Terminus near the Chelur Circle. The KSRTC Residential Quarters are located adjacent to the KSRTC Bus Depot.

The Chintamani Railway Station which was once a busy terminal, before the advent of Bus Service, had been neglected during the course of time and the services were completely halted since last few decades. Recently after due proposals and requests from general public, the Railway Authorities, decided to restart the service and the repair of the existing tracks and stations were taken up. Very soon, the Railways ordered the up gradation of the Narrow Gauge to Broad Gauge and the entire work soon took a sharp swing. By 2013 November, the New Station at the Chintamani Town were in final stages of completion, whereas the track work between Chintamani Srinivaspur was under testing. The services were started in the month of November 2013. The Chintamani Station is abbreviated as CMY on the Railway Station Index. The Train Services is called Demu with six coaches being operational. The Train Timings: Train will departure from Bangalore City Railway Station at 8.30 AM and reach Chintamani via Chickballapur and Shidlaghatta en route to Kolar by 12.00 Noon. In the reverse trip the train departs from Kolar by 2.00 Pm. and comes to Chintamani by 2.40 PM. Departs by 2.45 PM and reaches Bangalore City Railway Station by 5.30PM. However, there is a demand that one more train should be introduced in this route with early morning departure from Kolar around 6 AM and come to Chintamani around 7 AM and reaches Bangalore city around 9.30 AM which will definitely feed thousands of commuters from Chintamani to Bangalore travelling daily for various purposes

The town doesn't have any airports or helipads at present. The nearest airport is the Bengaluru International Airport, Devanahalli, 62 km away.

Since the place is surrounded by 2 different states, the culture here is majorly Kannada influenced by Telugu (Rayalaseema) culture. chinthamani is also famous for the evening snacks, specially roasted pea nuts, variety of sweets.