Arsikere
Arsikere is a city and taluka in the Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is one of the largest city in Hassan district. Arsikere city municipal council consists of 31 wards.This region is known for its coconut production and is also called as kalpataru nadu. Arsikere is the taluk headquarters, a major railway junction on the South Western Railway which links Mangalore and Mysore to North Karnataka and a central place for tourists who visit nearby places that do not have rail access, such as Belur, Halebidu and Shravanabelagola. History. The name Arasikere originates from  one of the princesses of the Hoysala Dynasty, who built a lake ("kere" in Kannada) near the town. "Arasi" means queen in Kannada. Therefore, it is 'Arasiya+kere' which means "queen's pond". Arasikere was also called Udbhava Sarvajna Vijaya and Ballalapura at various times. Under the rulers of Vijayanagara, it was under the administrative control of Jagadevaraya of Channaptna and later placed under Thimmappa Nayaka of Tarikere. It was finally under the rule of Shivappa Nayaka of Ikkeri and was acquired from Ikkeri rulers by the Mysore Wodeyars in 1690. Under the rule of the Wodeyars of Mysore, the area  suffered from the raids of the Marathas, and was subsequently turned over to the Marathas by the Wodeyars as security for the payment of tribute. Geography. Arsikere is located at . It has an average elevation of . Arsikere is situated about from Hassan and from Bengaluru on the Bengaluru-Miraj railway line and National Highway 206 passes inside the city which is known there as Bengaluru-Honnavara road (B H Road). Climate. The winter temperature averages between and . Summer temperature average between and . Education. Notable educational facilities in Arsikere include the following: Transportation. Arsikere railway junction belongs to the Mysore division  and is a major railway junction between Bengaluru – Hubli, Bengaluru – Shivamogga, Mysuru – Shivamogga and also connects Mangalore via hassan railway station. Trains typically stop here before heading to Hassan, Bangalore, Hubli, Mysuru and Mangalore. Nearly 100 trains stop here and is around 166  km from state capital Bengaluru. It has five trains starts from here to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Hubballi. Around 30,000 people travel from Arsikere to other parts of Karnataka every day. It lies on NH-206 that runs between Bengaluru and Honnavara along with arsikere – srirangapatana national highway and SH-102 which runs from Huliyar (Tumkur district) to Keralapura . Also NH-234 passes 15 away from Arsikere, near Banavara . Festivals. Various festivals are celebrated in Arasikere, including the following: Places of interest. Notable places around Arsikere include the following: Notable people. Notable people from Arsikere include: