Pilani

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Pilani | type = city | latd = 28.37 | longd = 75.6
locator_position = right | state_name = Rajasthan
district = Jhunjhunun
leader_title =
leader_name =
altitude = 279
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 26,219| population_density =
area_magnitude= km²
area_total =
area_telephone = 91-1596
postal_code = 333031
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Pilani is a town in the Jhunjhunu District in Rajasthan, India and is the home to Birla Institute of Technology and Science and CEERI (Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute). The town Pilani derives its name from Jat fighter with Pilania gotra. He died protecting the fort and was honoured by the king for his courage and sacrifice by giving his name to location. Pilani is part of Shekhawati region. In the winters it reaches sub-zero temperatures. The fresco paintings on grand Havelis are peculiarity of Shekhawati region.

Early history

Thakur Nawal Singh founded the city of Nawalgarh in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan on magha shukla 2 samvat 1794 (1737 AD) at place called Rohili. Thakur Nawal Singh’s fourth son was Dalel Singh who was given the right of 12 villages after constructing a fort at present Pilani town. The fort was named Dalelgarh after Dalel Singh. When Dalel Singh was expanding his strength Rao Raja Laxman Singh of Sikar attacked him. At that time Dalel Singh’s brother and ruler of Nawalgarh came to his rescue.

In those days Pilani was divided in two hamlets situated on sand dunes. Initially Pilani was a village of about 1500 people. Out of these 100 families were of Vaishyas, mainly of Agarwals. There were about 15 families of Maheshwaris out of which there was only one family of Birlas.

Fort

The Dalelgarh Fort was built by Thakur Nawal Singh Bahadur (Shekhawat) for his son Kunwar Dalel Singh. It presently houses a school (Bal Niketan) and is popularly called the "Garh School."

Geography

Pilani is located at coord|28.37|N|75.6|E|. [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/24/Pilani.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Pilani] ] It has an average elevation of 279 metres (915 feet). Time Zone(est): UTC +5:30 Approximate population for 7 km radius from this point: 45366

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, [GR|India] Pilani had a population of 26,219. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Pilani has an average literacy rate of 69%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 57%. In Pilani, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Climate

Pilani is known for its inhuman climate. Summer temperatures reach up to 50 degree Celsius from May to July, while Winter temperatures reach sub-zero levels between December and January. Months of October and March are generally considered the most pleasant.

Birth Place of GD Birla

The town is birthplace of India's leading industrialist, GD Birla. It houses one of India's finest technical schools, BITS Pilani. Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani is one among the top ranking universities in India today offering degrees in Engineering, Management, Economics, Pharmacy, Sciences, Engineering Technology, Information Systems, General Studies, Finance, etc presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses. BITS Pilani also offers an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates.

The Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI) is also located here. Pilani also houses some good boarding schools like Birla Public School, Birla Senior Secondary School and Birla Balika Vidyapeeth. Pilani also owns a renowned Polytechnic college named after Late Shri GD Birla as GD Birla Memorial Polytechnic Institute and popularly known as BTTI. a recent addition in the educational institutes is BKBIET.

Pilani is also flooded with number of other English and Hindi medium schools making it a prominent education center.

Unlike other towns, Pilani is not accessible by rail, but it does have a computerised reservation counter, situated in the CEERI campus, at its entrance gate opposing BTTI(Birla Technical Training Institute).The nearest rail stations are Chirawa (16 km) and Loharu(25 km). Jaipur is 220 km from Pilani and Delhi is 210 km and well connected by road.

Place of National importance

According to P.V. Indiresan, Former Director of IIT Madras, "Pilani town was transformed for sentimental reasons from an inhospitable village in the Rajasthan desert to a national intellectual centre. GD Birla introduced a couple of world-class scientific institutions in that remote desert village merely because it was his birthplace. Even though Birla would not allow Pilani full scope to expand (he would not allow any industry for fear of despoiling the habitat, and the nearest railway station is 16 km away), Pilani has now become a prosperous town. That is quite an achievement because Pilani has no natural advantages whatever. If Pilani could be transformed the way it has been, any other village can be. All that is required is a seed in the form of a world-class institution. However, in its formative years lasting a couple of decades, Pilani was sustained by the Birlas who had deep pockets and deeper sentiments for the village. Few entrepreneurs would be prepared to emulate them, and nurture a village for long years. That is why the Pilani experiment has not been repeated although quite a few other rich business families originate from remote villages."

BTTI Pilani

GD Birla Memorial Polytechnic Institute known as BTTI was established in 1988 in memory Late Shri GD Birla.This Institute has its own image and position in building careers of thousands of student in its premise.BTTI is started with few students and faculty in 90's and now this institute has increased its diameter with a huge range of courses.BTTI also tied up with IGNOU by running a Partner Institute under its Co-ordinator Mr. Niranjan Sharma.

BITS Pilani

The institute was founded by Ghanshyam Das Birla in 1929 as an intermediate college. During World War II, the Government of India established a technical training center at Pilani for the supply of technicians for defence services and industry. In 1946, it was converted it into the Birla Engineering College with degree programmes in electrical and mechanical engineering. [1]

In 1964, the Birla Colleges of Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Pharmacy and Science were merged to form the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS). In this period of inception (especially during 1964–1970), BITS Pilani received support from the Ford Foundation and benefited from an alliance with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

BITS Pilani started to expand in India and abroad since 2000. New campuses were established in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2000) and Goa, India (2004), and a fourth campus is to be opened in 2008 at Jawaharnagar (near Hakimpet Air Force station), Hyderabad.
BITS also runs a virtual university and an extension center in Bangalore.

References

External links

* [http://discovery.bits-pilani.ac.in/ BITS, Pilani]
* [http://www.ceeri.res.in/ CEERI, Pilani]
* [http://www.babaharinath.com/ Babaharinath Temple Site]
* [http://www.vidyapeeth.co.in/index.php/ Birla Balika VidyaPeeth]
* [http://www.bpspilani.com/ Birla Public School (Vidya Niketan)]