Belgaum (Kannada: ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ, Marathi: बेळगांव) is a city on the northwestern part of the state of Karnataka, India. It covers 96 sq km (37 sq mi) and has a population of 610,000 people (2012 estimate). This makes it the fifth largest city in Karnataka behind Bengaluru, Mysore, Hubli and Gulbarga.
The Belgaum area has been inhabited since ancient times, as far back as 400 BC. The city as we know today was established in the 12th century during the Ratta dynasty. It was initially a fortress but later served as capital of the Ratta dynasty, from 1210 to 1250. It later came under the rule of the Bahmani Sultanate in the 15th century.
In more recent times, Belgaum hosted the 39th session of the Indian National Congress in 1924, under then president Mahatma Gandhi. It was also from Belgaum that Indian forces were dispatched to end Portuguese rule of Goa.
The people of Belgaum mainly speak Marathi, due to cultural affinity with nearby Maharashtra and Goa. Kannada, the main language of Karnataka state, is also spoken, though not as popular, and bear influence from the Marathi language here.
Popular dishes of Belgaum include the Kunda and the Kalakand as well as confectioneries such as Mandige.
Planning your trip to Belgaum
There are buses to Belgaum from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Belgaum Airport also receives flights from Mumbai.
Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.
Disclaimer
Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.