Sarni, India

Sarni is located in an area that is known as a part of the Gondwana tract after the Gond tribe, who chiefly inhabited in this area and practiced shifting cultivation.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth century, this area of Gonds was infiltrated by Rajputs and who, by the time of Mughals, had succeeded in reclaiming several parts of the Narmada valley for agriculture. The Gonds were pushed to higher plateaus and slopes to continue hunting and their shifting cultivation. This area saw unrest due to the tension between the Marathas and the Mughals during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. During the year 1818, the area saw the advent of British rule.

Sarni is located approximately 200 km (120 mi) south of capital Bhopal and approximately 225 km (140 mi) north of Nagpur. Sarni is accessible by both road and rail routes. An all-weather road connects Sarni to Nagpur-Bhopal National Highway NH 69, making it easily accessible from both nearby airports of Bhopal and Nagpur.It is also connected to Chhindwara through SH43(BETUL-SARNI-PARASIA) state highway.

A nearby railway station of Ghoradongri is situated at a distance of 18 km. Ghoradongri Railway Station is located on Itarsi-Nagpur railway line and falls in route of several long distance trains connecting North and South India like Dakshin express.

Nearest airports are Bhopal and Nagpur.

The Sarni city is divided into 36 wards for which elections are held every 5 years. The Sarni Municipality has population of 86,141 of which 44,928 are males while 41,213 are females as per report released by Census India 2011[1]. Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 8096 which is 9.40 % of total population of Sarni (M). In Sarni Municipality, Female Sex Ratio is of 917 against state average of 931. Moreover Child Sex Ratio in Sarni is around 927 compared to Madhya Pradesh state average of 918.[1] The total literacy rate of Sarni was 84.59% in 2011 which is greater than average literacy rate 69.32% of Madhya Pradesh. Population-wise, out of total 66,018 literates, males were 36,675 while females were 29,343. Also the male literacy rate was 90.05% and the female literacy rate was 78.63% in Sarni.[2]Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 25% while Schedule Tribe (ST) were 9.5% of total population in Sarni.[2]

Population of the city has decreased by -9.3% in last 10 years. In 2001 census total population here were about 95 thousand. Female population growth rate of the city is -8.6% which is 1.4% higher than male population growth rate of -10%.

Sarni is gifted as good climatic conditions by nature all through the year, but monsoon is the best season to visit, because the nature is at her best and forests, mountains, valley and waterfalls come alive in the rainy season. the coldest month is January and the most warmest month is may. Yearly average rainfall of the city is 1069.2 mm. Maximum temperature here reaches up to 42.5°C and minimum temperature goes down to 5.4°C.

Municipal committee of Sarni has close to 80k voters. The entire area is divided into 36 (Sarni13+Pathakhera17+Sobhapur Colony,Bagdona 6) 'ward' (segments). Each 'ward' has its own parshad to look after development activity. There is one president and vice president of municipal committee who are responsible for its proper functioning.

All major religious and national festivals of India are celebrated with enthusiasm in Sarni.

A distinct feature of Sarni is an annual week-long (approximately for 10 days) fair on the festival of Makar Sankranti in the month of 14 January. The fair was first started in 1978 by a group of followers of Mathardev who started a project to create a shrine in order to organize and institutionalize the visitors. Since then it has become an annual affair.

The fair is organised by the temple committee (Mathardev mela samiti) with the help of Municipal Corporation of Sarni. Traders across the region come to the fair to sell goods including religious items, artefacts, ornaments, clothes, toys, simple household goods, etc. Several acrobats, snake charmers, musicians and other artists attract crowds. And many fair on Durgapooja Fair in Bengoli Tempal at Pathakhera, SaiTempal RamTempal Sarni,Shiv Mandir pathakhera, LakhaBanjara Hanuman tempal Pathakhera are organized in time to time.

View of forest in Monsoons

Sarni is surrounded by satpura mountain. In the vicinity are the Satpura hill ranges, valleys, plains, deep valleys, dense forests and water bodies including rivers, fountains and a large dam.

In the Monsoon season the entire view turns green. Mornings and evenings are generally misty giving it a surreal feel.

There are several places of interest nearby such as Patalkot, Pachmarhi,there are many hotels in pachmarhi. mostly situated in market only few govt and private resort/cottages are situated away from hooch pouch market area. Chunmun cottage pachmarhi is one of them. Satpura Tiger Reserve, Ratapani reserve forest. Other places nearby include: Rajdoh: here two 500 kW Hydel Electric Power generators are installed and the way is flanked on one side by an artificial canal.The canal outflow is called as Mini micro.at present this mini micro hydel power plant O&M Ecological Energy(P)Ltd,Sarni. Amrut Fall: (Named after a farmer) in Karanji village is a waterfall. Ret Ghat: White sand deposit brought by Tawa river makes it a spot for picnics. It is on Damua road. Heera Palla: Situated near Shobhapur. This place has a small river and rocks. One can hire a fisherman's boat to take boat ride on this shallow river. Ash Dam: here ash from the Thermal Power Plant is disposed and the local tribal s prepare liquor from mowah fruit. Bhopali: here on every Mahashivratri a fair is organized. This fair has religious importance for the locals. Hanuman Temple: A very old Temple of Hanuman is on Ranipur road. Jamun Jhiriya: This place is a source of natural mineral water to the local residents. Tawa Dam: This dam is much larger than the dam in Sarni. It is about 30 km (19 mi) from Itarsi.

Mathardev Temple

The priest at Mathardev temple

One of the most conspicuous sites of Sarni is a Shiva temple overlooking the town from Mathardev peak, which is the highest point, approximately 3,500 ft (1,100 m) (from sea level), among neighbouring hills of Satpura ranges. The peak as well as the temple are named after a legendary tribal chief named Mathardev. The legendary chief commands strong following among the local and neighboring population.

The path to the peak is a steep trek climbing two hills. It takes approximately 35–40 minutes of continuous climb at walking pace to reach the top.

The hilltop also provides a view of the surrounding mountain ranges, Satpura dam and a bird's eye view of the town below.

Satpura Dam

Satpura Dam

Satpura Dam is a man made lake created as a reservoir for the Power Plant. The lake is surrounded by dense forests and hills. A road traverses through a local hillock to reach the lake and is a favorite jogging track for the local populace. The dam becomes a tourist spot during the monsoon when routine opening of the gates to control water levels result in a waterfall like environment filled with mist.

Satpura thermal power plant by Ashish Kumar Prajapati

Sarni is home to the second largest power plant in MP, contributing to approximately 8.85% of total electricity generation from Madhya Pradesh.its total capacity is 1330 megawatts {Satpura II (200+210 MW), Satpura III (2x210 MW),Satpura IV (2x250 MW)} . The upcoming project of 660 MW will also begin in 2019. There are other more projects that coming to sarni like two coal mines in 2019 and 2020 and a plant of cement clinker grinding unit which is about to start in 2019.

There are many government schools and colleges in Sarni and Pathakher area affiliated

• Gayatri School, Sarni
• Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School Sarni, Dist. Betul
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Sarni
• H. S. Adarsh Gaytri Vidhaya Peet
• H. S. Gayatri Pathakhera Sarni
• H. S. Girls Shobhapur Colony
• H. S. Joyti Pathakhera Sarni
• H. S. S. Little Flower Pathakhera
• H. S..Nav Jagriti Shobhapur Colo
• H. S. Pryaga Shkti Peet Pathakh
• H. S. Pt.dindayal Pathakhera Sa
• H. S. S. Adarsh Saraswati Sarni
• H. S. Sainath Pathakhera Sarni
• H. S. S. Girls School Pathakhe
• H. S. S. Gyandeep Pathakheda
• H. S. S. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sarni
• H. S. S. M.L.B Shobhapur Colony
• H. S. S. Pt Nehru Pathakhera Sar
• H. S. S. Saraswati Shobhapur Col
• H. S. S. Saraswati Vidya Mandir
• H. S. S. Sardar Patel Sarni
• H. S. S. Satpura Sarni
• H. S. S. Shanti Nikunj Shobhapur
• H. S. S. Shobhapur Colony
• H. S. S. St.mark School Sarni
• H. S. S. Swami Vevekanand Pathak
• H. S. S. Thakur Raghuraj Singh Me
• H. S. S. WCL (Badaa school!) Pathakhera Sarni
• H. S. S. vrandhavan Shobhapur Colony
• H. S. S. M.G.M SCHOOL, BAGDONA
• Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Sarni

Vidya Sagar Higher Secondary School, Sobhapur colleges are-

• Sardar Vishnu Singh Godh Government College, Bagdona, Sarni, Dist.Betul
• Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose College, Sarni, Dist.Betul
• Indira Gandhi Girls B.ed College, Bagdona, Sarni, Dist.Betul
• Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya College, Badgona, Sarni, Dist.Betul