Phalodi Knowledge Guide
History
Phalodi was initially called Phalvardhika. In Vikram Samvat 1515, Shri Siddhuji Kalla have founded Phalodi by grace of Shri Maa Latiyal with named as Phalvaridhika, which was later renamed as "Phalodi" at the request of Phala, the widowed daughter of Shri Sidhu Kalla, who gave a generous contribution in cash to build the fort of Phalodi. It is situated on the Jodhpur-Jaisalmer railway line. It is the second-largest town in the district and is also the sub-divisional headquarters. The town is situated at distance of 142 kilometres (90 mi) from Jodhpur. The present population of the town, as per census 2001, is 44,756. Several Government and semi-government offices are situated in the town. Phalodi is surrounded by Bikaner, Nagaur and Jaisalmer Districts. It is well-connected via road and railway. The railway station of the town was established in 1914. National Highway 15 (Pathankot-Kandla) and State Highway No. 2 (Jodhpur- Jaisalmer) pass through the town. It is well known for the migratory bird "Kurja" (crane). The village Khichan is hardly 4 kilometres (2 mi) away from Phalodi. Bawari Kalan and Bawari Khurd are situated 15 and 18 kilometres (9 and 11 mi) from Phalodi, respectively. The villages of Sevad Rajpurohits spiritual guru's of Rathore Rajput here. There are lots of government servants, businessmen and well-educated engineers spread all over India and even in foreign as well. The first engineer from pushkarna brahmin was Mr. J H Bissa who completed engineering in 1954 and 1st IAS was Mr. S N Thanvi who served as home secretary of the Rajasthan State.The town is a prime place for commercial and industrial activity of surrounding hinterlands. Phalodi was established in mid-15th century. In 1488, a Fort was constructed by Hamir Singh, the grandson of Rao Suja. He did a number of developmental works during his period. In 1230, famous Kalyan Raoji's Temple was constructed. The temple of Goddess Latiyal Devi and Shantinath are some of the oldest temples of the town. The Parsnath Jain temple, established in 1847 by the Oswal Jain community, has been made only in stone and does not have any girders or RCC construction. It is made of old Belgium glass. This Jain temple is considered a marvel in architecture (total of ten Jain temples and six dadabadis). In 1547, Rao Maldeo was the ruler of Phalodi. But in 1578 it was handed over to Rai Singh, the King of Bikaner, by the emperor Akbar. In 1615, it came under the control of Rao Soor Singh of Jodhpur State and thereafter remained a part of the state of Jodhpur. The stone epigraphical inscriptions in the Kalyanji-Ka- Mandir indicate existence of a town called as Vijay Nagar Patan, which is now known as Phalodi. In 2008 a major renovation was done in the Latiyal Mata Temple, and a silver throne (singhasan) for Latiyal Mata was made. Phalodi also has a large number of communities living in it. The majority in phalodi rural areas are Sindhi Muslims and in city Pushkarna Brahman lived . Small industries flourish in Phalodi. The town is well known for the large number of industries for the production of sodium salt and plaster of Paris. Phalodi is one of the largest supplier of salt in India.
Transportation
Phalodi Railway Station lies on the Broad Gauge line of the Delhi-Jaisalmer train route. Trains passing through Phalodi include: Jaisalmer to Mumbai (Bandra Terminus) Bikaner to Jaisalmer Delhi to Jaisalmer Jodhpur to Jaisalmer.Phalodi is connected to Jodhpur (135 km or 84 mi south), Bikaner (156 km or 97 mi north), Nagaur (145 km or 90 mi in east) and Jaisalmer (165 km or 103 mi in west). National Highway 15 skirts around Phalodi. Bus services have run continuously from Jodhpur (3 hours) and Bikaner (3 hours). There are a number of cabs or taxis that ferry passengers from these places. On last Dec-2013, Phalodi/Jaisalmer was directly connected with Mumbai with weekly train, train running from Bandra Terminus(Mumbai) on every Friday on 2:35pm afternoon and it reached Phalodi on 9:35am morning. There is an Airport in Phalodi which is 25km from the city and is under Air force and is inaccessible to the general public. Nearest Airport being Jodhpur which is 130 km and Jaipur which is 300km away from the city. The city is very well connected via highways to other cities like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Ramdevra, and others.