Coordinates: 33.73°N 75.

15°E

Anantnag
Anantnag (/ə'nʌntna:g/ or /-nɑːg/ listen ), also called Islamabad,[4]
is the administrative headquarters of the Anantnag district in the Indian Anantnag
union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located at a distance of 53 Islamabad
kilometres (33 miles) from the union territory's capital Srinagar. It is the
third largest city in Jammu and Kashmir after Srinagar and Jammu with City
an urban agglomerate population of 159,838 and municipal limit
population of 109,433.[1][5]

Contents
Name
Geography
Demographics
Government and politics Panorama of Anantnag

Sites
Economy
Transport
Road
Rail
Anantnag
Education
References
External links

Name Location in Jammu and Kashmir, India

The town has been called by both the names Islamabad and Anantnag. Anantnag
The latter is characterised by Marc Aurel Stein as its "Hindu name".[6]

"Anantnag" derives from the name of the spring at the southern end of
the town, whose sanskrit name Anantanāga was mentioned in the
Nilamata Purana and other texts.[6] According to the Gazetteer of
Kashmir and Ladak, it is named after Ananta, the great serpent of
Vishnu and the emblem of eternity.[7]

The name Islamabad is believed to have derived from the name of a

Mughal governor Islam Khan who built a garden in the area.[8][9]

Both names are used for the town, Anantnag being preferred by the
Hindus and Sikhs while Islamabad is preferred by the Muslims. The
Anantnag (India)
locals continue to use the name Islamabad, even though the Indian
Coordinates: 33.73°N 75.15°E
security forces deployed in the area from 1998 onwards frown on its
use.[4][8][10] Country India
Union Jammu and Kashmir
Territory
During the Dogra rule, Anantnag/Islamabad was the headquarters of District Anantnag
one of Kashmir Valley's three districts, which was referred to as the Settled 5 BCE
"Anantnag wazarat".[11][12]
Area[1]
 • Total 40.44 km2 (15.61 sq mi)
Geography Elevation 1,601 m (5,253 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
Anantnag is located at 33.73°N 75.15°E,[13] at an elevation of 5,300
 • Total 159,838
feet (1,600  m) above sea level, at a distance of 53 kilometres (33  mi)
from Srinagar on NH 44 (former name NH 1A before renumbering of  • Density 4,000/km2
(10,000/sq mi)
all national highways).
Languages[2]
 • Official Hindi, Kashmiri, Dogri,
Urdu, English
Demographics[3]
 • Literacy 73.8%
 • Sex ratio 937.8 ♀/ 1000 ♂
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 192 101
Telephone 01932
code
Vehicle JK 03
registration
Website anantnag.nic.in (http://a
nantnag.nic.in)

Climate data for Anantnag (1971–1986)

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average 7.3
8.4
14.0 20.5 24.5 29.6 30.2 29.8 27.3 22.2 15.1 8.2
19.7
high °C (°F) (45.1) (47.1) (57.2) (68.9) (76.1) (85.3) (86.4) (85.6) (81.1) (72.0) (59.2) (46.8) (67.5)

Average low −2.1

−0.9
3.4
7.9
10.9 14.8 18.3 17.2 12.1 5.8
−0.1
−1.4
7.3

°C (°F) (28.4) (30.4) (38.1) (46.2) (51.6) (58.6) (64.9) (63.0) (53.8) (42.4) (31.8) (29.5) (45.1)

Average
47
69
122 88
67
36
61
77
31
33
32
54
717
precipitation
(1.9) (2.7) (4.8) (3.5) (2.6) (1.4) (2.4) (3.0) (1.2) (1.3) (1.3) (2.1) (28.2)
mm (inches)

Average
precipitation
7.0 8.3 11.1 8.2 8.2 5.9 7.7 6.6 3.5 3.1 3.0 5.9 78.5
days
(≥ 1.0 mm)

Source: HKO[14]

Demographics
There are three definitions of Anantnag: Anantnag Urban
Agglomeration
Anantnag Municipal Council: population in 2011: 109,433, area: Year Pop. ±% p.a.
15.72 km2 (6.07 sq mi).[1] 1911 9,019 —    
Anantnag city including outgrowths: population in 2011: 150,592, 1921 9,464 +0.48%
area: 37.94 km2 (14.65 sq mi).[1][3] 1931 13,752 +3.81%
Anantnag Urban Agglomeration: population in 2011: 159,838, 1941 15,472 +1.19%
area: 40.44 km2 (15.61 sq mi).[1] 1951 16,536 +0.67%
1961 21,087 +2.46%
Including outgrowths, in 2011 the city's population had 77,508 males (52%) 1971 32,414 +4.39%
and 72,690 females (48%).[3] There were 25,102 (16.7%) age 0-6: 13,528 1981 40,782 +2.32%
males (54%) and 11,574 females (46%).[3] The literacy rate for the people 2001 97,896 +4.48%
over six was 73.8% (males 81.0%, females 66.2%).[3] 2011 159,838 +5.02%
Source: [1]

Government and politics

The local body for Anantnag is called Municipal Council Anantnag.[15] Anantnag has 25 wards.[16] The local body
elections in Anantnag took place in 2018 in which the party Indian National Congress won 20 wards and BJP won 3
wards.[17] The President and Vice President are the elected heads of the Municipal Council. The elections are
indirect elections. Hilal Ahmed Shah is the President of Municipal Council Anantnag.[18]

Sites
Masjid Baba Dawood Khaki is among the oldest mosques in the city,
being built around 1400 CE.[19]

The Martand Sun Temple is one of the important archaeological sites of

Kashmir, built around 500 CE. It temple is situated at Kehribal, 9  km
east-north-east of Anantnag and south of Mattan. This famous Sun
Temple was destroyed by Ruler namely Sikander Buthshikan of
Shahmiri Dynasty.[19]

Economy Martand Sun Temple

In 2010 Anantnag was declared as major City of Export excellence with

a total GDP of 3.7 billion $.[20] The high GDP of Anantnag is due to
the centralised position and presence of high concentration of troops and
migrant labours in it. Anantnag has a strategic position lying on the main
North-South Corridor Road and with the highest number of tourist
destinations it an economic hub of Kashmir Valley. The city suffered
heavily during conflict times of the 1990s; many roads, bridges, and
government buildings were reduced to ash. But in the 2000s, it made a
quick recovery. It has been listed among 100 fastest economically
developing cities.[20] Mustard fields near Anantnag

Transport

Road

Srinagar is 53 km from Anantnag on NH 44 (former name NH 1A before renumbering of all national highways).
The distances of some other towns from Anantnag are: Achabal 10 km, Kokarnag 23  km, Doru Shahabad 20  km
and Pahalgam 39 km.[21] The city is served by National Highway 44. The city is gateway to the Kashmir valley as
one side of Jawahar Tunnel opens here.

Rail

Anantnag (ANT) is a station on the 119  km (74  mi) long Banihal-

Baramulla line that started in October 2009 and connects Baramulla
(BRML) and Srinagar to Banihal (BAHL), Qazigund. The railway track
also connects to Banihal across the Pir Panjal mountains through a
newly constructed 11 km long Banihal tunnel, and subsequently to the
Indian railway network after a few years. It takes approximately 9
minutes and 30 seconds for a train to cross the tunnel. It is the longest
rail tunnel in India. This railway system, proposed in 2001, is not
expected to connect the Indian railway network until 2017 at the earliest,
with a cost overrun of 55 billion INR. The train also runs during heavy
Track near the Anantnag railway station
snow across the Kashmir Valley.

Education
There are numerous primary, middle secondary and higher secondary schools in the city. Of the higher education, the
following establishments are notable:

University of Kashmir South Campus, Anantnag

Government Medical College, Anantnag
Industrial Training Institute, Anantnag
Government Degree College for Boys, Anantnag
Government College for Women, Anantnag
Government Boys Model Higher Secondary School, Brakpora, Anantnag
Al Ahad College of Education, Anantnag
Jamia College of Education, Anantnag
Government Polytechnic College Anantnag

References
1. A-4 Towns And Urban Agglomerations Classified By Population Size Class In 2011 With Variation
Since 1901 (https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/A4.html). Office of the Registrar General &
Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (Report).

Class - I Population of 100,000 and Above (https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/CLASS%20

I.xlsx) (Report).
2. Shah, Syed Amjad (16 December 2020). "Govt orders establishment of official language section in
GAD" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141614/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM52nd
Report.pdf) (PDF). Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original (http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/N
CLM52ndReport.pdf) (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
3. District Census Handbook Anantnag, Part B (https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/0114_PAR
T_B_DCHB_ANANTNAG.pdf) (PDF). Census of India 2011 (Report). July 2016. pp. 28–29.
Retrieved 9 February 2021.
4. Bhat, M. Ashraf (2017), The Changing Language Roles and Linguistic Identities of the Kashmiri
Speech Community (https://books.google.com/books?id=eVwpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57), Cambridge
Scholars Publishing, p. 57, ISBN 978-1-4438-6260-8
5. "Anantnag City Census 2011 data" (http://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/2-anantnag.html).
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120505071750/http://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/2-a
nantnag.html) from the original on 5 May 2012.
6. Stein, M. A (1899), Memoir on Maps Illustrating Ancient Geography of Kashmir (https://archive.org/det
ails/MemoirOnMapsIllustratingAncientGeographyOfKashmir), Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, p. 178
 7. Gazetteer of Kashmir and Ladak (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43256), Calcutta:
Superintendent of Government Printing, 1890, p. 170 – via archive.org
8. Aslam, M.J. (15 February 2018). "Anantnag or Islamabad? What is the actual name of this South
Kashmir district?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180215132409/http://kashmirwatch.com/anantnag-i
slamabad-actual-name-south-kashmir-district/). Kashmir Watch. Archived from the original (http://kas
hmirwatch.com/anantnag-islamabad-actual-name-south-kashmir-district/) on 15 February 2018.
Retrieved 28 March 2018.
9. Ahmad, Khalid Bashir (2017), Kashmir: Exposing the Myth behind the Narrative (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=txtBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT201), SAGE Publishing India, pp. 201–, ISBN 978-93-
86062-81-9
10. "What is in a name – Islamabad" (http://kashmirdispatch.com/2011/08/29/what-is-in-a-name-islamab
ad-kashmir/105580/). kashmirdispatch.com. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
11. Snedden, Christopher (2015), Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=s5KMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8), Oxford University Press, p. 8, ISBN 978-1-84904-342-7
"Two of
Kashmir Province's three districts, Anantnag and Baramula, roughly equated to the Kashmir Valley."
12. Lawrence, Walter Roper (1895). The Valley of Kashmir (https://archive.org/details/valleyofkashmir00l
awruoft/page/222). H. Frowde. p. 222.
13. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc – Anantnag (http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/12/Anantnag.html).
Fallingrain.com.
14. "Climatological Information for Srinigar, India" (http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/climat/world/eng/asia/in
dia/srinagar_e.htm). Hong Kong Observatory. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
15. "Municipal Council Anantnag | District Anantnag, Government of Jammu & Kasmir | India" (https://an
antnag.nic.in/public-utility/municipal-council-anantnag/). Retrieved 5 September 2020.
16. http://ceojammukashmir.nic.in/pdf/municipal%20Election/MUNICIPAL%20COUNCILS%20AND%20CO
17. "J&K municipal polls: Congress wins Anantnag, sweeps Leh, BJP makes its mark in Valley" (https://
www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/j-k-municipal-polls-congress-wins-anantnag-sweeps-leh-bjp-m
akes-its-mark-in-valley/story-spGcmH2CI4hP1QLkEab4FO.html). Hindustan Times. 20 October
2018. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
18. "President Municipal Council Anantnag awarded for his fight against COVID-19" (https://fastkashmir.
com/2020/08/president-municipal-council-anantnag-awarded-for-his-fight-against-covid-19/). Fast
Kashmir. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
19. "Places To Visit In Anantnag" (https://www.holidify.com/places/anantnag/sightseeing-and-things-to-d
o.html). Holidify Pvt Ltd.
20. "Centre declares Srinagar, Anantnag as 'Export Excellence towns' " (http://economictimes.indiatimes.
com/articleshow/7022284.cms). The Economic Times. 1 December 2010. Archived (https://economic
times.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/centre-declares-srinagar-anantnag-as-export-exc
ellence-towns/articleshow/7022284.cms) from the original on 12 February 2018.
21. "Anantnag Pin code" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150518072944/http://www.citypincode.in/PinCo
deOf.jsp?area=Anantnag%20&district=Ananthnag). citypincode.in. Archived from the original (http://
www.citypincode.in/PinCodeOf.jsp?area=Anantnag%20&district=Ananthnag) on 18 May 2015.
Retrieved 30 March 2014.

External links
Anantnag travel guide from Wikivoyage
Articles about Anantnag (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/keyword/anantnag) in The
Economic Times
"Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns
(Provisional)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/tow
n.php?stad=A&state5=999). Census Commission of India. Archived from the original (http://www.cen
susindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999) on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.

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