Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

Bilaspur is a city in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, where it serves as the administrative headquarters of both Bilaspur District and Bilaspur Division. Its municipal corporation was counted at 331,030 people in the 2011 census, and in 2019 eighteen neighboring towns and suburban areas were added to it. The city is often called the Law Capital of the state because the Chhattisgarh High Court, established here when the state was created on 1 November 2000, sits at nearby Bodri. Bilaspur is also a railway hub, the headquarters of the South East Central Railway Zone and of a railway division, and the seat of South Eastern Coalfields Limited. It is known for doobraj aromatic rice and for kosa silk saris woven on handlooms. Local tradition says the name comes from a fisherwoman called Bilasa, while another account ties it to the palash trees of the area.