Willingdon College

Willingdon College is situated in the Vishrambag area of the Sangli–Miraj–Kupwad Municipal Corporation, between the twin cities of Sangli and Miraj in Maharashtra, India. It was established in 1919 by the Deccan Education Society, founded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, with support from Shahu Maharaj and the rulers of the Sangli and Miraj states. Inaugurated on 22 June 1919, the college was named after Lord Willingdon, the Governor of Bombay. It initially operated at the Rani Saraswati Kanya Shala before moving to a permanent 125-acre campus at Vishrambag in 1924. Over subsequent decades, the college expanded with new buildings including hostels, a library, laboratories, and an Applied Sciences Building housing departments such as Microbiology, Biotechnology, and Computer Science. It was recognised as a permanent postgraduate center by Shivaji University in 1979. The college has celebrated several jubilees, including its silver jubilee in 1944, golden jubilee in 1969, diamond jubilee in 1979, and platinum jubilee in 1994 and again in 2011. The main building is a quadrangular stone structure containing 24 classrooms, administrative offices, and an open-air theatre used for events like the annual prize distribution ceremony.