Naihati
Encyclopedia
Naihati is a town and an important railway junction station on the Indian Railways
Indian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....

 network, in the district of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Geography

Naihati is located at 22.9°N 88.42°E. It has an average elevation of 15 metres (49 feet).

Climate

Being situated in the tropics, the climate of Naihati is primarily hot and humid summers and cool and dry winters. The rain bearing clouds from the Bay of Bengal brings torrential rain in the monsoon. In the summer temperature goes as high as the mid 40 degree celsius and in the winter it may reach 8 degree celsius.

Demographics

India census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

, Naihati had a population of 215,432 (estimated 308,509 in 2010). Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Naihati has an average literacy rate of 74.5%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78.8%, and female literacy is 69.7%. In Naihati, 2% of the population is under 6 years of age and population density 18,641/sq.Km, rank 50th city in the World.

The Jute Mills drew in a large labour force from the neighbouring states of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

 and Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

, as well as eastern Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, quite often forming an overwhelming majority of the population in the area, living in shanty towns and bustees dotting the mill area.

With the partition of India there was a massive influx of refugees from East Pakistan into Kolkata and its peripheral areas. Of over a million refugees who entered West Bengal in 1950 alone settled mostly in squatter colonies between Naihati and Sonarpur
Rajpur Sonarpur
Rajpur Sonarpur is a city and a municipality under Sonarpur police station of Baruipur subdivision in South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal...

  on the east bank of the Hooghly and between Mogra
Mogra
Mogra is a gram panchayat , police station and headquarters of Chinsurah-Mogra community development block in Hooghly district in West Bengal, India...

 and Uluberia
Uluberia
Uluberia is a city and a municipality in Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.-Geography:...

 on the west bank.

Transport

It takes one hour to reach Sealdah
Sealdah
Sealdah is one of the major train stations serving Kolkata in India, the others being Howrah Station, Shalimar Station and Kolkata Railway Station. Sealdah is one of the busiest rail stations in India and an important suburban rail terminal...

 station by train. It is 38 km from Sealdah. It is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway
Kolkata Suburban Railway
The Kolkata Suburban Railway is the rail system for the suburbs surrounding the city of Kolkata . Railways such as this are important and heavily-used infrastructure in India....

 system. It is connected to Bandel
Bandel
Bandel , founded by Portuguese settlers, is a gram panchayat in Chinsurah-Mogra block in Chinsurah subdivision of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is under Chinsurah police station. A major junction station of Eastern Railway, it is 40 km from Howrah station...

 on the Howrah-Bardhaman main line. The journey takes about 20 minutes. Naihati is also connected to Kolkata by ferry. The transport via road is chiefly via the well known 85 route (name of the bus route) which operates between Barrackpore
Barrackpore
Barrackpore or Barrackpur is headquarters of Barrackpore subdivision in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town was a military and administrative center under British rule, and was the scene of several acts of rebellion against Britain during the 19th century...

 and Kanchrapara
Kanchrapara
Kanchrapara is a city and a municipality under Bijpur police station of Barrackpore subdivision. in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.-Geography:...

. There are also some other bus routes like Naihati-Habra and Naihati-Barasat. Recently a new state bus has started from Naihati to Digha.

In 1857, the East Bengal Railway (EBR) was formed to lay the tracks along the east bank of the Hooghly River to Kushtia
Kushtia District
Kushtia, Kushtia district or Kushtia Zila is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia has existed as a separate district since the partition of India. Prior to that, Kushtia was a part of Nadia District under Bengal Province of British India. Kushtia was home...

 and then across the river to Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

. The Jubilee Bridge
Jubilee Bridge (India)
Jubilee Bridge is an important rail bridge over Hooghly River between Naihati and Bandel. Jubilee Bridge is flanked on either side by Garifa and Hooghly Ghat stations....

 linking Bandel and Naihati was opened on 21st Febeuary 1887, so that up country freight traffic could run through to Kolkata port.
Recently a new bridge is being built up beside the existing Jubilee bridge by Indian Railways. After this new bridge gets completed it will be used as the main way of transport and the old one will be abandoned. The new bridge is almost completed.

Notable personalities

Kanthalpara in Naihati is the birth place of the famous Bengali literary giant Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who composed Bande Mataram - the national song of India. Haraprasad Shastri
Haraprasad Shastri
Haraprasad Shastri , also known as Haraprasad Bhattacharya, was an Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist and historian of Bengali literature...

, the academician was born in Naihati. It is also the birthplace of Bengali singers Shyamal Mitra
Shyamal Mitra
Shyamal Mitra was one of the best known singers of Bengal in the 1950s to 70s. Along with Hemanta Mukherjee and Manna Dey he was the most notable singer of that period. With a good baritone his voice reflected a range of emotions...

 and Mrinal Kanti Ghosh and modern Bengali story writer and novelist Samaresh Bose.It is also the birth place of Kanai BairagiRupa Ghosh, a famous Vaishnab Padavali singer, is presently settled here. One of the notable reformers of Bengal Keshab Sen was born in the Garifa area of Naihati. Sukanta Bhattacharyya, the famous poet was born at Naihati at his mother's house (mamar bari).One of the notable person lived in the Gouripur area of Naihati name Biswanath Singh (Mantri ji),Who always fight for the worker of Gouripur Jute Mill until he alived.

Education

There is a famous college named Rishi Bankim Chandra College(R.B.C College) which was affiliated to the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...

 and is affiliated to the West Bengal State University. Now it is triparted as Rishi Bankim Chandra Girl's college (in morning shift), Rishi Bankim Chandra College ( Co-education in day shift) and Rishi Bankim Chandra Evening College ( in night shift). There are many Bengali medium schools as well as English medium schools in Naihati. Prominent Bengali medium schools include Naihati Narendra Vidyaniketan, Naihati Mahendra High School, Naihati Katyayani Girls' High School, Naihati Adarsha Vidyaniketan,Nahati Prafulla Sen's Girls High School, Bijaynagar High School (Boys' High),Hindi medium school Gauripur Hindi High school vidya bikash high school sarswati balika vidyalay

Organizations

Naihati has a large number of cultural and social organizations. Amra Kajan Club is famous for its annual blood donation camp and The Mini Mime Mime Club is famous for Drama & Mime Play. The bodybuilding competition held by Naihati Athletic Club draws a huge crowd which cheers the almost naked participants with frequent claps and whistles. National Park Unnayini Sangsad is an old and reputed non political organization run mainly by the residents of National Park area of Naihati. It looks after the social welfare of the area as well as boosts the cultural practice. Shukrachakra is a non-profiteering organization established on June 19, 1998. Based at Naihati, this organization is protesting constantly and vehemently against the faulty educational system. According to its principles, the emphasis on competitions is totally wrong. We should focus on co-operation and not on competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

. Shukrachakra also has its cultural sides. The members of this organization regularly practise and perform music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 (mostly Bengali songs). Though drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 is relatively new to this organization, it has yielded a good response from the audience with its productions like Atikram and Totakahini. From March 2009 onwards, Shukrachakra Samachar is the magazine published by Shukrachakra. The central topic of this magazine is the abuse of students by teachers, which is rampant in many parts of India. Interestingly, the latest theatrical production of Shukrachakra, a play called Anichchhaakrita, is based on the same theme and has created a raging controversy at its first performance on 17 July 2011.

Festivals

Naihati is famous for its Kali Puja
Kali Puja
Kali Puja or Shyama Puja is a festival dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali, celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu month Ashwin in Bengal. It coincides with the pan-Indian Lakshmi Puja day of Diwali...

.& durga puja chhat puja Although, family-based pujas were more common a few decades ago, it has become a community-centric affair in modern times. The youth communities or clubs organize these pujas.

See also

  • List of railway stations in India
  • Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
    Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay
    Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was a famous Bengali writer, poet and journalist. He was the composer of India’s national song Vande Mataram, originally a Bengali and Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Freedom Movement...

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