Purulia
Encyclopedia
Purulia also spelled Puruliya, also known as "Manbhum City", is a city located in 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...

 state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...

, 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...

, and was constituted in 1876. It is the location of the district headquarters of Purulia district
Purulia District
Purulia district is one of the nineteen districts of West Bengal state in eastern India. The town of Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district.-History:...

. Purulia is located on the north of the Kasai river
Kangsabati River
Kangsabati River rises from the Chota Nagpur plateau in the state of Jharkhand, India and passes through the districts of Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal before draining in the Hooghly River.-Course:After rising near Jhalda in the Chota Nagpur plateau in Purulia district,...

 and is a major road and railway junction. It has an area of 6,259 sq.km. It is famous for the "chau" dance.

Geography

Purulia is located at 23.33°N 86.37°E. It has an average elevation of 228 metres (748 feet). Summers are hot and dry with temperatures ranging from lows of 23 °C to highs above 45 °C. The temperature reached the highest level in the country on June 18, 2005 at 51.1 °C. Winters are dry and cool with daily temperatures ranging from 3 °C to 20 °C. Most of the rainfall occurs during the wet monsoons.

It has many major rivers such as the Damodar, Subernarekha, Kangsabati, and Kumari, along with many dams including Kangsabati dam, Panchet dam, Maithon dam, Murguma dam, and Baghmundi dam. It has a varied landscape consisting of plains, plateaus and hills. Most of the major land forms can be found here.

Purulia soil is red and it is said that the soil has the most iron in it compared to other soil in India.

The portion of the Ajodha range located in Purulia is the starting point of the Chottanagpur plateau.

Beauty of Purulia

Purulia has many natural beauties, such as picnic spots. Some of the famous are the deer park near Kangsabati dam, Ajodha hills, etc. It has many waterfalls also. The Pakhi pahar(bird hill) is very beautiful. In this hill birds are drawn on the rocks of the hill. The city is also beautifully landscaped. There is the Saheb bandh, a large pond where boating and fishing take place. There is also Subhas park and an educational park called as sciencecity. It has a small island in the center of it where many beautiful birds come during the year from different parts of the world. Purulia has two big reservoirs, the Kangsabati reservoir and the Panchet reservoir. There are also tiger reserves,elephant reserves, and deer reserves.

Demographics

In the 2011 census, Purulia Urban Agglomeration had a population of 126,894, out of which 65,334 were males and 61,560 were females. The 0-6 years population was 12,116. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 81.53 per cent.
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...

, Puruliya had a population of 113,766. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Puruliya has an average literacy rate of 65.38%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78.85, and female literacy is 51.29.

History

Purulia entered the news in December 1995, when a Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n aircraft dropped a consignment of arms
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...

 in its vicinity. Several days later, when the plane re-entered Indian airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....

, it was intercepted by a Mig21 of the Indian Air Force, and its crew were captured. It was believed that the arms were intended for the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

 Anand Marg ("Happy Path"), but proof of this could not be established. The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen. They were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Following the intervention of Russian authorities, the Latvian crew (ethnic
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

 Russians) were pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...

ed and released in 2000.

The Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, India, is a branch of Ramakrishna Mission. It is a boarding school/sresidential school for boys with a calm environment of ancient gurukul system. It was founded by Swami Hiranmayananda in 1958. The then chief minister of West Bengal requested Ramakrishna Mission to...

 is a residential school for boys with the calm environment of the ancient gurukul system which was the ideology of Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...

. Sainik School is on Ranchi Road. GRK DAV is a residential school based on the ideologies of Arya Samaj, founded by Swami Dayananda. The Assembly of God Church School has a morning batch (Bhatbhandh) and a day batch (Ranchi Road). The oldest of the schools is Purulia Zilla which was established in 1853.

Festivals

All the festivals are celebrated here with full of joy and happiness. The major festivals are like Durga puja, Kali puja and Mahalaya.The whole city is decorated during diwali.
Tribe Santal's major festival is Bandna or Bandana. In this festival they play music, dance together and eat meat based special dishes like "Manser Pitha". They also take local liquor as a part of their culture named "Hadia".
'Bhadu' is another festival started by Panchakot Raj of Kashipur after the death of King's daughter named Bhadrabati and now days it is enjoyed by the local mass.
Karma is a tribe festival in Puruliya where tribal people worship the tree whose local name is 'Karam'.

Time to visit

The best time to visit Purulia is from September to November. During this time you can visit all the tourist places in Purulia and can also enjoy the major festivals celebrated there at that time.

Transport

Most of the long distance trains stop at the railway station.Purulia is one of the most important transport location.Major cities near Purulia are Ranchi
Ranchi
-Climate:Ranchi has a humid subtropical climate. However, due to its position and the forests around the city, it is known for its pleasant climate. Its climate is the primary reason why Ranchi was once the summer capital of the undivided State of Bihar...

, Bokaro, Dhanbad
Dhanbad
Dhanbad features climate that is transitional between a humid subtropical climate and a tropical wet and dry climate. Summer starts from last week of March and ends in mid-June. Peak temperature in summer can reach 47oC. Dhanbad also receives heavy rainfall...

, Asansol
Asansol
Asansol is a coal mining and industrial metropolis and one of the busiest commercial centres in India. It is the second largest city and urban agglomeration in West Bengal after Kolkata and the 19th largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is located in the western part of the Burdwan...

, Burnpur, Kharagpur, Jamshedpur, Chakradharpur, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

 etc. There is a link railway to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

 via Burdwan,Adra and Tata. The station is a junction and is about 1.5 km from the town-centre.

Purulia is connected to various parts of West Bengal as well as Jharkhand through long distance bus services run by both Government and private operators.

Education

Santamoyee Girls' High School is a girls' school and Purulia Zilla school
Purulia zilla school
Purulia Zilla School is one of the oldest and best existing schools in Purulia district, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1853.The school offers grades from 1 to 12. The main language of instruction used is Bengali...

 (the district government school) is the state government boys school. The government girls high school is Girls' High School. Chittaranjan High School is a boys school. Chittaranjan girls high school, Girish chandra vidyapith, Netaji high school. Purulia Zilla school was established in 1853.

Other schools affiliated to WBCHSE include Chittaranjan High School and Manbhum Victoria Institution (another centenarian school). The Assembly of God Church School here is a nursery to XII school which follows the CBSE syllabus pattern and is compositely affiliated to it. The St.Xavier's School is another ICSE
Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE examination is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private, non-governmental board of school education in India, for class 10, i.e., grade 10...

 pattern school from Nursery to XII. The Rajasthan school is another school. The Purulia Sainik School belongs to the central government of India, where students are prepared for recruiting them to Indian Army. This school is affiliated to CBSE. The Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith
Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, India, is a branch of Ramakrishna Mission. It is a boarding school/sresidential school for boys with a calm environment of ancient gurukul system. It was founded by Swami Hiranmayananda in 1958. The then chief minister of West Bengal requested Ramakrishna Mission to...

 is 6 km from the town. The school is affiliated to West Bengal Board of Secondary Education
West Bengal Board of Secondary Education
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education is the West Bengal state government administered autonomous examining authority for the Standard 10 examination of West Bengal, India. The examination for the 10th standard is called the Madhyamik Pariksha or secondary examination...

 and is run by the Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Mission
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission are twin organizations which form the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as Ramakrishna Movement or Vedanta Movement. The Ramakrishna Mission is a philanthropic, volunteer organization founded by Ramakrishna's chief disciple Swami Vivekananda on...

 Authority. It includes the residential system of education. In Purulia there is a deaf and dumb school in Amdiha Para.

Purulia Polytechnic
Purulia Polytechnic
Purulia Polytechnic is located in an underdeveloped rural area named Bongabari.This institute stands on a huge area. It was established in 1957.It is one of the oldest polytechnic institute of India.- Contact Details :...

 is a diploma engineering institute situated three km away from the railway station. J.K. College (co-ed) and Nistarini College (for girls only) offer undergraduate education, both affiliated to University of Burdwan.But now 2011 all college under Sidho-Kanho-Birsha university,

There are many i.c.s.e schools. One of the famous is the "St.xavier schools"

Purulia arms drop

On December 18, 1995, a mysterious weapon consignment was dropped from the sky over Joupur Jhalda area under Purulia district of West Bengal. The consignment was discovered the next morning. The reasons are still not known.
  • Purulia song
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