Purulia district

Purulia district of West Bengal

History

Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra of circa 5th century A.D. mentions that Purulia was one of the 16 Mahajanapadas and was a part of the country known as Vajra-bhumi in ancient times. However, little is known about Purulia before the British East India Company obtained the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa in 1765.

By Regulation XVIIII of 1805, a Jungle Mahals district composed of 23 parganas and mahals including the present Purulia (known as 'Purulia' those days) was formed. By Regulation XIII of 1833 the Jungle Mahals district was broken up and a new district called Manbhum was constituted with headquarters at Manbazar. The district was vey large in size and included parts of Bankura, Burdwan of present West Bengal and Dhanbad, Dhalbhum, Saraikela and Kharswan of present states of Jharkhand and Orissa. In 1838 the district headquarters was transferred to Purulia of today. Since the formation of the district it was withdrawn from regular administration and placed under an officer called Principal Assistant to the agent to the Governor-General for South-Western Frontier. The title of the officer Principal Agent was later changed to Deputy Commissioner by Act XX of 1854. Finally in 1956 Manbhum district was partitioned between Bihar and West Bengal under the States Reorganization Act and the Bihar and West Bengal (Transfer of Territories) Act 1956 and the present district Purulia was born on 1st November, 1956.

Purulia is the westernmost district of West Bengal with an all-India significance because of its tropical location, its shape as well as function like a funnel. It funnels not only the tropical monsoon current from the Bay to the subtropical parts of north-west India, but also acts as a gateway between the developed industrial belts of West Bengal and the hinterlands in Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Purulia is an ideal place for tourists. The undulating topography, calm serenity and nature with its prolific abundance, silence of dense forests, twittering of birds and wild life, beautiful flora and fauna, picturesque hills and hillocks, falls, rivers, rivulets and streams make this place attractive to the visitors. Thousands of tourists come to visit Purulia every year to witness the charm of the natural forests of Ayodhya, Matha and Kuilapal, falls and tribal habitations of Ajodhya and Bagmundih, dams like Panchet, Murguma and Futiari, heritage building like Panchakot Raj Place, trekking range of Matha proud with Pakhi Pahar, and Joychandi Pahar, picnic spots like Duarsini, Doladanga, Jamuna, traditional folk dance and culture like Chhou Dance and Jhumur Song and so on. The tourists who visit Purulia occasionally visit neighboring places of the adjoining districts and the Jharkhand State. Purulia district is well connected by road and rail with the major cities and towns of the state as well as of the country. For its convenient location, this place has acquired an important place in the tourist map in India.

Geography

Purulia lies between 22.60 degrees and 23.50 degrees north latitude and 85.75 degrees and 86.65 degrees east longitude. The geographical area of the district is 6259 km². This district is encircled by Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Burdwan district of West Bengal and Hazaribag, Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bokaro of Jharkhand state.

Rainfall defines the climate of the district. South west monsoon is the principal source of rainfall in the district. Average annual rainfall varies between 1100 and 1500 mm. The relative humidity is high in monsoon season, being 75% to 85%. But in hot summer it comes down to 25% to 35%. Temperature varies over a wide range from 7 degrees Celsius in winter to 46.8 degrees Celsius in the summer.

The main rivers passing through or bordering the district are Kangsabati, Kumari, Dwarakeswar, Subarnarekha and Damodar. Due to undulated topography nearly 50% of the rainfall flows away as runoff. The district is covered by mostly residual soil formed by weathering of bed rocks.

Administrative divisions

The district headquarters is Purulia town. There are three administrative subdivisions: Sadar East, Sadar West and Raghunathpur. There are 21 police stations, 20 development blocks, 3 municipalities, 170 gram panchayats and 2459 inhabited villages.

Demography

The district has a total population of 2,538,233 (per the 2001 census) out of which 19.35% is Scheduled Caste and 19.22% is Scheduled Tribes. The literacy rates of male and female are 74.18% and 37.15% of the total population respectively.

See also

External links

• Travel Article on Boronti by Rangan Datta
• Travel Article on Murguma & Kairabera by Rangan Datta
• Rangan Datta's personal web-site

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