Purulia

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Purulia | type = city | latd = 23.19 | longd = 86.22
state_name = West Bengal
district = Purulia
leader_title = Chairman
leader_name =
altitude =
population_as_of =
population_total = | population_density =
area_magnitude= sq. km
area_total =
area_telephone = 91 (0)3252
postal_code =
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =purulia.gov.in/egov/egov_initiative.html
footnotes =

Purulia ( _bn. পুরুলিয়া) (also spelled "Puruliya") is a town located in West Bengal state, India. It is the location of the district headquarters of Purulia district. Purulia is located on the north of the Kasai river and is a major road and railway junction. Purulia municipality was constituted in 1876.

Geography

Purulia is located at coord|23.33|N|86.37|E| [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/28/Puruliya.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Purulia] ] . It has an average elevation of 228 metres (748 feet). Summers are extremely hot and dry with temperatures randing from lows of 23 °C to highs above 45 °C. Winters are very dry and cool with daily temperatures randing from 3 °C to 20 °C. Most of the rainfall occurs during the wet monsoons which often lead to waterlogging problems.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Puruliya had a population of 113,766. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48% ,. Puruliya has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 60%, one of the highest literacy rate in India. In Puruliya, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

Purulia entered the news in December 1995, when a Latvian aircraft dropped a large consignment of arms into its vicinity. Several days later, when the plane re-entered Indian airspace, it was intercepted by the MiG21 Indian Air force Jet planes, and its crew were captured. It was believed that the arms were intended for the Hindu cult 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 Russians) were later pardoned and released in 2000.

Purulia is also famous for the prestigious institution named Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith. This is a residential school for boys with the calm environment of ancient gurukul system which was the ideology of Swami Vivekananda. Purulia also has famous Sainik School on Ranchi Road. Another Residential School is GRK DAV based on the ideologies of Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayananda.The Assembly of God Church School constituting the mornnig batch(Bhatbhandh)and Day batch(Ranchi Road) is also well known.But the oldest of the schools is Purulia Zilla School which was established in the year 1856.The Town also saw the Migrants From Rajasthan in early 20th century popularly known as seven brothers "The Surekas".They were engaged into transport & petrol pump business and were well known for their generosity and kindness.

Transport

Puruliya has one of the best railway stations in West Bengal. Most of the long distance trains stop here. From Puruliya, one can go to Delhi (via Bokaro Steel City), to Orissa (via Kharagpur) or to Asansol or Chakradharpur.

Politics

Nikhil Mukherjee of CPI(M) won the Purulia assembly seat in 2006 and 2001 defeating Dr. Sukumar Roy of INC and Kamakshya Prasad Singhdeo of AITC respectively. Mamata Mukherjee of CPI(M) won the seat in 1996, 1991 and 1987 defeating Dr. Sukumar Roy of INC. Dr. Sukumar Roy representing ICS defeated Mahadeb Mukherjee of CPI(M) in 1982. Mahadeb Mukherjee of CPI(M) defeated Sanat Kumar Mukherjee, Independent, in 1977. [cite web
url = http://www.eci.gov.in/electionanalysis/AE/S25/partycomp239.htm
title = 239 – Purulia Assembly Constituency | accessdate = 2008-03-02 | last = | first = | work = West Bengal | publisher = Election Commission of India ]

Bir Singh Mahato of AIFB has won the Purulia (Lok Sabha constituency) four times in a row from 1996 – 2004. [cite web
url = http://archive.eci.gov.in/GE2004/pollupd/pc/states/s25/partycomp34.htm
title = 34 Purulia Parliamentary Constituency| accessdate = 2008-03-02 | last = | first = | work = West Bengal | publisher = Election Commission of India ]

External links

* [http://www.wb.nic.in/dist/puru.html Purulia: official website of West Bengal state]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/846093.stm BBC News:India pardons armsdrop crew]
* [http://www.rkmv.org/ Ramakrishna Mission vidyapith]
* [http://www.rangan-datta.info/Boronti.htm Travel Article on Boronti by Rangan Datta]
* [http://www.rangan-datta.info/Kairabera%20&%20Murguma.htm Travel Article on Murguma & Kairabera by Rangan Datta]
* [http://www.rangan-datta.info/index.htm Rangan Datta's Home Page]

References

ee also

* Purulia (Lok Sabha constituency)
* Sarak