Khurja

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
native_name = Khurja| type = city | latd = 28.25 | longd = 77.85
locator_position = right | state_name = Uttar Pradesh
district = Bulandshahr
leader_title = Sitting Member of Parliament
leader_name = Ashok Pradhan (BJP)
altitude = 197
population_as_of = 2001
population_total = 98,403| population_density =
area_magnitude= km²
area_total =
area_telephone = (91) 5738
postal_code = 203131
vehicle_code_range =
sex_ratio =
unlocode =
website =
footnotes =

Khurja (Urdu: خورجہ) is a small town and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated around 90 km from Delhi. Khurja supplies a large portion of the ceramics and pottery used in the country, hence is sometime called; Khurja: The Ceramics Town.

Khurja can be reached by road or train. A drive from Delhi on a direct route has heavy traffic and takes about two and a half hours. Time can be saved by taking the expressway from Delhi to Noida, then the Dankaur station road to Sikandrabad, which is 37 km from Khurja. Starting early enough, a day trip is sufficient to see Khurja. There are nearly 500 factories producing ceramic works.

Khurja being a significant town is linked by rail on the Delhi - Howrah line and via the old GT Road to many major cities in India.

The name 'KHURJA' has been derived from the word of the 'Urdu' word 'KHARIJA' meaning, "cancelled" or "condemned", as the revenue for this town was waived off because this land consisted many swamps and the agricultural possibilities were very rare.

Education

chools

There are many educational institutes in the city and some of them are one of the oldest study centers in western Uttar Pradesh.

Junior Colleges(alphabetically):Arya Kanya Pathshala Inter College,Ahmed Sayeed Khan Rifah-e-aam Inter College,J.A.S. Inter College Founded 1916,Jatia Bal Vihar Inter College,S.M.J.E.C. Inter College.

Schools(alphabetically):N.R.Public SchoolBi-Bi Fatima Junior High School,H.R.High School,Jatiya Vidya Niketan,K P Public School,Loyal Public School,MIS Model School,Muslim Girls Public School,Nehru Bal Niketan,Rahat Habib Public School,Smt. Savitri Devi Laxmi Chandra Sarswati Vidya MandirShivam Public School.

Higher education

Arya Kanya Pathshala Degree College is a girls' college offering graduate and post graduate degrees. In 2003 it had an enrollment of around 300 students and 12 faculty members.

NREC (Natthimal Ramsahay Edward Coronation) is one of the oldest colleges in India and offers various courses to students leading up to PhDs. The total enrollment in the college in 2003 was around 2900 students and around 110 faculty members.The College also conducts LLb classes

Both AKPDC and NREC are affiliated with Meerut University.

Seth Gangasagar Jatia Polytechnic, Khurja, providing the diploma in various fields e.g. Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Glass & Ceramic Engineering etc. It is the only institute in Uttar Pradesh which facilitates diploma engineering in Glass & Ceramic Engineering.

Population, town & people

Khurja has seen a huge population increase in recent years, from 80305 in 1991 to 98403 in 2001. The increase in population was principally due to the boom in the ceramic industry in the 1970s and 80s.

Khurja is a small town, with shops open till 11 p.m. in the Bindawala Chowk and Tareenan. It is easy to find people sipping hot milk in the winter and cold lassi and mango juice in the summer. Khurja has a great reputation for sweets prepared from milk, the most famous being 'Khurchan' which is made from layers upon layers of condensed milk.

Khurja city is the home town of the Pathans of Khurja, who in 2004 celebrated their 400th year of arrival in India in Khurja, making them one of the oldest Pathan communities to settle in the Gangatic Plains. They are among the most important power groups in Khurja. Late Nadir Shah Khan of Khurja was considered as a Leader of Pathan's in India who died around 1960's in Khurja. Pathans here mainly resides in the area known as "Barah Basti" means 12 localities. There was a huge population of Pathans before 1947, when India was divided and many left for the newly created Pakistan. There also has been constant Pathan migration to the west and more recently to middle east Australia and New Zealand.

Khurja parliamentary seat consists of Khurja, Jewar, Sikandrabad and Dadri-Noida.Now a days Khurja is famous for new Nav Durga Shakti mandir, a Hindu temple. This temple boasts of having the Asia's largest "AstDhatu idol" (made of eight different metals) of goddess Durga.

Near Nav durga Shakti mandir there is another ancient Shiv Temple called Siddheshwar, a holy place.

Amongst the oldest and famous temples is Hanuman Tila built by Seth MorariLal, the land for which was donated by Pandit GurjariLal (Saheb).

This place is in the outskirts of Khurja City towards Aligarh.

Infrastructure and industry

Khurja is famous worldwide for its ceramic industries. A lot of ceremic products produced are exported worldwide and some are distributed all across India. A wide array of ceremic products ranging from cutlery to sanitary ware is manufactured. Sunrise Ceramics [http://www.sunriseceramic.com] , one of the leading ceramic producers in the town, has been providing ceramic products for both the domestic and international markets.

Though an industrial region, Khurja severely lacks the infrastructure for good industry by European standards. Nonetheless, industry has flourished there. Since there are often power cuts lasting around eight hours, all factories and most homes have private generators. The municipality water supply is not enough for everybody's need so everybody has water pumps, pumping groundwater.

Khurja also hosts one of the two Central Ceramics and Glass Research Institutes in India (CSIR). Now, Khurja also has a flourishing meat industry. Most of the meat industries are on mundakhera road and mostly meat is exported to Gulf countries.khurja has many famous villages as well one of them is village Meerpur(post office Jarara) police station Arnia.Reputed Raghav Rajputs are living in these villages/some of then are shri Sunder singh Raghav,Gajraj singh raghav in Meerpur village.

Geography

Khurja is located at coord|28.25|N|77.85|E|. [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/36/Khurja.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Khurja] ] It has an average elevation of 197 metres (646 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census [GR|India] , Khurja had a population of 98,403. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Khurja has an average literacy rate of 53%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 60%, and female literacy is 45%. In Khurja, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.

References

External links

* [http://bulandshahar.nic.in Bulandshahar district website]