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Purulia district () is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur-Adra, Manbazar, Jhalda, Anara and Balarampur.
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 Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
From 2001, with the new industrial policies of government of West Bengal, this district has attracted investments in steel, cement and power sectors. The district has large scale industries like Santaldih Thermal Power Station at Santaldih, Pumped Storage Project at Baghmundi, ACC Limited Damodar Cement Factory at Madhukunda. The Purulia Pumped Storage Project of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. consists of 4 units with a capacity of 224 MW each, which generates 900 MW of electricity. DVC is involved with a thermal power plant in Raghunathpur sub division with a capacity of 2400 MW. It has investments in steel and cement sectors. The manufacturing sector specially the sponge iron sector got an investment of 306.17 crores, which is comparable to the economically developed districts of West Bengal.
Among small scale industries, the lac industry and sericulture industry is another major source of income of this district. Purulia produces 90% of the lac produced in West Bengal. Lac is cultivated in all the blocks of Purulia and about 70,000 people are associated with this industry. Sericulture industry is supported by the ample amount of caterpillar larvae as raw materials.
Tourism is another source of income for this district. Forests, Hillocks, Rivulets, Streams, Wild Life, Flora & Fauna has tremendous scope to be explored by the tourist. The prominent of the district like Ajodhya Hills, Matha, Murguma Dam and Kuilapal Forests, Jaychandi Pahar, Panchakote Raj, Duarsini Hills and Forests attract quite a good number of visitors to Purulia every year.
Due to the rough weather and soil, purulia lags behind in agricultural arena from the other districts of West Bengal. However cultivation of silk and lac are the main agricultural products.
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Purulia one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the eleven districts in West Bengal that has received funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund programme (BRGF).
Each subdivision except Manbazar contains one municipality each along with community development blocks which in turn is divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 11 urban units: 3 municipalities and 9 census towns.
Bandwan and Manbazar constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidates, while Para and Raghunathpur constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Banduan is an assembly segment of Jhargram (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contains six assembly segments from Paschim Medinipur district. Balarampur, Baghmundi, Jaipur, Purulia, Manbazar, Kashipur and Para constituencies will form the Purulia (Lok Sabha constituency). Raghunathpur assembly segment is part of Bankura (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contains six assembly segments from Bankura district.
Divisions
Administrative subdivisions
The district comprises four subdivisions: Purulia Sadar, Jhalda, Raghunathpur and Manbazar. Puruliya Sadar consists of Purulia municipality and five community development blocks: Purulia–I, Purulia–II, Hura, Puncha and Balarampur. Jhalda subdivision consists of Jhalda municipality and four community development blocks: Jhalda–I, Jhalda–II, Jaipur, Bagmundi. Raghunathpur subdivision consists of Raghunathpur municipality and six community development blocks: Para, Raghunathpur–I, Raghunathpur–II, Neturia, Santuri and Kashipur. Manbazar subdivision consists of five community development blocks: Manbazar–I, Manbazar–II Barabazar, Bandwan and Puncha. Purulia town is the district headquarters. There are 21 police stations, 20 development blocks, 3 municipalities, 170 , and 2459 inhabited villages in this district.
Purulia Sadar subdivision
Manbazar subdivision
Jhalda subdivision
Raghunathpur subdivision
Assembly constituencies
The district is divided into assembly constituencies:
Para constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Banduan, Manbazar, Balarampur, Arsa, Jhalda, Jaipur and Purulia constituencies formed the Purulia (Lok Sabha constituency). Para, Raghunathpur, Kashipur and Hura were assembly segments of Bankura (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contained three assembly segments from Bankura district.
Impact of delimitation of constituencies
As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district is presently divided into 9 assembly constituencies:
Demographics
According to the 2011 census Purulia district has a population of 2,930,115, roughly equal to the nation of Jamaica or the US state of Arkansas. This gives it a ranking of 129th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.43%. Puruliya has a sex ratio of 955 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 65.38%. The literacy rates of male and female are 74.18% and 37.15% of the total population. 12.74% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes collectively account for 37.83% (SC: 19.38% and ST: 18.45%) of the district's total population. The prominent communities in this group, in terms of the district's total population, are Santal people (11.57%), Bauri (8.29%), Bhumij people (3.57%), Sunri (excluding Saha) (1.68%), Rajuar (1.61%), Kora (1.14%), Hari (1.02%), Bhuiya (1.01%), Dom (0.98%), Chamar (0.88%), Dhobi (0.81%), Jalia Kaibarta (0.62%), Ghasi (0.45%), Lohar (0.45%), Bagdi/Duley (0.44%), Munda people (0.35%), and Mahli (0.35%). Additionally, populations ranging between ten thousand to one thousand include Kurukh people, Savar, Bedia, Keot, Mal, Lodha people/Kharia people, Lohara, Gorait, and Dosadh.
Religion
Language
According to the 2011 census, 80.56% of the population spoke Bengali language, 11.17% Santali language, 5.04% Kurmali language and 1.93% Hindi as their first language.
Transport
Purulia district is well connected with other cities and towns of West Bengal and neighbourhood states by road and rail transport.
Rail
The District is served by three Rail connections provided by the South Eastern Railways. One line runs from Jharkhand in the South through the district up to Asansol passing through Adra division. Another line runs between Bankura and Dhanbad also via the Adra Division. The third line connects purulia with Jharkhand. Major cities and towns like Ranchi, Tatanagar, Patna, Howrah, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Lucknow, Asansol, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Durgapur, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi are now well connected with this district by railways. The Railway Divisional Headquarter Adra railway division, which is one of the major rail division of South Eastern Railway, is situated on the northeastern part of Purulia district.
Road
The road transport is another important transportation medium of Purulia. The road transport is adequate in terms of bus availability and goods flow. NH 18 (NH 32) connects this district with Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Chas and Dhanbad. National Highway 60A (now NH 314) connects Purulia with State Highway 9 at Bankura and subsequently to NH2 at Durgapur. State Highway 5 also plays an important role in district's transport network as it connects the towns like Raghunathpur, Adra, Santaldih and Neturia to NH2 at Neamatpur and Asansol. Purulia has excellent road connectivity with Raniganj-Asansol industrial belt. South Bengal State Transport Corporation runs 4 buses from Purulia to Kolkata via State Highway 5 thus connecting towns and cities like Raghunathpur, Adra, Neturia to the industrial belt of Asansol, Raniganj, Durgapur and Burdwan. There are also many private bus operators on this route.
Culture
Purulia has rich cultural heritage. It has the mixed culture of Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha as it was a part of these areas for various times. From archaeological evidences to local festivals, every cultural event has got a tribal touch in it, which is the speciality of Purulia. Living mostly in rural areas and keeping intact many of their socio-cultural values, more or less in pristine forms, the rural people of Purulia have their folks to speak about many of their tenets. The distinctiveness of those is well demonstrated with the sentiments and feelings of the population and these are marked with splash of colours and often entwined with pathos, romanticism, velour and social consciousness. Purulia has a range of traditional song types, including Jhumair, Ahirageet, Bhadu, Bihargeet, Baul, Karamgeet, and Tusugeet. It is also the birthplace of a martial dance of Bengal Chhau dance.
Tourism
Hundreds of thousands of tourists come to visit Purulia annually to witness the charm of the natural scenery of Ayodhya, Turga Falls, PPSP Upper and Lower Dam, Dawri khal in Kesto Bazar Dam, Lahoria Shiv Mandir, Matha and Kuilapal, falls and tribal habitations of Ajodhya Hills and Bagmundih, dams like Panchet, Murguma Dam and Futiari, heritage buildings like Panchakot Raj Place, trekking range of Matha proud with Pakhi Pahar, and Joychandi Pahar, picnic spots like Baranti, Duarsini, Doladanga, Jamuna, traditional folk dance and culture like Chhou Dance and Jhumur Song.
Notable people
See also
External links
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