Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

state in

Eastern India East India is a List of regions of India, region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the histo ...

Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average elev ...

is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- Adra, Jhalda, Anara and Balarampur.

History

Pre history

The territory of present Purulia district was a part of Banga, one of the 16

Mahajanapadas The Mahājanapadas ( sa, great realm, from ''maha'', "great", and ''janapada'' "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE during the second urba ...

according to Jaina Bhagavati

Sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...

(c. fifth century CE) and was also a part of the country known as Vajra-bhumi in ancient period. During medieval period, this territory was regarded as part of ''Jharkhand'' region. Little is known about Purulia before the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

acquired this territory by obtaining the grant of Diwani of the subahs of Bengal, Bihar, Odisha in 1765.

Pre independence

By Regulation XVIX of 1805, a

Jungle Mahals Jungle Mahals, ( jungle estates) was a district formed by British possessions and some independent chiefdoms lying between Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapore and the hilly country of Chota Nagpur in what is now the Indian state of West Bengal.O’Mall ...

district composed of 23 parganas and mahals including the present Purulia 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 Manbazar is a census town in Manbazar I CD block in Manbazar subdivision of Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. The headquarters of Manbazar subdivision are located in Manbazar. Geography Location Manbazar is located at ...

. The district was very large in size and included parts of

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced ...

and

Bardhaman Bardhaman (, ) is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of Purba Bardhaman district, having become a district capital during the period of British rule. Burdwan, an alternative name for the city, ...

districts of present

state and Dhanbad,

Dhalbhum Dhalbhum was the name given to parganas Supur and Ambikanagar in the Khatra area of present Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal.O’Malley, L.S.S., ICS, ''Bankura'', ''Bengal District Gazetteers'', pp. 194-195, 1995 reprint, fir ...

and Seraikela-Kharswan districts of present

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

states. In 1838 the district headquarters was transferred from Manbazar to

. 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.

Post independence

Finally in 1956 Manbhum district was partitioned between

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and West Bengal under the States Reorganization Act and the Bihar and West Bengal (Transfer of Territories) Act 1956 and the present Purulia district was born on 1 November 1956. The district is a part of the Red Corridor.

Geography

Purulia lies between 22.60 degrees and 23.50 degrees north latitudes and 85.75 degrees and 86.65 degrees east longitudes. Compass Declination 0º22'W. The geographical area of the district is . This district is bordered on the east by

Paschim Medinipur Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district (also known as Midnapore West) is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the Partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur and Purba M ...

districts, on the north by

Bardhaman district Bardhaman district (, ; also spelled Burdwan or Barddhaman or Vardhaman) was a district in West Bengal. On 7 April 2017, the district was bifurcated into two districts: Purba Bardhaman and Paschim Bardhaman district. The headquarters of the dis ...

of West Bengal state and Dhanbad district of

state, on the west by Bokaro and

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area o ...

districts of Jharkhand state and on the south by West Singhbhum and East Singhbhum districts of Jharkhand state. 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 Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Climate

Using the

Köppen classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...

, Purulia has a tropical savanna climate ''(Aw)'' and receives most of its rainfall during the monsoon season. Temperature is high in summer, averaging and average in winter, around . Rainfall defines the climate of the district. South west monsoon is the principal source of rainfall in the district. Average annual rainfall varies between . The relative humidity is high in monsoon season, being 75% to 85%. But in hot summer it comes down to 20% to 35%.

Rivers and lakes

Several rivers flow across Purulia district. Among these Kangsabati, Kumari, Silabati (silai), Dwarakeswar, Subarnarekha and Damodar are the important ones. Although several rivers flows across the district, 50% of the water run off due to the undulated topography. There are also several Small dams like Futiyary, Murguma, Pardi, Burda, Gopalpur, which are mainly used for irrigation of agriculture field. Saheb Bandh is one of the popular and famous waterbodies of Purulia. It is located in the heart of the purulia town. It is a shelter of the migratory birds which comes from Bangladesh, Burma, Sindh, Baluchistan during December to March.

Geology

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.

Economy

The economy of the Purulia district is mainly driven by the industrial & Agricultural sector and tourism. Among these, the industrial sector is the backbone of the economy of the district. 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 Santaldih Thermal Power Station ( bn, সাঁওতালডিহ তাপবিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্র) of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited is a power station with an installed capacity of 500 MW (2x250 MW). Lo ...

at Santaldih, Pumped Storage Project at

Baghmundi Baghmundi is a village, with a police station, in the Baghmundi CD block in the Jhalda subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Baghmundi lies in the vicinity of the Ajodhya Hill and Fores ...

, ACC 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 Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...

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 A ''matha'' (; sa, मठ, ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism.

Murguma Dam The Murguma Dam is constructed on the Saharajhore River, one of the tributary of Kangsabati River in West Bengal, India. The dam is constructed near Murguma village in the foothill of Ajodhya Hills, Purulia District. It's under Kotshila Police Sta ...

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 The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a ...

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 Backward or Backwards is a relative direction. Backwards or Sdrawkcab (the word "backwards" with its letters reversed) may also refer to: * "Backwards" (''Red Dwarf''), episode of sci-fi TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' ** ''Backwards'' (novel), a no ...

programme (BRGF).

Divisions

Administrative subdivisions

The district comprises four subdivisions: Purulia Sadar, Jhalda, Raghunathpur and Manbazar. Puruliya Sadar consists of

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

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

s, and 2459 inhabited villages in this district. 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.

Purulia Sadar subdivision

: municipality * Purulia–I community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Purulia–II community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats. * Hura community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. * Balarampur community development block consists of rural areas with 7 gram panchayats and one census town: Balarampur. * Arsha is a community development block

Manbazar subdivision

* Manbazar I community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. * Manbazar II community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. *

Bandwan Bandwan is a census town in the Bandwan CD block in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Bandwan is located at . Area overview Purulia district forms the lowest step of t ...

community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats. * Puncha community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. *

Barabazar Barabazar is a census town in the Barabazar CD block in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Area overview Purulia district forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. T ...

community development block consists of rural areas with 10 gram panchayats and one census town:

Jhalda subdivision

* Jhalda: municipality * Jhalda–I community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. * Jhalda–II community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats. * Joypur community development block consists of rural areas only with 7 gram panchayats. *

community development block consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats.

Raghunathpur subdivision

* Raghunathpur: municipality *

Para Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...

community development block consists of rural areas with 10 gram panchayats and two census towns: Santaldih and

Chapari Chapari is a census town in the Para CD block in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Puruliya district in the state of West Bengal, India. History The ''Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra'' of 5th century AD mentions that Purulia was one of the sixteen m ...

. *

Raghunathpur I Raghunathpur I is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Background The ''Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra'' of the ...

community development block consists of rural areas with 7 gram panchayats and one census town: Arra. *

Raghunathpur II Raghunathpur II is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Background The ''Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra'' of the ...

community development block consists of rural areas with 6 gram panchayats and one census town: Nabagram. * Neturia community development block consists of rural areas with 7 gram panchayats and two census towns: Hijuli and Par Beliya. * Santuri community development block consists of rural areas only with 6 gram panchayats. * Kashipur community development block consists of rural areas with 13 gram panchayats and one census town: Adra.

Assembly constituencies

The district is divided into 11 assembly constituencies: # Bandwan (ST) (assembly constituency no. 234) #

(assembly constituency no. 234), # Balarampur (ST) (assembly constituency no. 235), # Joypur (assembly constituency no. 238), #

(assembly constituency no. 239), # Para (SC) (assembly constituency no. 240), # Raghunathpur (SC) (assembly constituency no. 241), # Kashipur (ST) (assembly constituency no. 242) # Bagmundi Vidhan Sabha Para constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Banduan, Manbazar, Balarampur, Arsa, Jhalda, Jaipur and Purulia constituencies formed the

Purulia (Lok Sabha constituency) Purulia Lok Sabha constituency is one of the present 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal state in eastern India. India has total 543 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies. All the seven assembly segments of No. 35 Purulia Lok Sabha con ...

. Para, Raghunathpur, Kashipur and Hura were assembly segments of

Bankura (Lok Sabha constituency) Bankura Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. While six assembly segments of No. 36 Bankura Lok Sabha constituency are in Bankura district, one assembly segment is in Purulia district. Assembly segment ...

, which also contained three assembly segments from

Bankura district Bankura district (Pron: bãkuɽa) is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. Bankura district is surrounded by Purba Bardhaman distr ...

Impact of delimitation of constituencies

As per order of the

Delimitation Commission The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...

in respect of the

delimitation of constituencies Boundary delimitation (or simply delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries, particularly of electoral precincts, states, counties or other municipalities.Bandwan (ST) (assembly constituency no. 234) # Balarampur (assembly constituency no. 239), #

(assembly constituency no. 240), # Joypur (assembly constituency no. 241), #

(assembly constituency no. 242), # Manbazar (ST) (assembly constituency no. 243), # Kashipur (assembly constituency no. 244), # Para (SC) (assembly constituency no. 245) and # Raghunathpur (SC) (assembly constituency no. 246). 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) Jhargram Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Jhargram in West Bengal. The seat is reserved for scheduled tribes. Four of the seven assembly segments of No. 33 Jhargram Lok ...

, which also contains six assembly segments from

Paschim Medinipur district Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district (also known as Midnapore West) is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the Partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur and Purba M ...

. Balarampur, Baghmundi, Jaipur, Purulia, Manbazar, Kashipur and Para constituencies will form the

. Raghunathpur assembly segment is part of

, which also contains six assembly segments from Bankura district.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Purulia district has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...

of 2,930,115, roughly equal to the nation of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

or the US state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. 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 The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species dev ...

of 955

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

of 65.38%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 19.37% and 18.45% respectively.

Religion

The district has a population of 2,538,233. The literacy rates of male and female are 74.18% and 37.15% of the total population.

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 Adra railway division is one of the four railway divisions under South Eastern Railway zone of Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 14 April 1961 and its headquarter is located at Adra town in Purulia district in the state of W ...

, 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 Neamatpur is a neighbourhood in Asansol of Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is governed by Asansol Municipal Corporation Geography Location Neamatpur is located at . Asansol is composed of undulating laterite ...

and

Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim B ...

. Purulia has excellent road connectivity with Raniganj-Asansol industrial belt.

South Bengal State Transport Corporation South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) is a West Bengal state government undertaken transport corporation. It plys buses in South Bengal and other parts of West Bengal to Durgapur and Kolkata. SBSTC owns many depots in West Bengal to ...

runs 4 buses from Purulia to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

via State Highway 5 thus connecting towns and cities like Raghunathpur, Adra, Neturia to the industrial belt of

, 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 Orrisa 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 got a distinct folk culture of Jhumur, Tusu, Bhadu songs. It is also the birthplace of a martial dance of Bengal Chhau.

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 Joychandi Pahar is a hill which is a popular tourist attraction in the Indian state of West Bengal in Purulia district. It is two kilometres from the subdivisional town of Raghunathpur and four kilometres from Adra town. The hill is situated 2 ...

, picnic spots like Baranti, Duarsini, Doladanga, Jamuna, traditional folk dance and culture like Chhou Dance and

Jhumur Jhumair or Jhumar is an Indian folk dance from the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal. It is folk dance of Sadan, the Indo-Aryan ethnic groups of Chotanagpur. It is mainly performed during harvest season. T ...

Song.

Notable people

* Nepal Mahato, chhau artiste, He was awarded Padmashree in 1983. * Ajitesh Bandopadhyay, Bengali actor, playwright, activist and director * Atul Chandra Ghosh, Indian freedom fighter *

Basudeb Acharia Basudeb Acharia (11 July 1942 – 13 November 2023) was an Indian Bengali-Tamil politician and a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) political party. His ancestors were originally from Present-day Tamil Nadu, who settled in Bengal ...

, politician * Gambhir Singh Mura, Indian tribal dancer known for his contributions to the tribal martial dance of Chhau * Labanya Prabha Ghosh, Indian freedom fighter *

Mabinul Haq Mabinul Haq is an Indian writer from West Bengal who won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize in 2018. Biography Though Haq was born and raised in Purulia. He lives in Murshidabad. He translates books into Bangla. He translated Saadat Hasan Man ...

, Sahitya Akademi Award for Bengali Translation winning Bengali writer * Mihir Sen, first Indian to swim the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958 *

Pinki Pramanik Pinki Pramanik (born 10 April 1986 in Purulia) is an Indian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres and 800 metres. Pramanik had success with the national 4×400 metres relay team, winning silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Game ...

, an Indian track and field athlete winning silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, gold at the 2006 Asian Games, and gold at the 2005 Asian Indoor Games *

Shyam Sundar Besra Shyam Sundar Besra is an Indian writer of Santali and Hindi. He is also a civil servant from West Bengal. He won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 2018. His pen name is Jiwirarec. Personal life Besra was born on 12 February 1961 in Ram ...

, Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer of Santali and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Language

References

External links

Purulia district official websitePurulia image gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purulia District Districts of West Bengal 1956 establishments in West Bengal 9th-century Jain temples