Sonamukhi is a town and a municipality in the

Bishnupur subdivision Bishnupur subdivision is a subdivision of the Bankura district in the state of West Bengal, India. Subdivisions Bankura district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions: Bishnupur subdivision has a density of population of 5 ...

of the

Bankura district Bankura district (Pron: bãkuɽa) is an District#India, administrative unit in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur division—one of the five Divisions of West Bengal, administrative divisi ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. It is famous for its Silk Saari and also Kali and Karthik puja .

Geography

Location

Sonamukhi is located at . It has an average elevation of . Sonamukhi Babupara Rashtola west bengal

Area overview

The map alongside shows the Bishnupur subdivision of Bankura district. Physiographically, this area has fertile low lying

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

plains. It is a predominantly rural area with 90.06% of the population living in rural areas and only 8.94% living in the urban areas. It was a part of the core area of

Mallabhum Mallabhum (The country originally known as Mallabhoom or Mallabani or Bishnupur kingdom) was the kingdom ruled by the Malla kings of Bishnupur, primarily in the present Bankura district in Indian state of West Bengal. History Territory of th ...

. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

History

Sonamukhi is a town of religious importance. There are many old temples throughout the town and a Mosque near Sonamukhi police station. Sonamukhi is the birthplace of Haranath Thakur and ''KusumKumari Devi''. Sonamukhi also famous for temples made by terracotta art. one can find many temples showing a great form of terracotta, like Sridhar temple. They are the reincarnation of Gouranga also known as

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; ), born Vishvambhara Mishra () (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindus, Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bha ...

. This place is considered equal importance among devotees as that of places like

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj, Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance for Hindus who believe that Krishna, one of ...

and

Nabadwip Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, historically known as Nadia, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Located on the wes ...

respective birthplace of Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This place is also noted for ancient Godashiv puja, which is located on Godashivtala (Satyapirtala). Besides the temple of " Kusumharanath" there other temples such as ''Manohar Das Thakur'' etc. Adjacent to the temple of Kusumharanath there is ''Ananta Kunda'' which water is sacred.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Sonamukhi had a population of 29,085. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Sonamukhi has an average literacy rate of 86.25%, higher than state average of 76.26%.: male literacy is 92.22%, and female literacy is 79.90%. In Sonamukhi, 8.21% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Civic administration

Police station

Sonamukhi police station has jurisdiction over Sonamukhi municipality and

Sonamukhi Sonamukhi is a town and a municipality in the Bishnupur subdivision of the Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is famous for its Silk Saari and also Kali and Karthik puja . Geography Location Sonamukhi is located at . It h ...

CD block. The area covered is 380 km² with a population of 142,305.

CD block HQ

The headquarters of

CD block are located at Sonamukhi.

Transport

In September 2005, South Eastern Railway began passenger services on the Bankura-Sonamukhi broad gauge section, being the first phase of the Bankura-Damodar River Railway project. BDR project reduced the distance from Bankura to

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

via

Masagram Masagram is a village in Ajhapur gram panchayat of Jamalpur CD block in Bardhaman Sadar South subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Masagram is located at . It is located near the ba ...

, providing alternate connectivity to Howrah through Eastern Railway via Howrah–Bardhaman chord. Work up to Masagram including

Sonamukhi railway station Sonamukhi railway station is a railway station of Bankura–Masagram line under the Adra railway division of South Eastern Railway zone. It is situated beside Bishnupur, Bankura, Bishnupur–Sonamukhi Road at Sonamukhi in Bankura district in th ...

is completed and inaugurated on 16 April 2013. State Highway 8 running from Santaldih (in Purulia district) to Majhdia (in Nadia district) passes through Sonamukhi.

Education

Sonamukhi College was established in 1966. Affiliated with

Bankura University Bankura University is a public state university in Bankura, West Bengal, India. It was established by an Act of the West Bengal legislature notified in the Kolkata Gazette. It offers courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. History ...

, it offers honours courses in Bengali, Sanskrit, English, political science, history, philosophy, economics, geography, accountancy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, botany, zoology, computer science and general courses in arts, science and commerce. Sonamukhi BJ High School is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1887. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. The school has 13 computers, a library with 1,100 books and a playground. Sonamukhi Girls High School is a Bengali-medium girls only institution established in 1887. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. The school has 13 computers, a library with 435 books and a playground. Sonamukhi BC Boys High School is a Bengali-medium boys only institution established in 1962. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. The school has a library with 2,359 books. The famous Primary school here is the Kumarbrata Memorial KG School. Which has produced many students who won state and national awards.

Healthcare

Sonamukhi Rural Hospital, with 30 beds at Sonamukhi, is the major government medical facility in the Sonamukhi CD block. There are primary health centres at Dhulai (Gopikantapur) (with 6 beds), Panchal (with 6 beds), Kundu Pushkarini (with 10 beds) and Sitaljhore (with 6 beds).

References

External links

Map of Bankura district
{{Bankura topics Cities and towns in Bankura district Cities in West Bengal