Bolpur | |
|---|---|
City andMunicipality | |
 Khoai Road | |
  Bolpur Location in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Bolpur Bolpur (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:23°40′N87°43′E / 23.67°N 87.72°E /23.67; 87.72 | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  West Bengal |
| District | Birbhum |
| Subdivision | Bolpur subdivision |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Body |
|
| • Chairperson | Parna Ghosh |
| Area | |
• City andMunicipality | 33.45 km2 (12.92 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 106.28 km2 (41.03 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 58 m (190 ft) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• City andMunicipality | 112,591 |
| • Density | 3,366/km2 (8,718/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Bolpurbashi or Santiniketanbashi |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali |
| • Additional official | English |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 731204 (Bolpur) 731235 (Santiniketan) 731236 (Sriniketan) |
| Telephone/STD code | 03463 (Bolpur Telephone Exchange) |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-WB |
| Vehicle registration | Bolpur RTO
|
| Railway Station(s) | Bolpur Shantiniketan railway station (BHP) Prantik railway station (PNE) |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Bolpur |
| •MP | Asit Kumar Mal |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Bolpur,Nanoor |
| •MLA | Chandranath Singha |
| Website | bolpur-santiniketan bolpurmunicipality santiniketan |
Bolpur is acity and amunicipality inBirbhum district in the state ofWest Bengal,India. It is the headquarters of theBolpur subdivision. Bolpur municipal area includesSantiniketan. The city is known as a cultural and educational hub of West Bengal. The city is under the jurisdiction of Bolpur and Santiniketan Police station. Bolpur is the largest and most populous city inBirbhum district and 28th most populous city in West Bengal. Located on the banks ofAjay River andKopai River, Bolpur has been one of the major human settlements. It is 150 km north ofKolkata and is famous forVisva Bharati, theUniversity set up by theNobel laureate poetRabindranath Tagore.
There is a mythical story that says thatSupur was the capital ofRaja Surath. He lost his kingdom when he had gone out for conquests, but regained the same with the blessings of goddessBhavani. In his worship of gratitude, Raja Surath organised the sacrificial slaughtering of onelakh goats. As a result, the name of place where the sacrificial offerings were made became ‘Bolipur’ – with time it became Bolpur.[3]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
About 150 years ago, Bolpur was a small village under Supur Porgana. Kalikapur a known place of Bolpur was the origin of the typical village in past. There were no rail lines, no developed roads. Paddy land were seen around the village. "Lalmati" (red soil) was found everywhere. Many villages named Sian, Dihipara, Khoskadampur, Paruldanga, Goalpara, Ballavpur, Bandhgara, Surul, Supur, Raipur were the boundary line around Bolpur.
East India company established the first railway line in 1859, when the Sahebganj loopline was extended beyond the river Ajay. Bolpur railway station was established in 1860. Along with this, court, police station, sub registry office, etc., were established in old Bolpur. Then people started residing here. Christian missionaries came; they founded a church that was known as Mission compound. Paddy storage house, stationary shops, grocery shops, garment shops etc. were on the east side near Bolpur railway station. About 19 husking machines were here at that time.
MaharshiDebendranath Tagore established a centre of religious mediation in Bolpur.Rabindranath Tagore established Visva Bharati Viswavidyalaya in 1921. These were the main reasons for the huge extension, development and popularity of Bolpur.
Provincial names proved the upcoming gradual development of Bolpur. Kachharipatti is just beside court house, Trishulapatti is the commercial paddy trading centre. Kalibaroarytala was the service place for Bolpur set up by some initiative people. Netaji made a conference. Here Harisava stood against "Bramhopasana". Every week these two conferences were held in Bolpur. Bijaykrishna Ghoswami, Shivnath Shastri, Shasibhusan Basu and others gave religious advice. Beside this, prayer committee was set up.
Bolpur is located at23°40′N87°43′E / 23.67°N 87.72°E /23.67; 87.72.
Bolpur covered an area of 35.94 km2 (13.88 sq mi).[4]
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the area. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
In the map of Bolpur-Sriniketan CD block on page 718 ofDistrict Census Handbook Birbhum (Part A), while the area covered byShantiniketan is shown as a part of Bolpur,Sriniketan is shown as a part ofSurul, acensus town.
Bolpur police station has jurisdiction overBolpur Sriniketan community development block.[5][6]
The climate ofShantiniketan is moderately warm, with summer temperatures at around 35-42 °C (maximum) and winter at 7-15 °C (minimum). Summer is felt for three months, March, April and May. December, January and February are the winter months. June, July, August and September see heavy rainfall, these four months are known as monsoon (rainy season) with dry humid. Shantiniketan saw its highest temperature rising 47.0 °C, on 10 June 1966. The lowest temperature ever recorded is 4.9 °C, on 9 January 2013 (see the weather box below). The annual average temperature is 26.2 °C. About 1480mm of rain falls per year, with 76 days seeing the rain.The area is classified as an "Aw" (tropical savanna climate) under theKöppen Climate Classification.
Climate data forSantiniketan (Sriniketan) (1991–2020, extremes 1961–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 33.0 (91.4) | 37.0 (98.6) | 42.0 (107.6) | 45.9 (114.6) | 46.6 (115.9) | 47.0 (116.6) | 41.6 (106.9) | 36.8 (98.2) | 39.1 (102.4) | 37.1 (98.8) | 34.2 (93.6) | 31.8 (89.2) | 47.0 (116.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 24.7 (76.5) | 28.5 (83.3) | 33.6 (92.5) | 36.5 (97.7) | 36.7 (98.1) | 35.4 (95.7) | 33.1 (91.6) | 32.8 (91.0) | 32.8 (91.0) | 31.9 (89.4) | 29.7 (85.5) | 26.1 (79.0) | 31.8 (89.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) | 14.6 (58.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 23.5 (74.3) | 25.1 (77.2) | 26.1 (79.0) | 26.1 (79.0) | 26.1 (79.0) | 25.5 (77.9) | 22.5 (72.5) | 17.3 (63.1) | 12.7 (54.9) | 20.8 (69.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 4.9 (40.8) | 6.0 (42.8) | 11.2 (52.2) | 14.6 (58.3) | 18.1 (64.6) | 18.7 (65.7) | 20.0 (68.0) | 22.4 (72.3) | 17.7 (63.9) | 15.6 (60.1) | 9.7 (49.5) | 6.1 (43.0) | 4.9 (40.8) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 12.6 (0.50) | 20.2 (0.80) | 28.4 (1.12) | 53.9 (2.12) | 113.1 (4.45) | 216.2 (8.51) | 341.9 (13.46) | 290.7 (11.44) | 258.4 (10.17) | 102.9 (4.05) | 5.9 (0.23) | 8.6 (0.34) | 1,452.7 (57.19) |
| Average rainy days | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 6.3 | 11.2 | 15.6 | 14.5 | 11.3 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 73.3 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at 17:30IST) | 60 | 52 | 45 | 50 | 59 | 73 | 82 | 82 | 83 | 80 | 70 | 65 | 67 |
| Source:India Meteorological Department[7][8][9] | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 13,856 | — |
| 1951 | 14,802 | +6.8% |
| 1961 | 23,355 | +57.8% |
| 1971 | 29,696 | +27.2% |
| 1981 | 38,436 | +29.4% |
| 1991 | 52,760 | +37.3% |
| 2001 | 65,693 | +24.5% |
| 2011 | 80,210 | +22.1% |
| Source: District Census Handbook Birbhum, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A[citation needed] | ||
As per the2011 Census of India, Bolpur had a total population of 80,210, of which 40,468 (50%) were males and 39,742 (50%) were females. Population in the age range of 0–6 years was 6,852. The total number of literates in Bolpur was 63,656 (86.77% of the population 7 years and over).[10]
According to Census of India 2011,Hinduism is the predominant religion in Bolpur, followed by 89.77% of the population. It is followed byIslam with 9.68% adherents. Other religions likeChristianity,Jainism,Sikhism andBuddhism are followed by less than 1% of the population.[11]
Bolpur municipality is divided into 22 wards. Until 2010, theIndian National Congress was in power in it. In the 2010 municipal elections, the municipality faced a hung verdict. Later, theTrinamool Congress with nine councillors, formed the board by taking the support of eight Congress councillors. This board officially ended its term on 2020, but due toCOVID-19 pandemic, municipal election is on hold for this municipality. An Interim Administrative board is on charge of Bolpur municipality, Parna Ghosh is the currentChairperson of the municipal board.[12] Former Loksabha Speaker LateSomnath Chatterjee had been an elected parliamentarian from 1985 till 2009 from Bolpur constituency. He was preceded by LateSaradish Roy another veteran parliamentarian fromCommunist Party of India (Marxist).
| This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Bolpur Shantiniketan railway station (BHP) is the major railway station underHowrah Division ofEastern Railway (ER). The station is well connected to the major cities, specially state capitalKolkata. Apart fromWest Bengal, the station connected to cities of other states likeGuwahati,Dibrugarh,Agartala,Bhubaneswar,Visakhapatnam,Bangalore,Hyderabad andMumbai.
Another railway station in the city isPrantik railway station (PNE) which is the next station of Bolpur Shantiniketan. Some local passenger and express trains give a stop in this station.
Bolpur is connected to all important cities by roadways.National Highway 114 (old numbering NH 2B) pass through Bolpur. The highway runs fromNH 14 (old numbering NH 60) at Mallarpur toNH 19 (old numbering NH 2) atBurdwan. This highway connects Bolpur withBurdwan (60 km) andKolkata (160 km).SH 14 orMorgram - Panagarh highway passes through 15 km away from Bolpur atIllambazar, and junction withNH 19 atPanagarh (40 km). This route connects Bolpur withDurgapur (54 km),Asansol (97 km),Maithon (120 km) andDhanbad (160 km). Bolpur-Suri road connects Bolpur with district headquarter Suri (35 km) and the road crossNH 14 at Suri. After crossing, the road goes towardsMassanjore (70 km),Dumka (98 km),Deoghar (165 km). Distance from Bolpur toBerhampore viaNanoor is 100 km, andKatwa viaNutanhat is 54 km.
Bolpur is connected throughWBTC,SBSTC and private bus services. Private cab services are also available.
Bolpur has no airport of its own. The nearest airport from Bolpur isKazi Nazrul Islam Airport located 70 km away inAndal,Durgapur. The nearest international airport isNetaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) located 160 km away inDum Dum (Kolkata).
 | This sectionmay containunverified orindiscriminate information inembedded lists. Please helpclean up the lists by removing items or incorporating them into the text of the article.(July 2024) |
Bolpur Subdivisional Hospital has 520 beds.[21] Bolpur Block Primary Health Centre at Bolpur, servingBolpur Sriniketan community development block, has 60 beds.[22]
Pathyasathi Ayurveda Sonajhuri, Santiniketan has 30 beds,an ayurvedic hospital in collaboration with Dhanwanthari Vaidyasala. The later is recognized as one of the oldest houses of Ayurveda in Kerala.[citation needed]
•Ballabhpur Wildlife Sanctuary & Deer Park (Santiniketan)
Santiniketan travel guide from Wikivoyage| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
