Nanoor | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Way to Chandidas bhita at Nanoor | |
  Nanoor Location in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Nanoor Nanoor (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:23°42′N87°52′E / 23.70°N 87.86°E /23.70; 87.86 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | Birbhum |
| Government | |
| • MLA | Joydev Hazra |
| Elevation | 24 m (79 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 8,311 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali,English |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 731301 |
| Telephone/STD code | 91 3463 |
| Sex ratio | 958♂/♀ |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Bolpur |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Nanoor |
| Website | birbhum |
Nanoor (also spelt Nanur, called Chandidas Nanoor), is a village inNanoorCD block inBolpur subdivision ofBirbhum district inWest Bengal. Nanoor is the birthplace of 14th century lyric poetChandidas ofVaishnava Padavali fame.[1][2] It is developing as a craft centre withNGO support. With the massacres in 2000, Nanoor was in intense media focus.
The archaeological department ofCalcutta University organised an excavation programme in Nanoor in 1932 and 1957 but nothing much has happened since then.[3] The archaeological discoveries at Jalundi village inNanoor block in 2007 are believed to be the ruins of the ancientPala orSen dynasties.[4]
According to the historianBinoy Ghosh, there were at least three poets associated with the name ofChandidas. They were identified as ‘Baru’, ‘Dwija’ and ‘Din’. Baru Chandidas possibly belonged toChhatna in Bankura district and he composedSrikrishnakirtan. Not much is known about Din Chandidas, except that he also composed on the life ofSri Krishna. Dwija Chandidas possibly belonged to Nanoor and composed lyrically rich creations initiating the finest traditions of Bengalipadavali (gathering of songs). The Nanoor-Kirnahar area is full of folk-myths about Chandidas – the story of his love for a washer woman, the story of his religious devotion and music and the story of his death.[5]
The temple of Bisalakhi or Bagisree (more popular as Basuli) is believed to have been the centre of the devotional activity of Chandidas. The place at Nanoor where the Basuli temple (see pic lower down on this page) now stands and the surrounding area resembling a mound is called Chandibhita (see pic in the infobox). An effort was made by the University of Calcutta to understand what is there in the mound by excavating a small section of it. In the “Excavations at Nanoor by K.G.Goswami, March 1950”, the report says that in the mound, with a radius of around 550 feet and height of 17 feet, there are five occupational levels. The lowest of these levels belong to theGupta era. At another place in Nanoor, some coins of the Gupta era were recovered. During and prior to the Gupta era, Buddhism had a strong hold over Bengal and earlytantric practices prevailed.[5]
Chandidas lived about 500 years ago, just around or a little prior to the arrival of Muslims in Bengal. By then the poetJaydeva had already composed theGita Govinda (see map below for location of Jayadev Kenduli). It is natural that such an age could produce atantric devoted to his goddess, who could indulge in composingSahajiya lyrics and propagate the merits of humanism. His compositions were a possible source of inspiration forSri Chaitanya (1486-1534).[5]
There are claims that Chandidas originally belonged toKetugram, in neighbouring Purba Bardhaman district, and later came to Nanoor.[6]
Nanoor is located at23°42′N87°52′E / 23.70°N 87.86°E /23.70; 87.86. It has an average elevation of 24 metres (79 ft).[7]
It is 47 km fromSuri, 18 km fromBolpur/Santiniketan and 29 km fromAhmedpur.[1][2]
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.
As per historical records there have been at least 13 intensive droughts between the years 1799 and 1855. The drought of 1836-37 was particularly severe.[8]
Nanoor police station has jurisdiction overNanoor CD block.[9][10]
The headquarters of Nanoor CD block are located at Nanoor.[11]
As per the2011 Census of India, Chandidas Nanur had a total population of 8,399 of which 4,268 (51%) were males and 4,131 (49%) were females. Population below 6 years was 977. The total number of literates in Chandidas Nanur was 5,409 (72.88% of the population over 6 years).[12]
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On 27 July 2000,CPI(M) activists allegedly killed 11 landless agricultural labourers in Suchpur, near Nanoor and under Nanoor police station.[13][14][15]
The prime witness to the Nanoor killings was injured in an attack allegedly by CPI-M activists.[16]
The Nanoor area has continued to be turbulent.[17] On the basis of a FIR (first information report) lodged with the police against CPI(M) men, the police made arrests and in August 2001 they submitted charge sheets against 82 accused. The trial started in 2000 and continued for eight years.[18][19]
The session court delivered verdict on Nanoor Massacre case in 2010, when 44 persons were convicted and sentenced to Life Imprisonment. Out of the 44, four were CPI(M) members.[20][21]
Nanoor Chandidas Memorial High School is a Bengali-medium co-educational institution established in 1937. It has arrangements for teaching from Class V to XII.[22]
Chandidas Mahavidyalaya was established atKhujutipara in 1972.[23]
There is a temple dedicated to Devi Basuli at Nanoor.[1] TheNavaratna temple at Brahmandihi,Kirnahar Vadrokali Tala Temple ,Parota Mahaprabhu Tala Temple and the Chand Roy temple and four Shiva temples at Uchkaran are amongst the temples under the protection of the state archaeological department.[24] In 2001, the invaluable and rare black-stone Saraswati idol went missing from the Bishalakshmi temple.[25]
David J. McCutchion mentions several temples in the Nanoor area:
(1) theShiva temple at Thupsara built in 1833 as a standard (small) tightly ridged earlyrekha deul of Birbhum-Bardhaman type withterracotta carvings on three sides,
(2) the Jora Shiva temples at Serandi built in 1830 as a late wide ridging (banded) rekha deul with terracotta carvings,
(3) the four Shiva temples at Uchkaron built in 1769 as standard smallchar chala structures with rich terracotta facades,
(4) the small decorated char chala Shiva temples at Nanoor,
(5) the Jora Shiva temple at Nanoor as a standard ‘Hooghly-Burdwan’ 18th century or earlier smallat chala structures,
(6) theVishnu temple at Serandi built in mid 19th century as anavaratna with turrets arranged without an upper storey and with porches on triple archways with terracotta façade, and
(7) the renovated Chand Raya (1768) temple at Uchkaran as a small flat roofed or Chandni type structure with traditional pillars and terracotta decoration.[26]
Nanoor Rural Hospital with 30 beds is the main medical facility in Nanoor CD block. There areprimary health centres at Banagram,Khujutipara andKirnahar.[27][28][29]
Nanoor travel guide from Wikivoyage
