Para | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Para Location in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Para Para (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:23°31′N86°31′E / 23.52°N 86.52°E /23.52; 86.52 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | West Bengal |
| District | Purulia |
| Subdivision | Raghunathpur |
| Government | |
| • Body | Gram panchayat |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Bengali,English |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-WB |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Purulia |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Para |
| Website | wb |
Para is a village, with a police station, in theParaCD block in theRaghunathpur subdivision of thePurulia district inWest Bengal, India.
Para is located at23°31′N86°31′E / 23.52°N 86.52°E /23.52; 86.52.
Purulia district forms the lowest step of theChota Nagpur Plateau. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills.[1]Raghunathpur subdivision occupies the northern part of the district. 83.80% of the population of the subdivision lives in rural areas. However, there are pockets of urbanization and 16.20% of the population lives in urban areas. There are 14 census towns in the subdivision.[2] It is presented in the map given alongside. There is a coal mining area aroundParbelia[3] and two thermal power plants are there – the 500 MWSantaldih Thermal Power Station[4] and the 1200 MWRaghunathpur Thermal Power Station. The subdivision has a rich heritage of old temples, some of them belonging to the 11th century or earlier. TheBanda Deul is amonument of national importance.[5][6] The comparatively more recent in historical terms, Panchkot Raj has interesting and intriguing remains in the area.[7][8]
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.
According to the2011 Census of India Para had a total population of 9,697 of which 5,031 (52%) were males and 4,666 (48%) were females. There were 1,158 persons in the age range of 0–6 years. The total number of literate persons in Para was 5,453 (63,86% of the population over 6 years).[9]
Para police station, along withSantaldih police station, has jurisdiction over thePara CD block. The area covered is 270.59 km2 and the population covered is 200,621.[10][11]
The headquarters of the Para CD block are located at Para.[12][13]
Santaldih College was established in 2008 atUsir, PO Chatarmahul.[14]
Para Shib Narayan High School is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1916. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. It has a play ground and 2,500 books in the library.[15]
There are three dilapidated templeNumerous statues related to Jainism and Hinduism have been found atHaraktor.[16]
David J. McCutchion says that the pre-dominant traditional architectural style for temples in the western areas of Bengal in the pre-Muslim period is the tall curvilinear rekha deul and it went on developing from the late 7th century or early 8th century to around the 12th century, increasing its complexity and height but retaining its basic features. Such temples had “curvilinearshikhara withchaitya mesh decoration, surmounted by a largeamalaka andkalasafinial. Examples of such dilapidated deulas are still standing atSatdeula (in Bardhaman),Bahulara andSonatapal (in Bankura) andDeulghat (in Purulia). On the brick deulas already mentioned here, plusJatar (in 24 Parganas) and Para (in Purulia), “we find extensive and remarkably finestucco work on carved brick”.[17]
Para Block Primary Health Centre, with 30 beds, is a major government medical facility in the Para CD block.[18]
Media related toPara, Purulia at Wikimedia Commons
