Purulia

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?Purulia West Bengal • India
Purulia
Coordinates: 23°11′N 86°13′E / 23.19, 86.22
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
District(s)	Purulia
Chairman
Codes • Telephone	• +91 (0)3252
Website: purulia.gov.in/egov/egov_initiative.html

Coordinates: 23°11′N 86°13′E / 23.19, 86.22

Purulia(Bengali: পুরুলিয়া) (also spelled Puruliya) is a town located in West Bengal state, India. It is the location of the district headquarters of Purulia district. Purulia is located on the north of the Kasai river and is a major road and railway junction. Purulia municipality was constituted in 1876.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 Transport
5 Politics
6 External links
7 References
8 See also

[edit] Geography

Puruliya is located at 23.33° N 86.37° E^[1]. It has an average elevation of 228 metres (748 feet).

[edit] Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[2], Puruliya had a population of 113,766. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48% ,. Puruliya has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 60%, one of the highest literacy rate in India. In Puruliya, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

[edit] History

Further information: Purulia arms drop case

Purulia entered the news in December 1995, when a Latvian aircraft dropped a large consignment of arms into its vicinity. Several days later, when the plane re-entered Indian airspace, it was intercepted by the MiG21 Indian Air force Jet planes, and its crew were captured. It was believed that the arms were intended for the Hindu cult Anand Marg ("Happy Path"), but proof of this could not be established. The crew of the aircraft consisted of five Latvian citizens and Peter Bleach, a British citizen. They were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. Following the intervention of Russian authorities, the Latvian crew (ethnic Russians) were later pardoned and released in 2000.

Purulia is also famous for the prestigious institution named Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith. This is a residential school for boys with the calm environment of ancient gurukul system which was the ideology of Swami Vivekananda. Purulia also has famous Sainik School on Ranchi Road. Another Residential School is GRK DAV based on the ideologies of Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayananda.

[edit] Transport

Puruliya railway station

Puruliya has one of the best railway stations in West Bengal. Most of the long distance trains stop here. From Puruliya, one can go to Delhi (via Bokaro Steel City), to Orissa (via Kharagpur) or to Asansol or Chakradharpur.

[edit] Politics

Nikhil Mukherjee of CPI(M) won the Purulia assembly seat in 2006 and 2001 defeating Dr. Sukumar Roy of INC and Kamakshya Prasad Singhdeo of AITC respectively. Mamata Mukherjee of CPI(M) won the seat in 1996, 1991 and 1987 defeating Dr. Sukumar Roy of INC. Dr. Sukumar Roy representing ICS defeated Mahadeb Mukherjee of CPI(M) in 1982. Mahadeb Mukherjee of CPI(M) defeated Sanat Kumar Mukherjee, Independent, in 1977.^[3]

Bir Singh Mahato of AIFB has won the Purulia (Lok Sabha constituency) four times in a row from 1996 – 2004. ^[4]