Berhampore, West Bengal

Berhampore
Baharampur
Metropolitan city / urban agglomeration
Berhampore montage
Berhampore
Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates: 24°06′N 88°15′E / 24.1°N 88.25°E / 24.1; 88.25Coordinates: 24°06′N 88°15′E / 24.1°N 88.25°E / 24.1; 88.25
Country  India
State West Bengal
District Murshidabad
Area rank 7th
Elevation 18 m (59 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 305,609
Languages
 • Official Bengali, English
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 742101, 742102, 742103
Telephone code 91-3482-2xxxxx
Vehicle registration WB57, WB58
Lok Sabha constituency Murshidabad
Vidhan Sabha constituency Murshidabad
Website berhamporemunicipality.org

Berhampore (pronounced [bɑ:(h)ərəmˌpʊə]) is a city in the state of West Bengal, India,in Murshidabad district situated in the central part of the state. As of the 2011 census,[1] it had a population of 305,609 and was the seventh largest city in West Bengal (after Kolkata, Asansol, Siliguri, Durgapur, Barddhaman and Malda ). In 2011, Berhampore was nominated to become a municipal corporation. It used to be known as Brahmapur because many of the Brahmin families settled here. Berhampore is the administrative headquarters of the Murshidabad district. It is located about 200 km (124 mi) from Kolkata, the state capital.

History

Fort at Berhampore, c. 1850

Berhampore was fortified in 1757 by the East India Company, after the Battle of Plassey in June 1757, and it continued as a cantonment until 1870. But the foundation of the city of Berhampore remains questionable.

Karnasubarna, which is very near to Berhampore, has a history dating back to 600 AD. Many buildings from the late 1600s can still be seen. The cantonment was constituted as a municipality in 1876 and was the headquarters of Murshidabad district. The Berhampore College was founded in 1853 and in 1888 made over to a local committee, mainly supported by Rani Swarnamayi.

On 25 February 1857, the first major armed battle of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 took place in Barrack Square, Berhampore,[2] while Berhampore was ruled by Raja Krishnath and his ancestors. In 1901, Berhampore had a population of 24,397, and included the ancient town of Kasim Bazar.[3]

Geography

Berhampore is located at 24°06′N 88°15′E / 24.1°N 88.25°E / 24.1; 88.25.[4] It has an average elevation of 18 metres (59 feet).

The city is located approximately 200 km north of Kolkata by road at 24°4′N 88°9′E / 24.067°N 88.150°E / 24.067; 88.150 and is situated on the eastern side of the Bhagirathi River, a major distributary of the Ganges.

Police station

Berhampore police station has jurisdiction over Berhampore municipal area and a part of Berhampore CD Block.[5]

Demographics

In the 2011 census, Berhampore Urban Agglomeration had a population of 305,609, out of which 156,489 were males and 149,120 were females. The 0–6 years population was 23,182. Effective literacy rate for the 7+ population was 88.38.[1]

As of 2001 Indian census,[6] Berhampore had a population of 160,168. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Berhampore has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, with 53% of the males and 47% of females literate. 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Economics

Initially, most of the residents of this city were government employees and there were few agricultural as well as silk traders. Gradually, the importance of the city increased due to its geographic location and now it is also a business hub. Due to its historical importance, this city also earns a good number of tourists, thus making tourism another prominent industry there.

Khagras major industries include agricultural related industries like rice and oil-seed milling. Home-crafts like silk weaving, ivory carving, and precious metal working are another important industry in this city. Khagra, a neighbourhood in Bahrampur is renowned for its manufacture of bell-metal and brass utensils, as well as ivory, and wood carving.[7][8] A famous type of metal used to make bells called "Khagrai Kansha" is made in the city. This is a type of brass that is used to make utensils like dishes & bowls.

The city has many big shops which now have become the prime shopping destinations. Express Bazaar, situated at the Mohana Bus Stand- the prime junction of the city is one of them. Style Baazar, Baazar Kolkata, Reliance Trends, Manmohini, Sunita, Metro Bazar are some famous shops at Khagra- another prime market area of the city.

The only "Inox" of the town is Silverscreen multiplex which is located near Berhampore Court railway station. Tickets of this multiplex are available from bookmyshow.com.

Berhampore is famous for the sweet chhanabora, the savoury khaja, and the sweet manohara. It is also known for Murshidabad silk (tassar).

Kalika is being used in most of the sweet shops, goldsmiths' shops and many other small scale industries. The name Kalika is the Goddess Kali.

Arts and culture

Having patronage from the Nawabs, artists from various field of arts sowed the seed of cultural heritage in this place. The calm lifestyle of this city still evokes a rich cultural environment. Almost all well-to-do parents send their children to at least one school of art. Among them, dancing, acting, painting, and music are the most popular.

Elegant pieces of hand-craft arts can also be found in this region, namely the handcraft in making of carpet, bamboo and jute crafts, and miniature paintings.

This city can be considered as one of the main cultural hubs of West Bengal. 'Rabindra Sadan' named after Bengal's very own Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore is the place where most of the indoor cultural activities take place.

Renowned theatre groups like Berhampore Repertory Theater, Rangasram, Chhandik, and Prantik are based out of this town. These groups organize theatre festivals throughout the year mostly during the winter season. These festivals allow the culturally rich people from the city, nearby towns and villages to witness the great performances from different theatre groups from all over the state, different states and even groups from across the border of Bangladesh. A relatively new theater group, Berhampore Gangchil, has started their own productions focusing on junior school students.

Education

Among the government aided high schools for boys, Krishnath College School, Berhampore, Berhampore J.N. Academy, Iswar Chandra Institutions (ICI), Gurudas Tarasundari Institution (GTI), and Manindra Chandra Vidyapith (MCV) are the most popular ones.

The high school for girls include Maharani Kasiswari Vidyalaya, Mahakali Pathshala, Shrish Chandra Vidyapith, and Lipika Memorial Girl's High school.

All the above-mentioned schools are affiliated to State Bengal Board and are Bengali medium schools.

There are also private schools like Mary Immaculate School, Prabharani, Gitaram Academy, Viddyottam Public School (under affiliation process) which are affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education or Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations are English medium schools.

The city also has a Kendriya Vidyalaya.

Colleges

  • Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute is a research station conducted by the Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, established at Berhampore in 1943. It conducts a regular post-graduate course in sericulture and tailor-made courses.[17]
  • Monarch College of Art and Technology is a private college at Berhampore offering courses in animation film making and ceramic design.[18]
  • Prabharani Public School was established on the outskirts of Berhampore in 2003. The school is part of Kalyan Bharti Trust, which has Bengali medium schools, B.Ed colleges along with this CBSE school.[19]
  • Union Christian Training College was established at Berhampore in 1938. It is affiliated with the West Bengal University of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration for its BEd course, and with the University of Kalyani for its BPEd course.[20]

Transport

Baharmpur Railway Station, Murshidabad

Rail - Berhampore is 186 km from Kolkata by train. The train station is named as Berhampore Court railway station (BPC), and it stands on the Sealdah-Lalgola line of the Eastern Railway. Main trains are the Bhagirathi Express (13103/13104), Hazarduari Express (13113/13114), and Dhano Dhanye Express (13117/13118). Other passenger trains include Sealdah-Lalgola passenger, Sealdah - Berhampore Court MEMU passenger, Ranaghat jn-Lalgola EMU Locals, Krishnanagar City Jn-Lalgola EMU Locals.

Khagraghat Road (KGLE) station stands on the Howrah-Azimganj Junction line of the eastern railway. Main trains of this line are Sealdah-New Alipurduar Teesta-Torsa express, Howrah-Dibrugarh Kamrup Express, Kolkata-Radhikapur express, Hatey Bazare express, Howrah-Malda Town Intercity express, Puri-Kamakhya express via Howrah, Digha-New Jalpaiguri Paharia express, and Nabadwip Dham-Malda Town express.

Road - as Berhampore is the administrative headquarters of the Murshidabad district and as it stands just in the centre position of West Bengal, it acts as the link between North Bengal and South Bengal. This town is well connected by NH 12 and National Highway 34 . The local transportation dependent on rickshaws and E-rickshaws (known as tuk-tuk or toto car). There are bus services on regular basis from South Bengal to North Bengal and vice versa.

There are two bus terminus in the city - one for the government bus services and the other bus terminus for private buses is called 'Mohona'.There are regular bus services to Kolkata (Espalande). Bus services are also available to other parts of West Bengal such as Durgapur, Siuri, Asansol, Burdwan, Bankura, Jhargram, Bolpur, Rampurhat, Nalhati, Kirnahar, Malda, Siliguri, Balurghat, Gangarampur, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Saintha. Bus service is also available to Dumka (Jharkhand).

Water - Berhampore city is situated on the banks of Bhagirathi. Berhampore north to Berhampore south is connected via launchboats. Regular boat transport is also available from Berhampore to other towns of Murshidabad such as Azimganj and Jiaganj.

Tourist spots

New Cossimbazar Palace
European Residency Cemetery, late 1600 A.D.
The Dutch graveyard

Berhampore is a famous place for tourists in West Bengal. It gets tourists' flow from locals as well as from foreigners, being the first headquarters of the East India Company and having a long history enriched by the Nawabs of Bengal, Sultans of Bengal, Zamindar and other European colonial forces such as Dutch, Portuguese, English (British Raj) and French.

Some notable tourist destinations in and around Berhampore are:

Legacy

The city of Berhampore also shares its name with Berhampore at Wellington, New Zealand. The daughter of Major Paul married local land owner George Hunter. Major Paul was an Indian army officer. George Hunter to show respect to his father in law gave Berhampore the name of the suburb. The old house of the "De" family (relatives of the Cossimbazar Raj) at Churamani Chowdhury Lane is also one of the oldest buildings in Berhampore and was at one point of time the property of the Cossimbazar Raj.

Notable people from Berhampore

References

  1. 1 2 "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Provisional Population Totals, Census of India 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  2. ↑ Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Berhampur". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 774. .
  3. ↑ Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cossimbazar". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 218. .
  4. ↑ "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Baharampur, India". www.fallingrain.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "District Statistical Handbook 2014 Murshidabad". Table 2.1. Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  7. ↑ "Handicrafts and silk industry". Murshidabad district administration. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  8. ↑ "Crafts and artisans of India". craftandartisans.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  9. ↑ "Berhampore College". BC. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  10. ↑ "Berhampore Girls' College". BGC. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  11. ↑ "Berhampore Girls' College". College Admission. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "Government College of Engineering & Textile Technology, Berhampore". GCETTB. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "Krishnath College". KC. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  14. ↑ . College Admission http://www.collegeadmission.in/KrishnathCollege/Krishnath_College.shtml. Retrieved 12 September 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ "Murshidabad College of Engineering & Technology". meetbhb. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  16. ↑ "Murshidabad Medical College & Hospital, Murshidabad". collegedunia. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  17. ↑ "Central Sericulture and Research Institute, Berhampore (W.B.)". Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  18. ↑ "Monarch College of Art and Technology". College Admission. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  19. ↑ "Prabharani Public School". PPS. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  20. ↑ "Union Christian Training College". UCTC. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  21. ↑ "Shreya Ghoshal's :: Official Website". www.shreyaghoshal.com. Retrieved 1 April 2018.

Sources

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