Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh

Pratapgarh (Hindi: प्रतापगढ़), also called Belha or Bela Pratapgarh, is a city and municipality of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Pratapgarh district, part of the Allahabad Division. Pratapgarh is the birthplace of the 'national poet' Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

It is one of the oldest districts of Uttar Pradesh, that came into existence in the year 1858. It is at a height of 491m from sea level.

History and etymology

Belha Devi Temple in Pratapgarh City

The district is named after its headquarter town Belha Pratapgarh, commonly known as Pratapgarh. Raja Pratap Bhadur Singh (1628–1682), a local king, located his capital at Rampur near the old town of Aror. There he built a garh (fort) and called it Pratapgarh after himself. Subsequently, the area around the fort started to be known as Pratapgarh. When the district was constituted in 1858, its headquarters was established at Belha, which came to be known as Belha Pratapgarh, the name Belha presumably being derived from the temple of Belha Bhawani on the bank of river Sai. It is popularly known as "Belha Maai" – meaning Mother Goddess Belha.

Several human skeletons along some animal bones and a number of a small stones implements, belonging probably to the Neolithic, have been unearthed in Archaeological exploration at Sarai Nahar in Kunda. It is the only site in the entire valley of Ganga which has yielded human skeleton of such an early age as also the Stone Age implements. On the left bank of river Sai there stand a ruined "Kot" representing a Buddhist Stupa.

Geography

Sai and the Ganges are the main rivers flowing through Pratapgarh district. The district lies between the parallels of 25°34′ and 26°11′ north latitude and between the meridians of 81°19′ and 82°27′ east longitude extending for some 110 kilometres (68 mi) from west to east. It is bounded on the north by the district of Sultanpur, on the south by Allahabad, on the east by Jaunpur, on the west by Fatehpur and north-west by Raebareli. In the south-west the Ganges forms the boundary of the district for about 50 kilometres (31 mi). Separating it from Fatehpur and Allahabad and in the extreme north-east the Gomti forms the boundary for about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi). According to the Central Statistical Organization (Central Statistics Office), India, the district has an area of 3,730 square kilometres (1,440 sq mi).

Economy

In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Pratapgarh one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[1] It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[1]

Primarily, an agragrian district, for a while now, Pratapgarh has risen in ranks as the top producer of Aonla (Amla). The fruit grown here is sold all over India and the world in the form of sweets and medicines.

Demographics

Religions in Pratapgarh
Religion Percent
Hindus
 
 85.11%
Muslim
 
 14.10%
Sikhism
 
 0.05%
Jainism
 
 0.02%
Christians
 
 0.12%
Buddhism
 
 0.24%
Others†
 
 0.36%

As of 2011 Pratapgarh district's population is 3,209,141.[2] This gives it a ranking of 109th in India (out of a total of 640).[3] The district has a population density of 854 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,210/sq mi) .[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 16.2%.[3] Pratapgarh has a sex ratio of 994 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 73.1%.[3]

Notable people

Transport

Air transport

Nearest airport is 70km away from city Bamrauli Airport located in Allahabad. There is also Pirthiganj Airport in Pratapgarh district but this is not in good condition now , it is one of very old airports in uttar pradesh.

Railways

Railway is the main transport form in this district and some junctions are chilbilla , bhupiamau and Pratapgarh . Pratapgarh Junction railway station handles 42 trains daily.

  • Old Delhi – Pratapgarh: Padmawat Express Daily from old Delhi station at 7:50 pm Train No. 14207/14208 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
  • New Delhi – Varanasi: Kashi Vishwanath Express Daily from New Delhi station at 11:40 am Train No. 14257/14248 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
  • Delhi Anand Vihar (T) – Varanasi: Garibrath Express from Anand Vihar Mega Terminal station at 6:15 pm Train No. 22407/22408 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
  • Delhi Anand Vihar (T) – Puri: Neelanchal Express Sunday, Tuesday, Friday from Anand Vihar Mega Terminal station at 6:30 am Train No. 12875/12876 Vai Ghaziabad-Aligarh-Etawah-Kanpur-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
  • New Delhi – New Farakka: NDLS–NFK Express Thursday from New Delhi station at 6:00 pm Train No. 14003/14004 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
  • Old Delhi – Howrah: JSM–HWH SF Express Thursday from Old Delhi Station at 3:05 pm Train No. 12371/12372 Vai Ghaziabad-Morababad-Bareilly-Lucknow-Raibareli-Amethi.
  • Chandigarh - Kunda (Pratapgarh) - Allahabad Unchahar Express/14218 Mail/Express. (Travel Time: 19h 20m 39 halts Distance: 893 km Avg Speed: 46 km/hr).
  • Pratapgarh to Mumbai - Saket Express(Train Number 11068) & Udyog Nagari Express (Train Number 12173)

Famous Temples

Ghuisarnath Temple, Kumbhapur, Lalganj, Pratapgarh
Lord Shani's statue at Shani Dham View of river Bakulahi from the Shani Dev Temple
Maa Chauharjan (Barahi) Devi Temple
Kamakshi Devi Temple, Kamasin
  • Maa Pratapvaahini Sheetla Mata Temple
  • Maa Panchmukhi Mandir
  • Baba Kachnarveer Dham (An ancient temple of Lord Shiva, about 500 years old)
  • Shri Manishwar Mahadev Mandir
  • Aushaan Devi Temple
  • Belha Devi Mandir
  • Baba Harihar Nath Mandir
  • Baba Shobh Nath Mandir
  • Bhayaharan Nath Dham
  • Bhakti Dham Temple
  • Yaksha-Yudhishthira Samvad Asthal (Ajgara Dham)
  • Chandika Dham
  • Shri Ram Janki Hanuman Mandir
  • Paliyan Nath Temple
  • Baba Balukeshwar Nath Dham
  • Baba Gopnath Dham
  • Baba Belkharnath Dham (Famous with Kaanwariya Festival)

Schools and colleges

  • St. Xavier's School Patti Pratapgarh
  • Rai Badripal Singh inter college Birapur
  • St. Namdev Convent School (Rupapur)
  • Abul Kalam Azad Inter College PBH
  • A.T.L school (C.B.S.E board)
  • K.P.Inter College Pratapgarh
  • Pt.JAWAHAR LAL NEHRU Inter college Ramapur Pratapgarh
  • M.B.S. Public School
  • Shitla Prasad Intermediate College
  • Shivrajpur Prathmik Vidyalaya
  • New Angels Senior Secondary School
  • St. Namdev Convent School
  • Suresh Chandra Mishra Mahavidalaya
  • Central Public School
  • Prabhavati Girls Degree College
  • Shivram Intermediate College
  • Prabhavati Memorial Public School
  • Suryansh Public School
  • Suryansh Sanskrit Mahavidalaya
  • Sarswati Sishu Mandir
  • Munishwar Dutta Post Graduate College
  • Pratap Bahadur Post Graduate College
  • Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya
  • Einstein Public School
  • Ramchandra Public School
  • Bharat Singh Inter College Kumhiya Patti Pratapgarh
  • Aatreya school
  • Sangam intl. school

and many more schools and colleges are there.

See also


References

  1. 1 2 Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  2. ↑ official website of state govt.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "District Census 2011". Census2011.co.in. 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
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