Gopiballavpur

Earlier this area was a part of Mayurbhanj princely state. The place was earlier known as Kashipur. Shyamananda Mahaprabhu, a prominent figure in the Vaishnava sect, was being commanded by Shrimati Radha Rani to travel and carry the holy waters of Yamuna to this place and establish a temple since then the village is named after Gopiballav (Sri Krishna). Kashipur came to be known as Gopiballavpur since then. The village houses this old temple since 1400 and its being run and administered by Vaishnava Goswami Families since then. Currently the Mahant is the head of the temple.

The temple is known as Shri Radha Govinda Mandir and known to the vaishnavas as "Gupta Vrindavan". It houses the idols of Shri Radha Govind Ji and Smt. Radha Rani along with idols of Jagannatha Mahaprabhu, Balabhadra and Subadhra. An annual Car Festival (Ratha Yatra) is held every year. Gopiballabpur also houses ancient Mahadev Temple where Gajan Mela is held every year. Besides Gajon, Chorok Mela, Snan Jatra, Jhulon Jatra are prominent festivals in the area. The chou dancers from Odisha are brought every year to give performances to audience in these fairs.

Gopiballavpur is located at 22.20°N 86.89°E / 22.20; 86.89.[1] It has an average elevation of 34 metres (114 feet).

The town is on the banks of the Subarnarekha River near the Jharkhand and Odisha borders.

As per 2011 Census of India Gopiballavpur had a total population of 4,061 of which 2,055 (51%) were males and 2,006 (49%) were females. Population below 6 years was 401. The total number of literates in Gopiballavpur was 3,111 (76.61% of the population over 6 years).[2]

Gopiballavpur police station has jurisdiction over Gopiballavpur I CD Block.[3][4]

Gopiballavpur is accessible by road from Kolkata and Odisha. Regular deluxe bus service run from Esplanade to Gopiballavpur. Prominent players are the Nilmadhaba Bus Service,Joymadhavba Bus Service, Devdas Bus Service, Das and Das Bus Service and the buses of Dhumsai route. Night service buses run to and from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri.

By rail Gopiballavpur is about (48 km) from Jhargram. Take Ispat Express from Howrah station in the morning to reach Jhargram. The journey takes a little more than two hours. Also, several buses from Kharagpur railway station are available.

State Highway 9 (West Bengal) running from Durgapur (in Paschim Bardhaman district) to Nayagram (in Jhrgram district) passes through Gopiballavpur.[5]

• Subarnarekha Mahavidyalaya [http://www.smahavidyalaya.org/]:It is affiliated to Vidyasagar University. It offers B.A.Honours course in Bengali/English/History/Geography/ Sanskrit & Santali.B.Sc (Hons) in Anthropology & Geography,B.Com (Hons) in Accountancy. Subarnarekha Mahavidyalaya is in the list of top 3 Colleges in the Jhargram Sub-division.