Bongabari is a village in the Purulia II

CD block In India, a Community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of Tehsil, administratively earmarked for planning and development. The area is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), supported by several technic ...

in the Purulia Sadar subdivision of the

Purulia district Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- ...

in the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Geography

Location

Bongabari is located at .

Area overview

Purulia district forms the lowest step of the

Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...

. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills. Purulia Sadar subdivision covers the central portion of the district. 83.80% of the population of the subdivision lives in rural areas. The map alongside shows some urbanization around

Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average el ...

city. 18.58% of the population, the highest among the subdivisions of the district, lives in urban areas. There are 4 census towns in the subdivision. The Kangsabati (locally called Kansai) flows through the subdivision. The subdivision has old temples, some of them belonging to the 11th century or earlier. The focus is on education - the university, the sainik school, the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith at Bongabari, the upcoming medical college at Hatuara, et al. 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.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India Bongabari had a total population of 4,215 of which 2,082 (49%) were males and 2,133 (51%) were females. There were 500 persons in the age range of 0–6 years. The total number of literate persons in Bongabari was 2,559 (68.88% of the population over 6 years).

Civic administration

CD block HQ

The headquarters of the Purulia II CD block are located at Bongabari.

Transport

State Highway 5 (West Bengal) State Highway 5 (West Bengal) is a state highway in West Bengal, India. Route SH 5 originates from Rupnarayanpur and passes through Salanpur, Neamatpur, Dishergarh, Par Beliya, Raghunathpur, Bongabari, Purulia, Kenda, Manbazar, Bandwan, Jhilimi ...

running from Rupnarayanpur (in the Bardhaman district) to Junput (in the Purba Medinipur district) (locally popular as Barakar Road) passes through Bongabari.

Education

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Purulia Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Purulia is a residential school for boys in Purulia, West Bengal, India. It runs under the Gurukula system and is a branch of the Ramakrishna Mission. It was founded by Swami Hiranmayananda in 1957. The chief mini ...

, is a residential boys only higher secondary school with both Bengali and English as medium of instruction. It was established in 1967. It bagged the best school award from the school education department of West Bengal government. Bongabari Girls High School is a Bengali-medium girls only institution established in 1987. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya hostel facilities, located in the existing school, provides free boarding, financial support etc. for students from disadvantaged sections of society. Manbhum Drishti Pratibandhi Sikshayatan is a middle school for the visually impaired. It is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1997. It has facilities for teaching from class I to class VIII.

Culture

There is a small rekha deul built of stone in Chharra, located nearby. The tower is extensively carved. The ornamentation of the ''

sikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

'' suggests that it belongs to an age earlier than the Telkupi temples, i.e., earlier than 11th century. There was another temple which has fallen. It was a plain ''pancha ratna'' temple. With loose Jain sculptures strewn around the village, it is possible that both were Jain temples.

References

Villages in Purulia district {{Purulia-geo-stub