Eram is a small village in Basudevpur,

Bhadrak Bhadrak is a city of Odisha state in eastern India. The city is the district headquarters of Bhadrak district. According to legend, the city derives its name from the Goddess Bhadrakali, whose temple is on the banks of the Salandi River. Hi ...

from

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. It plays an important role in the history of

Indian Independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. It is also known as ''Rakta Tirtha Eram ''(The Pilgrim of Blood) and the second Jallianwala Bagh of

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 so ...

Geography

Eram is located in

district of

and is 8 km away from

Basudebpur Basudebpur is a census town in the Samserganj CD block in the Jangipur subdivision of the Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Basudebpur is located at . According ...

village of

district.

Role in Indian Independence Movement

The village Eram was remote, inaccessible and far from cities, surrounded by the Bay of Bengal and two rivers Gamoi and Kansbans and thick jungles the place was sleepy and silent to reach. From 1920, Eram was a secret place for

Utkal Congress Utkal Congress was a political party in the Indian state of Odisha. It was formed in 1969 when Biju Patnaik left Indian National Congress. After the 1971 Odisha elections UC took part in the Bishwanath Das ministry in the state. In 1974 Utkal Co ...

meetings,

Gopabandhu Das Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928), popularly known as ''Utkalamani'' (''Jewel of Utkal'' or Odisha), was a social worker, reformer, political activist, journalist, poet and essayist. Early life Gopabandhu Das was born on 9 October 1877 in Suando ...

Harekrushna Mahatab Harekrushna Mahatab (21 November 1899 – 2 January 1987) was the leader of the Indian National Congress, a notable figure in the Indian independence movement and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and again from 1956 to 1961. He wa ...

and other Congress leaders used Eram as a place for public meetings to share the messages about Quit India Movement or

Non-cooperation Movement The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

and to propagate the Gandhian ideals of freedom struggle among the villagers.

1942 Mass attack incident

On 28 September 1942 there was a huge gathering at that place to protest against

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

and to prepare a course plan of action to fight against British. Under the leadership of Kamala Prasad Kar a crowd of 5000 people gathered at Eram Melana ground. Afraid of this gathering a police force from Basudebpur police station, led by DSP Kunjabihari Mohanty march towards Eram. As like Jaliyanawala Bagh here, DSP Kunjabihari Mohanty acted as General Dyer and opened fire on the huge gathering at 6:30 PM, within few minutes 304 shots were discharged against the crowd, who were performing the agitation against the British rulers in a peaceful way. Since the field was bounded on three sides, therefore, no one was able to get escape from the field. Within some minutes 29 persons were dead on the spot and 56 were injured. Among the dead of Eram massacre includes one woman named Pari Bewa, who is regarded as the only lady martyr of Odisha. For this incident, Eram is popularly known as Rakta Tirtha Eram (The Pilgrim of Blood).

Martyrs list

* Pari Bewa, Eram, Basudebpur * Gopal Chandra Das, Padhnuan * Bishwanath Das, Padhuan * Bijuli Das, Padhuan * Hrushikesh Behera, Padhuan * Madan Palai, Padhuan * Ballahaba Behera, Padhuan * Magha Mahalika, Padhuan * Bhua Majhi, Padhuan * Kali Ajhi, Padhuan-Kumarpur * Radhu Ahalika, Padhuan-Muladiha * Dhruba Charana Dey, Padhuan * Basudeb Sahu, Padhuan * Hari Behera, Padhuan * Dibakar Panigrahi, Guda-Kesagadia * Krushna Chandra Swain, Padhuan-Kumarpur * Bhaban Rout, Padhuan-Nandapura * Nidhi Mahalika, Padhuan * Brundaban Panda, Padhuan * Upa Mallika, Nuangan * Krupasindhu Behera, Sankharu * Rama Majhi, Padhuan-Kumarpur * Mani Behera, Padhuan * Kati Sahu, Iswarapur * Ratnakar Pani, Sudarsanpur * Mani Pradhana, Suan-Sudarsanpur * Pari Das, Suan * Sankar Mallika, Adhunan * Gobinda Rout, Artungan *Panu Dash, Nuagaon In the memory of Martyrs, A martyrs’ memorial was built in Eram. It is one of the tourism places in Odisha.{{Cite web, url=http://www.nuaodisha.com/Odisha-Tourism/Tourist-Places-In-Bhadrakh.htm, title=Bhadrakh District - Famous Temples, Tourist, Picnic Places, website=www.nuaodisha.com, access-date=2018-08-02

References

Tourism in Odisha Bhadrak district History of Odisha Indian independence movement 1942 in India