Kachua or 'Kachuadham' is a village under

Basirhat II Basirhat II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Mathurapur, a census town in Basirhat II block, is located at ...

block of

North 24 Parganas North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

district 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 fourt ...

, India. It is famous for being the official birthplace of

Lokenath Brahmachari Baba Lokenath Brahmachari was a Bengalis, Bengali spiritual master and yogi, considered to be one of the most influential gurus of oriental philosophy, eastern philosophy. Early life Lokenath Ghoshal is the birth name of Baba Lokenath. He ...

, a very renowned

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

philosopher and Yogi in Eastern India. Located in the Ganges delta, Kachua is a regional spot for thousands of Hindu devotees of Lokenath. It is situated at a distance of 28.9 km from sub-district headquarter Krishnapur.

Barasat Barasat () is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Barasat Sadar subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) ...

is the district headquarter of Kachua village. As per 2009 stats, 'Kemia Khamarpara' is the

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

of Kachua village. The postal code of Kachua is 743424. The Indian National Highway NH12 connects to the village.

Geography

Location

Kachua is located 30 km from the state capital city

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. It is located in the Basirhat II Block in

district in the state of

, India. The surrounding nearby villages and its distance from Kachua are Dhanyakuria 2.4 km, Kholapota 8.6 km.

Area overview

According to land area calculations, the Kachua village is approximately 84.5

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s large. Since Kachua falls under the block of Basirhat II as graded by Ministry of Jal Shakti in 2021, it does not have a water supply scheme. According to the same report, a number of water sources in the village are contaminated by

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, but ...

, and should be analysed before use and

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponic ...

s with low water requirement can be grown in the area.

Demographics

According to a 2011 census, Kachua village itself has a population of just 704 whereas "Kachua-Swarupnagar" has about 8383. A report by the Government of India predicted the population to spike at around 9392 in 2021 at a decadal growth of 12.04%. According to another report, there are 173 registered

scheduled caste The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

(SC) persons of which 77 are females and 96 are males. Females constitute 44.51% and males constitute 55.49% of the scheduled castes population. Scheduled castes constitute 24.57% of the total population.

Administration

When it comes to administration, Kachua village is administrated by a

sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

who is elected representative of the village by the local elections. The sarpanch of Kachua is Farida Bibi. Kachua falls under the State Legislative Assembly of

Basirhat Uttar Constituency Basirhat is a city of West Bengal, India. It is located on the banks of the Ichamati (Ichhamati) River. Geography Location Basirhat is located at . Area overview The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located ...

headed by Rafikul Islam Mondal and under the

Lok Sabha Constituency Lok or LOK may refer to: Places * Lok, Serbia, a village * Lok, Levice District, Slovakia, a village * Lok, Pakistan, a village * Loka (pronounced Lok): a plane of existence in Dharma People Surname Lok (English origin) * Anne Locke, Lock o ...

Basirhat Basirhat is a city of West Bengal, India. It is located on the banks of the Ichamati (Ichhamati) River. Geography Location Basirhat is located at . Area overview The area shown in the map is a part of the Ichhamati-Raimangal Plain, located ...

headed by TMC Member of Parliament Nusrat Jahan.

Religious significance and controversy

Kachua is often referred to as 'Kachuadham' and is considered the birthplace of the

Yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

. It also consists of the temple compound around the birthplace, a holy pond and the Lokenath Mission - that is responsible for the administration of the temple grounds. Besides the Lokenath Temple, it even has a temple dedicated to

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and Radha Gobinda. On 23 August 2019, on the eve of

Janmashtami Krishna Janmashtami , also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. According to the Hindu lunisolar calendar, it is observed ...

event, an accident happened, where an old wall broke off leading to a stampede, on devotees of Lokenath Brahmachari, and led to the injury of 16 people. According to many reports, three people lost their lives in this incident too. According to a "The Indian Express" article, 5 people lost their lives that day.

References

{{Reflist Villages in North 24 Parganas district