Sonari (IPA: ˈsəʊnɑːrɪ) is a district Headquarter, mid-size town and a

municipal board A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

in newly announced Charaideo

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

(by Chief Minister Mr. Tarun Gogoi on 15 August 2015) in the

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 ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Tourist Destinations

There are several unexplored destinations of tourism. For instance the mension of famous Assamese poet, lyricist and dramatist late Parvati Prasad Baruah, the Sonari Shiva Temple, the Sonari Mosque, the town auditorium etc.

Geography

Sonari is located at . It has an average elevation of 97 metres (318 feet). It is a major town on the nearly 500-year-old "

Dhodar Ali The Dhodar Ali or Dhudor Ali ( as, ধোদৰ আলি, en, Lazy Man's Road or Sluggard's Road), is a 212-km-long road starting from Kamargaon in Golaghat to Joypur in Dibrugarh touching Mariani, Jorhat. It runs through four districts of Up ...

" built by the Ahom Kings. Dhodar ali was forcefully commissioned by Ahom king

Gadadhar Singha Supaatpha also, Gadadhar Singha (reign 1681–1696) established the rule of the Tungkhungia clan of the Ahom kings that ruled the Ahom kingdom till its climactic end. He was the son of Gobar Roja, a descendant of Suhungmung, and who had becom ...

using the so-called lazy people or the socially unproductive 'Dhods' residing within Assam. Situated by the side of the Taokak river, Sonari is the headquarters of Charaideo District, Assam. The nearest railway station is Bhojo, which is about 3 km away located by the bank of historical Disang River. The best way to reach sonari by road is from Sivasagar town through the Dhodar Ali near which the famous royal mausoleum of the Ahom Kings at Charaideo is situated. Sonari is a centre for tea and timber industries and is the gateway to the Mon district of Nagaland.

History

It is claimed that the original name of Sonari was Sonapur. It is also believed that Bhogoniya Raja Jayadwaj Singha rested for days in Sonari before proceeding to Namrup during the invasion of Assam and Ahom capital by Aurangzeb's general Mirjumlah during 1663. One of the first two tea estates set up by Maniram Dewan has now been discovered by Dr Pradip Baruah of the Tocklai Experimental Station of the Tea Research Association. Dewan established the Cinnamara TE at Jorhat and Senglung TE near Suffry, Sonari, around 169 years back, in 1845. Maniram Dewan was the first Indian commercial tea planter. In the middle of the town there is a park around a historic Ahom Kingdom's tank called Bor Pukhuri. This park near the post office is now called Lachit Nagar park, since a full size statue of Assam's great general from Ahom period is erected here. Similarly a statue of Koch General Chilarai has been erected near Tawkak river bridge while entering the town. In 2004 during the birth centenary of Geetikavi Parvati Prasad Baruva a bust size white statue of this lyrical poet was inaugurated at Sonari.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, Sonari had a population of 17,430. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Sonari has an average literacy rate of 92%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79% and female literacy is 72%. In Sonari, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Languages

Sonari town have a population of 154,296 as per 2011 census. Assamese is Spoken by 11,475 people, Bengali at 3,797,

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

at 1,934 and Bhojpuri by 1,474 people.https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16T/DDW-C16-TOWN-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX

Importance

Sonari is one of the most important towns in eastern

. It is a commercial center for Charaideo District. There is a Sub-Divisional Court and an S.D.O. court at Rajadhap. There are several tea gardens around Sonari and a Gymkhana club golf course. Built sometime around 1945 this golf course was created by the tea planters. The golf course is 1.5 km away from the Sonari Gymkhana, and as a whole about 5 km away from the centre of Sonari Town . There are dramatic changes in elevation on this course which make it interesting. This course is part of the NAPUK tea estate. Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha, Sonari Branch is Affiliated to INTUC No. IV/2211 of 1959 and Registration no.445 In the Middle of the town there is a park around a historic Ahom Kingdom's tank called Bor Pukhuri. There is a Daily Super market in the middle of the town. Produces from nearby villages like Mahmora, kakatibari are sold near this market. There are many good educational institutions in the town, catering the needs of many nearby villages and tea-gardens. Some of them are: Sonari College, B.P.B.M. Higher Secondary School, P.K.B. Girls HS School, Sankardev Shishu Niketan, Sonari Town High School, Haji OMM school, St. Joseph's High School, Sonari Junior College, Chah Mazdoor Vidya Niketan, Sonari Commerce College, etc. Notably, B.P.B.M.H.S.School recently completed her Diamond Jubilee year and St. Joseph's High School completed her Silver Jubilee year. Sonari has Hindi school for many years now. There is a Sub-divisional public library near sonari college as well. there are religious places of worship like Sarbojanin Naam ghar, Gurudwara Sahib, Hari Mandir, Kali Mandir, Shiv Mandir, Shani Mandir, Mosque, Buddha Mandir, Hanuman mandir etc. giving a truly secular and cosmopolitan feeling. In recent years a 100 bedded sub-divisional civil hospital has been created in the outskirt of the city with funds from the Government of Assam and the North-Eastern Council (N.E.C) with additional support from N.R.H.M. Project. The government of Assam received Rs.417.31 lakhs from the NorthEastern Council (NEC) for up-gradation of Sonari Civil Hospital. Some of the famous people from sonari are Lyrical-Poet "Geetikavi" Parvati Prasad Baruwa, Poet 'Kavita Konwar' Ambeswar Chetia Phukan etc. Parvati Prasad Baruwa(1904–1964) was a tea planter, poet, lyricist, dramatist: an icon of Assamese culture and literature. Sonari town is located about 45 km from the historic town of Sivasagar and roughly located between Sivasagar and Namrup Town. Bhojo, the nearest railway station is well connected by major passenger trains like intercity. Distance from Dibrugarh Mohanbari Airport to Sonari is about 77 km. The town has a police station of its own name right in the centre of the town. There is also a jail at the outskirts of the town. The Pin code of Sonari is 785690 and the STD code 03772.

Education

College

* Sonari College, * Sonari Commerce College, * Sonari Senior Secondary School * Elite Academy, * Sukafa Academy, * Hajee Osimuddin Mission Academy, *

Charaideo Medical College Charaideo or Che-Rai-Doi (Literally: ''the shining city on the hills'' in Ahom language) is a town in Charaideo district, Assam, India and was also the first capital of the Ahom kingdom established by the first Ahom Dynasty, Ahom king Sukaphaa, ...

, * Signor Academy

Schools

Sonari is known for its best eminent scholars. Sonari has good number of educational institutes. Schools provides education in both Assamese and English medium. Most of the school follows syllabus of Secondary Education Board of Assam, other follows

Central Board of Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...

(CBSE). For Higher Secondary (10+2) both schools follows syllabus of Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC).

Transportation

Road

Sonari is well connected with Sivasagar,

Namrup Namrup is a small town situated close to the foothills of the Patkai Hills in the extreme southeastern part of Assam, India. The river Dihing or Disang flows through it. Namrup is situated in amidst wet-paddy fields, indigenous Assamese villa ...

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh (pron: ˌdɪbru:ˈgɑ:) is an industrial city in Upper Assam with sprawling tea gardens. It is located 435 kms East from the state capital of Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam i ...

Mon District Mon District (Pron:/mɒn/) is a district of Nagaland, a state in India. It is the third-largest district in Nagaland in terms of area. The district has a population of 250,260 people. Mon Town is the headquarters of the district. History Afte ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

by road. The historic

passes through the town connecting

towards

east East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, Simaluguri; Nazira; Joysagar towards west.

Rail

Nearest

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

is Bhojo which is 6 km away from the town and easily approachable. To reach Bhojo railway station, there is an Auto (three wheeler) Stand near Bhojo ChariAli at Sonari Town. Nearest junction is Simaluguri Junction.

Air

Although Sonari lacks an airport, Dibrugarh Airport (77 km) and Jorhat Airport (80 km) serve the town.

IndiGo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

and

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the ...

regularly fly to both the airports.

Transportation in town

Most of the places are easily communicable by walk and bicycle. Rickshaw and Electronic Rickshaw facilities are available within the town, there are also some tea estates near Sonari.

Politics

Sonari is part of

Jorhat (Lok Sabha constituency) Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam state in north-eastern India. Assembly segments Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the following assembly segments: Members of Parliament Election re ...

. The present MP is Mr. Topon Kumar Gogoi from the

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

, who replaced

Bijoy Krishna Handique Bijoy Krishna Handique (12 October 1934 – 26 July 2015) was an Indian politician who was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India. He represented the Jorhat constituency of Assam and was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) politica ...

(INC) who was the MP from 1991. Nabanita Handique of BJP is the incumbent MLA from Sonari (Vidhan Sabha constituency). Sarat Borkataky, Bhadreswar Buragohain, Satya Tanti were some earlier MLAs.

Telecommunication

Sonari has

landline A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which uses ...

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

and internet connectivity. Internet connectivity through wireless data cards and

Broadband In telecommunications, broadband is wide bandwidth data transmission which transports multiple signals at a wide range of frequencies and Internet traffic types, that enables messages to be sent simultaneously, used in fast internet connections. ...

is available. The major cellular service providers are BSNL,

Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Current ...

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

Idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...

, Reliance and jio. 3G/4G services are available in the town.

Health care

Sonari is little underdeveloped regarding health services. In spite of patient flow from nearby state

only a handful doctors are available for the service. Any serious cases are frequently referred to Assam Medical College,

or Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, Jorhat. A medical college is underconstruction that will be known as Charaideo Medical College and hospital, Sonari. * Civil Hospital, Rajapukhuri * Community Health Centre (CHC) *Kanaklata Memorial Nursing Home *

References

External links

www.geetikavi.com
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060504181808/http://archive.eci.gov.in/se2001/background/S03/AS_ACPC.pdf {{Assam Cities and towns in Charaideo district Charaideo district Ahom kingdom