Chharra 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 Purulia Sadar subdivision is a subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. History Purulia district was divided into four subdivisions, viz., Purulia Sadar, Manbazar, Jhalda and Raghunathpur, with effect from 6 April 20 ...

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

Chharra is located at . Charra Airfield was used during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and abandoned thereafter.

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.

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 Bongabari is a village in the Purulia II CD block in the Purulia Sadar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Bongabari is located at . Area overview Purulia district forms the lowest ste ...

, 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, Chharra had a total population of 6,131, of which 3,163 (52%) were males and 2,968 (48%) were females. There were 818 persons in the age range of 0–6 years. The total number of literate persons in Chharra was 3,312 (62.34% of the population over 6 years).

Transport

There is a station at Chharra on the Adra-Purulia sector of the Asansol-Tatanagar-Kharagpur line of the South Eastern Railway.

Education

Chhara High School is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1959. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII.

Culture

There is a small rekha deul built of stone in the village. The tower is extensively carved. The ornamentation of the ''sikhara'' 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. David J. McCutchion says that in the remote areas of old Manbhum district the

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

went on building temples till the 13th century, and many of them are still standing at Bahulara, Harmasra, Deulbhirya, Ambikanagar, Chharra, Pakbirra, Suisa or Deoli, in Bankura and Purulia districts.

Chharra picture gallery

File:Highly renovated Deul of Charra in Purulia. 01.jpg, The renovated deul File:Chharrah Tirthankar Statue.jpg, Tirthankar statue File:Back Side of Stone Deul in Charara at Purulia.jpg, Back side of stone deul File:Chharrah - Votive Temple - II.jpg, Votive temple File:Chharrah - Jain Temple Remains - I.jpg, Remains of a Jain temple File:A Jain deity fixed on the wall of a temple in Charara at Purulia.jpg, A Jain deity in a Dharmathakur temple

Healthcare

Kushtor Rural Hospital, with 30 beds, is the major government medical facility in the Purulia II CD block.

References

External links

Villages in Purulia district {{Purulia-geo-stub