Sainthia (formerly Nandipur) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in Suri Sadar subdivision of Birbhum district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. The city is known as

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

city of Birbhum district. The city is under the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

of Sainthia

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

. Sainthia is the fourth most populous city in Birbhum

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, municip ...

and 95th most populous city in West Bengal. The city covers an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of 10 km² and had a population of 44,601 in 2011. Located on the banks of Mayurakshi River, Sainthia has been a major human settlement. The city is famous for Nandikeshwari Temple, one of the

Shakta pithas The Shakta pithas, also called Shakti pithas or Sati pithas (, , ''seats of Shakti''), are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the mother goddess denomination in Hinduism. The shrines are dedicated to various forms of ...

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Etymology

It is believed that the name ''Sainthia'' is derived from 'Saaita', a term used in 'Khero Khata' (Business Book) by the merchants of Sainthia after worshiping Goddess Nandikeshwari in Poila Boishakh and Vijaya Dashami. Nandipur was the ancient name of Sainthia. The name Nandipur was originated from the famous temple of Nandikeshwari. The word Nandi comes from Nandikeshwari Temple and the word Pur is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

term used for city. Together these words created Nandipur.

History

Sainthia was a small village.

Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

of this area gained momentum in the recent past, when construction work of the Sahibganj loop line and a bridge over the Mayurakshi River started. Construction of the Khana-Rajmahal section of Sahibganj Loop was completed in October 1859. Construction of the Sainthia railway station was done as part of building the entire line. This large project brought

people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

from different corners of the country to assemble and settle here. Sainthia, an old village

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

center, a place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

has been emerged into a municipal city in the year 1987.

Geography

Location

Sainthia is located at . It has an average elevation of . The city is situated in the south

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

of Mayurakshi River. The soil is generally alluvial and fertile. There was a rich

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

but this stands somewhat depleted due to overuse.

Climate

Sainthia's climate is classified as tropical. In winter, there is much less rainfall in Sainthia than in summer. The average annual temperature is 26.3 °C in Sainthia. The temperature goes very high and it is very

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

in summer and quite cold in winter. In a year, the average rainfall is 1328 mm.

Urban Structure

The Sainthia municipality

spread over and comprises 16

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s. The north–south dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Mayurakshi River in the north to roughly Pariharpur Village in the

south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

—a span of 2–3 km. The east–west dimension of the city is widest with the span of 5–6 km.

Demographics

Historical Population

In 1901, according to L. S. S. O'Molley's Bengal District Gazetters, Sainthia had a population of 2622 and in 1911 Sainthia had a population of 3551.

Latest Population

As of 2011 Census of India, the Sainthia

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 44,601, of which 22,856 are males while 21,745 are females. The population of children under age 6 is 4511, which is 10.11% of the total population of Sainthia. In Sainthia, the female sex ratio is 951, against the state average of 950. The child sex ratio is around 880, compared to the West Bengal state average of 956. The

literacy Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

rate of Sainthia is 79.50%, higher than state average of 76.26%. Male literacy is around 84.70% while female literacy is 74.08%. Out of the total population, 16,485 were engaged in work or business activity. Of this, 13,481 were males while 3,004 were females. In the census survey, a worker is defined as a person who does business, job, service, cultivator, or labour activity. Of the total 16,485 working population, 92.97% were engaged in main work while 7.03% were engaged in marginal work. Sainthia has over 10,229 houses. Ward number 16 is the most populous ward with population of 3814 and ward number 4 is the least populous ward with population of 1638.

Economy

Sainthia is an economically important city and one of the busiest business hubs in the middle part of

. Sainthia city is the main trading centre in the district. The economy is based on agricultural products and their allied businesses. Rice mills, mustard oil mills, bran oil mills, puffed rice mills, jaggery/gur and galvanized wire product units and other businesses run here. Sainthia is the leader in edible oil industry in Birbhum and one of the leading edible oil producers in West Bengal. There are 10 edible oil mills in Sainthia out of which 9 are Mustard oil mills and 1 is Rice Bran oil mill. The economy of Sainthia stands tall due to the sales of agricultural products. The city is known as an export and import centre for cottage industry and agricultural based different goods. The hinterland of business of Sainthia spreads up to the districts of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

in the west and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

in the north east. The city is well connected to different parts of the country. From the city, the agricultural products are exported to different parts of the State and also to different parts of the Eastern India through high roads and railroads. That makes the city the business centre of all sorts of goods distribution and transportation. Its socio-economical status is quite strong and education ratio is steadily increasing. Sainthia is an important centre for banking and finance. There are 14 bank branches in the city. 10 of them are public sector banks and remaining 4 are private sector banks.

Industrial Legacy

Sainthia's industrial prominence owes much to the Chandra family, who established the iconic "Lion Marka" (Lion Brand), the coconut oil manufactured and processed in a factory located beside the Mayurakshi River. It gained widespread popularity across the state and nationwide for nearly 45 years. However, operations ceased in 1992.

Vintage Advertisement for Lion Brand Coconut Oil

Family Endorsement of Lion Brand Coconut Oil

Transport

Road

The National Highway 114 and State Highway 11 runs across the city. These highways links important cities and towns in

. Public transport systems in Sainthia include the Government and private

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

es, electric rickshaws,

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

s and

auto rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many other terms in various countries, including three-wheeler, Adaidaita Sahu, Keke-napep, Maruwa, auto, ...

Air

The nearest domestic airport is Kazi Nazrul Islam International Airport. The airport is roughly 74 kilometers from central Sainthia.

Railway

The Sainthia railway station serves the entire city and is the most important and key railway station of Birbum district. It also serves as the originating station of 4 important trains. The Sainthia railway station connects to both of

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

's two busy rail terminals,

Howrah railway station Howrah railway station (also known as Howrah Junction) is a railway station located in the city of Howrah, of Kolkata Metropolitan Area, West Bengal, India. It is the largest and busiest railway complex in India, as well as one of the List of ...

and

Sealdah railway station Sealdah railway station (station code: SDAH) is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Sealdah railway division of Eastern Railway zone. It is one of the five terminal railway stations serving the Kolkata metropolitan area, the o ...

Accidents

On 19 July 2010, at 02:13, the Sainthia train collision occurred, when Bananchal express was crashed by Uttarbanga express at platform no. 4.

Healthcare

The city has 1 government funded State General Hospital, 8 private hospitals and 1 veterinary hospital.

Tourism

Sainthia is known for its temples, including the famous Nandikeshwari Temple.

Education

Colleges

There are two colleges in Sainthia: * Abhedananda Mahavidyalaya -a general stream college under the University of Burdwan. Established in 1964. * Birbhum Vivekananda Homoeopathic Medical College & Hospital -Established in 1972.

High schools

*Sainthia High School *Sainthia Town High School is a boys' only high school. *Shashibhushan Dutta Girls' High School *Jogeshwari Dutta Girls' High School *Sainthia Paharhi Baba Vidyapth *Gitanjali Public School *Rastravhasa High School *Muradihi Jr. High School

Primary schools

There are 30 primary schools in Sainthia.

Library

There is one government-sponsored public library in Sainthia.

Sports

Stadiums

The Kamodakinkar Stadium (Jalibagan) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

stadium at Vivekananda Pally, Sainthia, operated by Sainthia Sports Association.

Notable people

Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty (4 April 1938 – 10 July 2020) was an Indian American microbiologist, scientist, and researcher, most notable for his work in directed evolution and his role in developing a genetically engineered organism using plas ...

(born 1938),

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

and

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

Culture and festivals

Sainthia is influenced much by the culture of West Bengal. Festivals in Sainthia are inherited by the entire state of West Bengal. The language that is generally spoken here are Bengali and Hindi. However, people from other parts of India who have settled in Sainthia, obviously speak other languages. The festivals that are most commonly celebrated are the

Durga Puja Durga Puja (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Durgotsava or Shaaradotsava, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which pays homage to the Hinduism, Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victo ...

, Saraswati Puja,

Holi Holi () is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love and Spring.The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) p. 874 "Holi /'həʊli:/ noun a Hindu spring festival ...".Yudit Greenberg, Encyclopedia of Love in World ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. Also, Ganesh Puja is done during Sankashti Chaturthi. The festivals like Durga Puja is sincerely celebrated throughout the city of Sainthia by the local people. Though this festival is celebrated throughout India, the people of Sainthia give more importance to this festival.

References

External links

{{Birbhum topics Cities and towns in Birbhum district Company towns in India Hindu holy cities Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Populated places established in 1987 Cities in West Bengal