Suri, Birbhum

Suri সিউড়ি Siuri
Town
Suri Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Birbhum
Area
• Total	9.47 km2 (3.66 sq mi)
Elevation	71 m (233 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	67,864
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	731101
Telephone code	91 3462
Vehicle registration	WB 54
Lok Sabha constituency	Birbhum
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Suri
Website	birbhum.nic.in

Suri, (Pron:ˈsʊərɪ) (also spelt as Siuri and 'Soori'), is the administrative headquarter of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal, India.

Suri is located at . It has an average elevation of 71 metres (233 feet). It is situated on the extended part of Chotanagpur Plateau. Tilpara barrage on Mayurakshi river is located 3 km north-east of Siuri.

Economics

The chief industries of Suri include rice milling, cotton and silk weaving, and furniture manufacture. Suri was constituted a municipality in 1876.

In March 2008, a private Kolkata-based firm, Ramsarup Group, unveiled a proposal for large-scale investment. A greenfield power plant and cement manufacturing plant worth Rs 2200 crores (US $550 million) was submitted to the Government of West Bengal. Bakreshwar Thermal Power Plant is around 12 kilometers away from Suri town.

Demographics

According to 1991 census Suri had a population of 54,298. As of 2001 census Suri had a population of 61,806. As of 2011 census Suri had a population of 67,864. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Suri has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 68%. In Suri, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. According to the 2011 census, the Sex Ratio in Suri is 963 higher than the national averagr 940. The overall literacy rate is 86.95% with the male literacy rate being 90.83% and the female literacy rate being 82.92%.

Religion	% Population
Hindu	73.65
Muslim	25.86
Christian	0.29
Sikh	0.05
Buddhist	0.02
Jain	0.01
Others	0.00
Not Stated	0.12

The Scheduled Castes (SC) population constitutes 18.95% of the total population of Suri Municipality while the Scheduled Tribes (ST) population constitutes 0.92% of that.

Transport

Suri is 220 km from State capital Kolkata (Calcutta), 90 km from Durgapur, 34 km from Bolpur, Santiniketan, 55 km from Andal and 19 km from Sainthia on the Andal-Sainthia Branch Line of Eastern Railway. It is on Panagarh–Morgram Highway.(known as N.H 60).Suri connects to Ahmadpur station via Purandarpur, and Kondaipur Village.

Transport system mainly depends on Govt. Bus Service N.B.S.T.C & S.B.S.T.C & Private Bus service. From Suri, one can go to several large towns of West Bengal, like - Kolkata, Durgapur, Asansol, Sainthia, Medinipur, Digha, Burdwan, English Bazar, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Katwa, Mandarmoni, Bolpur etc. and others. Suri is a model Railway Station. From Suri Railway Station, there are few trains to go to Howrah (via Andal-Durgapur-Bandel), like the Hool Express, Mayurakshi Fast Passenger, Siuri-Howrah(via-Sainthia), etc.

Language

Most people communicate with each other in Bengali and some people use Hindi, English and Urdu to communicate with each other.

Education

Colleges in Suri include Suri Vidyasagar College and Birbhum Mahavidyalaya, both affiliated to the University of Burdwan. Birbhum Institute of Engineering & Technology and [Sri Ramkrishna Shilpa Vidyapith, also known as "L. C. College" provide technical education.Another 2 diploma technical colleges (private)at tasarkanta, suri,and bandhersole, suri. Also 5(five)D.ED. colleges and 3(three) B.ED. colleges situated at Suri. Total 18 higher secondary schools including a West Bengal Govt. School ( Birbhum Zilla School ) 2 C.B.S.E. H.S. Schools(KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA,U.P.PUBLIC) and W.B.B.S.E. English Medium school (St.Andrews). The Albatross Public School and follows CBSE curriculum and also allows Cambridge International Examination. The Levelfield School has also joined the list of private schools offering higher secondary education.

Suri Vidyasagar College main entrance

Suri Vidyasagar College was established on 9th March, 1942, as a branch of Calcutta Vidyasagar College. Later it came under the University of Burdwan. Many great personalities, such as, the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the former Prime Minister of Nepal, Dr. Tulsi Giri studied here.

Some notable schools of Suri are Birbhum Zilla School (established-1851), R.T. Girls' High School (established-1884 as River Thompson Girls' High School, later renamed as Rabindranath Tagore Girls' High School), Suri Public and Chandragati Mustafi Memorial High School (established-1856 as Suri Middle English School), Suri Benimadhava Institution (established-1917), Kaligati Smriti Narishiksha Niketan, Suri Ramkrishna Vidyapeeth and Muuk-Badhir Vidyalaya (Deaf and Dumb School, estblished-1936).

Libraries

The first library set up in Suri was the library of Birbhum Zilla School(established-1851). Then, "Ratan Library" was set up by Sibratan Mitra, a writer as well as the father of another writer, Gourihara Mitra, in Malipara, Suri. It had a vast collection of rare manuscripts, ancient statues, idols, coins, maps and images. All these were donated to the library of the Visva-Bharati University later. The Ramaranjan Town Hall and Public Library was set up in 1900. Now it is known by the name -"Vivekananda Granthagaar o Ramaranjan Paurabhawan (Viivekananda Library and Ramaranjan Town Hall)". This library cum town hall has been a witness to many a great and remarkable incident in the history of Suri. The District Library of Birbhum(established-1955), set up during the implementation of the first five-year plan, stands beside the Vivekanada Library and Ramaranjan Town hall.

Civil Administration

There is a Suri municipality. It is divided into 19 wards. It was controlled by the Indian National Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance. In the 2010 municipal elections, the municipality faced a hung verdict. Later, the Trinamool Congress with 8 councillors, formed the municipal board by taking the support of 6 Congress councillors. In municipal elections of 2015, TMC won 15 seats, INC won 3 seats, and BJP got 1 seat. The chairman is Ujjal Mukherjee (TMC).

Local Specialities

Suri is famous for a special sweetmeat called Murabba & Achar (fruits/vegetables preserved in sugar syrup) comes in a wide number of varieties, which includes Murabba of Satamooli.

Places of Worship

Suri is one if those places where religious harmony is found. Some famous temples are situated in Suri. Moumachhi Club has established a Kali temple in Suri, which is unique and grand in this town. Other famous temples are Bamni Kalibari, Bhabatarini Kalibari, Dangalpara Anandpur Sarbajanin Matrimandir and Shib Mandir, Radha Ballav Mandir, Shani Mandir, Damodar Mandir, Rabindrapalli Kalibari, Rakshakali Temple, Kendua Dakshin Para Kali Mandir, etc.

Durga temple of CHATTORAJ family is a very old and heritage temple of the town. it is situated at Seharapara. A lot of people visit this temple during the Durga Puja. The newly established Shiv Mandir attracts many people of the area. People will love to experience the rituals of the traditional Durga Puja.

Suri is also close to BAKREASWAR (20 km by bus) Tarapith (30-45 mins by bus) and KANKALITALA by (45mins - 1hr by bus) which are two of the 51 Shakti peethas. [PATHARCHAPURI] (10 km by bus).

There are a few mosques in Suri and among them, the Masjid at Masjid More and the one at Madrasa Road deserve special mention. Suri is famous for Dargah of Hazrat Data Mehboob Shah. Dargah is flocked by thousands of devotees every day. There are three churches in this town.One is situated near the Fire Brigade Office, one beside the SH near SP More, and the other one is situated beside the R.T.Girls High School.

Festivals

Every year in Suri there is a very famous fair held, called the 'Barobagan Mela'(Now postponed due to political problems). This historic fair was inaugurated by the then Governor of Bengal Lord Brabourne. In 1940, this fair was blessed by none other than 'Kabiguru' Rabindranath Tagore. Religious festivals like Durga puja, Laxmi puja, Kali puja, Jagatdhatri puja, Hanuman puja, Eid, Muharram,Kurbani,sobabarat,nabidibas, Christmas etc. are celebrated in Suri. Book-fairs are also held in every 3–4 years.

During the Durga puja, many people visit the CHATTORAJ's DURGA TEMPLE to experience the traditional Durga Puja of about 200 years of existence. There is a lot of history behind this puja. Animal sacrifice is still in vogue. On the day of Dashami, footprints of the goddess are found on the plates full of 'sindur'. This puja was started by Bhairab Chandra Chattoraj, an ancestor of the family. On the day of Astami, white goat is sacrificed and on the day of Nabami, black goat is sacrificed. Many histories of this puja are yet to be revealed.

Other than these, Famous clubs like Chowrangee club, Agrani club, Jonaki club, Dangal para Anandapur Sarbajanin, Barabagan 1'er Palli, Tilpara,Baamdev(Santhal Pargana More) Meghdut etc. celebrate Durga puja with pomp and grandeur.

Park

A new park name 'Shahid Bhagat Singh Park' is situated in Suri near the Circuit House, which was already closed. Recently, the park has been opened for commoners. Former District Magistrate of Birbhum Mr Khalil Ahmed had proposed the idea of building this park for the children of Suri. The work for the park started in 2004 and the park was complete in 2009. Also there are another parks in Suri one for children and other for senior citizen known as Lees Club Park,near the Chaitali Cinema hall and District Library.

Architecture

Tilpara Barrage over Mayurakshi river & Bakreshwar Thermal Power Project. There is also a temple of 'Terracota' (undertaken by ASI) near the Madrasah Road but it is closed.

Climate

The climate of the district is generally dry, mild and healthy. The hot weather usually last from the middle of March to the middle of the June, the rainy season from the middle of June to the middle of October, and the cold weather from middle of October to the middle of March. They do not always correspond to these limit. The wind is from the south-east in the summer and from the north-west in the winter. The minimum and maximum temperature data for Suri is given below - For the Year 2011 (in degree Celsius)-

Month	Maximum temperature	Minimum temperature
January	29	6
February	35	11
March	40	12
April	39	19
May	38	20
June	39	24
July	36	23
August	37	24
September	36	23
October	34	16
November	32	14
December	30	7
Yearly	40	6

For the year 2012 (in degree Celsius)-

Month	Maximum temperature	Minimum temperature
January	28	7
February	35	8
March	40	13
April	41	19
May	45	22
June	46	24
July	38	24
August	35	24
September	...	...
October	35	16
November	32	11
December	30	7
Yearly	46	7

The average precipitation in Suri is 1307 mm (130.7 cm). It is the lowest in December with an average of 3 mm, while it is the highest in August (299 mm) and in July(297 mm). The average annual temperature is 26.2 °C.

Month	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Rainfall(in mm)	17	14	19	27	66	217	297	299	224	111	13	3
Avg. Maximum	25.8	28.5	34.3	38.2	37.0	35.2	32.1	31.9	32.3	31.7	29.2	26.2
Avg. Minimum	11.6	14.1	19.0	23.5	25.6	26.1	25.6	25.6	25.3	22.6	16.6	12.5
Daily Mean	18.7	21.3	26.6	30.8	31.3	30.6	28.8	28.7	28.8	27.1	22.9	19.3

River System

The district is well drained by a number of rivers and rivulets running in nearly every case from west to east with a slight southerly inclination. Only two are rivers of any magnitude, viz., the Mor and the Ajay, the latter of which marks the southern boundary, while the Mor runs through Birbhum from West to East. Both rivers are of considerable size when they enter the district, their width varying according to the configuration of the country, from two hundred yards to half a mile. The Ajay first touches the district at its south-west corner, and follows a winding course in an easterly direction, till it enters Burdwan at the extreme south-eastern angle of Birbhum, eventually falling into Bhagirathi near Katwa. The Mor enters Birbhum from the Santhal Paraganas near the village of Haripur and flows through the centre of the district from west to east, passing two miles north of Suri and forming the southern boundary of the Rampurhat Sub-division. It is nice to see the course of this river, when it enters into the district from the west. It leaves the district a little east of Gunutia and joins Dwarka which itself is a tributary of the Bhagirathi. The Mor is also widely known as Mayurakshi meaning "the peacock eyed", i.e. having water as lustrous as the eye of the peacock. Between the Mor and Ajay there are a few large streams coming from beyond the western boundary, of which the Hinglo is the most important. It enters the District from the Santhal Paraganas some eight miles north of Ajay, flows through Dubrajpur thana, and gradually approaches that river, unites with it at Chapla, after a course in Birbhum of about 15 miles. Another river is the Bakreswar, which rises at hot spring of same name near Tantipara, some ten miles west of Suri, and after following a zigzag course eastward, and receiving one by one the waters of almost all the rivulets, joins the Mor a few miles beyond the eastern boundary of the district. Other important rivers of the district includes the Brahmani, the Bansloi, the Pagla, the Kopai or Sal. The hills of Massanjore and Dumka can be seen from western part of Suri on a clear day.

External links

• The Albatross Public School
• Suri Vidyasagar College
• Britannica article
• Sree Ramkrishna Silpa Vidyapith (Govt.Polytechnic )
• http://shukladeviacademy.org/