Labhpur

Labhpur
—  town  —
Labhpur Location of Labhpur in West Bengal and India
Coordinates	23°50′N 87°49′E
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District(s)	Birbhum
Parliamentary constituency	Bolpur
Assembly constituency	Labpur
Population	176,803 (2001)
Sex ratio	944 ♂/♀
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 35 metres (115 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 731303 • Telephone • +91 3463
Footnotes CD Block
Website	birbhum.nic.in

Labhpur (also spelt Labpur) (Bengali: লাভপুর), is a town with a police station in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known to the outside world as the native place of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, and located on the archaic narrow gauge railway, it is an extensive rural area subject to droughts in summer followed by occasional floods.

Geography

Labhpur is located at 23.83°N 87.82°E / 23.83; 87.82. It has an average elevation of 35 m (115 ft).

It lies in the flood plains of Mayurakshi River and when water is released from Massanjore dam and Tilpara barrage in large quantities, flood waters wreak havoc in the area. In 2006, nearly 50,000 people were marooned in Labhpur and surrounding blocks of Birbhum district.

Education

Labpur is very rich in education. There are present one high school for boys, one for girls, a Jr. high madrasha & a central govt. CBSE high school of co-ed education.There also present four primary schools & a college.

Transport

It is located on the Suri–Phutishanko (state highway 6) road and is about 12 km from Ahmedpur on the Ahmedpur Katwa Railway.

One pair of trains run daily along the 52 km Ahmedpur – Katwa narrow gauge (2' 6") line. It has remained a single line since its inception. Indian Railways took over the narrow gauge tracks between Katwa and Ahmedpur, and Katwa and Bardhaman from McLoyd and Company in 1966. The railways have identified poor turnout of passengers and their unwillingness to buy tickets as the reasons behind the losses incurred by the narrow gauge section.

The bus terminal is very good with every kind of mordant facility. It is very near of Labpur Sambhunath College & Block Development office. Labpur is well connected with important part of district.

Economics

"The charm of the narrow gauge train at Labhpur"
The train at times rattled through the golden paddy fields, with the ducks floating in the ponds and the birds flying around. The cow boy returns with his herd along the muddy path. It's Bengal at its best all through! The curves on the track and the rattles of the moving rail bus made up for an extra ordinary recipe all through. And once the curves were passed by, the track seemed to move straight into the horizon.

Picturesque stations crossed our way through. A station like Labhpur, which has been declared as a model station, has been a dream for me to visit once in my life time. And today my dream came true.

Labhpur is the home town to the famous Bengali writer, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. Another station that caught my attention particularly was Kirnahar. It is an old station, and has a lot of history behind it. The stations in this narrow gauge line have a similarity. Almost all of them have an existence of a banyan tree. It's wonderful to see them, truly!

Saurabh Basu

Traditionally, there used to be a weekly market, locally called hat. Apart from vegetables, such needs as pottery, wooden materials, iron materials, baskets, seeds etc. were available. But at present the economy of Labpur is change. There are 4 main market 1.Old bustard market ,2.Bdo complex , 3. Sastinagar market & 4.Hattala.Labpur also important for the villages situated near labpur.

Culture

Tarashankar country

Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, the Bengali writer, was born at Labhpur on 23 July 1898. He passed matriculation from Labhpur in 1916. Many of his novels and stories carry vivid descriptions of the area.

In the novel Hansulibanker Upkatha, he writes, “The Hansulibank countryside is somewhat rough land. Here, man’s fight is more with land, than that with rivers. When drought comes, in extreme summer, the river becomes a desert, it is a land of sand – only deep water somehow manages to weave a narrow way through it. The land then is transformed into rock. The grass dries up. The land heats up as if it is a piece of heated-up iron.”

In his novel Ganadevata, he quotes a rural rhyme

Poush-Poush, golden Poush,

Come Poush but don’t go away, don’t ever leave,

Don’t leave Poush, Don’t,

The husband and son will eat a full bowl of rice.

Festivals

The most important festival of Labhpur is Durga Puja, followed by Rash Yatra. On the day of Rash Yatra (a couple of days after the Durga Puja), a procession goes from the Thakur Badi to the Rath Tala. There, the annual feast of Krishna is celebrated. Another great festival of this region is the Fullara Mela (fair), which is held on the first full moon of Bengali month of Magh. The annual celebration of Laxmi Puja, Kali Puja and the Village Goddess Maa Rakhkha Kali are also celebrated. The Mahashivratri festival is observed by worshipping Shiva and holding fasts. The Prominent clubs celebrating Durga Puja include: 1. Palliswamaj. 2. Bright Star Club. 3. Atul Shiv Club (the Government Club)4.Sastinagar youth club. The Tran Samiti club celebrates Kali Puja.Sastinagar youth club also celebrates Kali puja.Muslim festivals (like Yeed-ul-jjua, Maharam ect.) also celebrates in labpur.

Nearby places

Fullara

According to mythology, when Mahadeva danced around with Sati’s dead body cutting it to pieces, the lip fell at Fullara. There is a big pond beside the temple. According to hearsay, Hanuman collected 108 blue lotuses from the pond when Sri Ramachandra required them for the worship of goddess Durga. It is considered to be one of the fifty-one shakti peethas in India.

Bele

There is a pond whose waters are popularly believed to have the powers to heal arthritis.

Gobinda Sagar

This is actually a part of Laghata River dissected off earlier. From this pond once, a statue of Lord Sri Krishna was found. It is located by the side of Rathtala region of Labhpur.

Thakur Badi

This is an ancient Temple decorated with precious marble stones, about 1 km from the station. This temple was originally founded by Satyanarayana Banerjee. Here, several idols of Gods are present, including those of Lord Sri Krishna, Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthik.

The Sadars

There are four groups of Temples at Labpur, which are popularly known as "Sadars". The temples usually are centering the four ancient shrines to Goddess Durga. These are:
1. Kulin Para, the group belonging to the Chattopadhay family.
2. Nicher Sadar, the group belonging to the Bandopadhay family.
3. Upaar Sadar, the group belonging to the Mukhopadhay family.
4. Dutta Pada, the group belonging to the Dutta family.
All these temples are enriched with inner-temples to Lord Shiva. The four families were once the Zamindar or Landlord of Labhpur, who wished to be remembered by erecting these temples.

See also

• Labhpur travel guide from Wikitravel