Panihati

Panihati পানিহাটি
—  city  —
Barrackpore Trunk Road at Panihati
Panihati Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates: 22.69°N 88.37°E / 22.69; 88.37
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	North 24 Parganas
Government
• Municipality Chairman	Charan Chakraborty
Elevation	13 m (43 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	348,379
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	WB 24
Lok Sabha constituency	Dum Dum
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Panihati, Khardaha
Website	north24parganas.nic.in

Panihati is a city and a municipality under Khardaha/ Ghola police stations of Barrackpore subdivision. in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

Geography

Panihati has an average elevation of 13 metres (42 feet).

Panihati covers two important Railway stations from Sealdah north main section line - 1)Sodepur -a densely populated urban city connected to Kolkata by Barrackpore Trunk Road and with Barasat via Sodepur Road through Madhyamgram. 2) Agarpara. Panihati Municipality is located On BT Road at the western side of Sodepur Rail station.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Panihati had a population of 348,379. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Panihati has an average literacy rate of 82%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 79%. In Panihati, 8% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Etymology

Legend says that towards the end of the 13th Century A.D., Maharaja Chandraketu of Deganga established a garh at Panihati. He placed an icon of Bhawani within the fort. The Bhawani Garh is somewhere in Ghoshpara to the north of Panihati, now as called Bhawanipur. Some says that the Kali image in the Pancharatna Temple of Trannath was once located in the palace of Chandraketu at Berachampa. During the Turko-Afghan raid some one had carried the image away and established the same here. The other version is that the idol belonged to the Gangulies of Baghbazar and was sent here during Maratha raids in the 18th Century. Naming of the Places/ villages under Panihati Municipality.

PANIHATI
Panihati was known as a leading trade or Business centre in early days when the river route was a main means communication and even trade with east Bengal - Jessore was made. The town was known as ‘Pannyahati’ (Emporium for the Merchandise ). From that early name this place is said to be converted as Panihati later.
In another version, a special rice named Peneti was imported at this place from Jessore district and the name Panihati might have a link with Peneti.
Once this place was the centre of worship of the Buddhist Tantricts, the Shaibas, the Kapaliksand the Nathas. In the sixteenth century it was also known as a major centre of the Baisnabas. In that way, the place was very secret or Punnyahatta (Holy place) and later on converted to Panihati.
According to a famous linguistic expert and professor Dr. Paresh Chandra Majumder, the word Panihati was taken from the word ‘Panyahattic’.

SUKCHAR
Once this place was famous for producing home-based sugar (Sharkara). From this Sharkara the place might have been renamed as Sukchar. There is a opinion that the place was made of the sand of the river i.e, "Char" which was later on converted to Sukchar. In another version, the inhabitants of this place were rich through manufacturing & business and the people used to live in "Sukh" or "happily". Name of Sukchar name might have been obtained form "Sukh".

KRISHNAPUR
Earlier this place had a connection with the king of Krishnanagar, Raja Krishnachandra. From that connection the place might be known as Krishnapur. It is said that the holy idol of Radha-Krishna had been established here. Besides, the holy Brahmins used to live here which was responsible for Krishnapur.

NATAGARH
Earlier this place had nine garhs (forts); from which the place was known as Natagarh. During the Mughal dynasty the local Bhuinyan or the Jaminders had built some short height forts for security purpose. In local language 'nata' means 'short'. Thus the place was named, short-heighten fort - Natagarh.

GHOLA
Earlier this place was connected with the Ganges through canals. The passengers used to refresh themselves with drinks made of Curds, named ‘Ghol’. From this Ghol the place got its name Ghola.

USHUMPUR
The name of this place Ushumpur was taken from Oshmanpur, which was adopted from the name of the local Jaigirdar Osman Ali Khan.

TARAPUKUR
The name Tarapukur was taken from Tara Shah, who was the disciple of Mohiuddin Kader Gilani of Persia (now Iran). He used to live here, hence the place was known as Tarapukuria or Tarapukur.

SODEPUR
Once a community named Sayyid used to live in this area from which the place was known as Sayyidpur or Sodepur.

AGARPARA
Once upon a time a community named Aghore, who were specialized in boat making, used to live here. Earlier this place was known as Agrapalli from where the name has been changed into Aagarpara. Under 24 Parganas, Agarpara Union established on 23rd July, 1867, contained 9 villages, those are Barasat, Basirhat, Satkhira, Kalarua, Debhattu, Taki, Agarpara, Navabgunj and Kalinga.

Literary Link

• The name of Sukchar, which belongs to Panihati was mentioned at the Manasamangal Kāvya written by Bipradas Pipilai in 1495 A.D.
• Panihati was mentioned at the Chaitanya Mangala Kāvya written by Jayananda and Lochandas in the sixteenth century.
• Panihati was mentioned at Chaitanya Bhagavata, written by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura in 1548 A.D.
• Panihati had been mentioned at Bansi Bistar, by Nityananda.
• Panihati was mentioned at the Vaishnava Namdeva by Debaki Nandan.
• Panihati was mentioned at a book named Chaitanya Charitamrita written by Krishnadasa Kaviraja within 1580-1610 A.D.
• Panihati was mentioned at the ancient books like Bhakti Ratnakar and Chaitanya Chandroday.

Healthcare

North 24 Parganas district has been identified as one of the areas where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination.

Educational System

The education system is very good out here with no. of primary and High Schools. But the No. of Higher Secondary schools in fairly less in comparison with the No. of Students. However, students can avail the quality and higher education in Kolkata as the area has been brought under Kolkata Municipal Corporation for past several years.

Art and Literature

The famous Hungryalist literary movement was started by Malay Roy Choudhury and Samir Roychoudhury whose mother Amita belonged to the Banerjee family of Nilambati. Kishori Mohan Banerjee, the grandfather of the Hungryalists was recipient of gold medal for having assisted Ronald Ross who discovered the reasons for spread of malaria. Kishori Mohan was one of the founder members of the Panihati Cooperative Bank and was an active member in the Indian freedom struggle. Another famous leftist politician and theatre personality Tridib Ranjan Lahiri belonged to the Puthia Raj family lived here. Today, several religious festivals are held in Panihati Mocchobtola to mark Sri Chaitanya's festival of Dand Mahotsav on the banks of River Ganges. Raghab Bhavan, a famous temple in Panihati also celebrates festivals like Dand Mahotsav, Rash Purnima, Janmashthami, Rath Yatra (the Chariot Festival) with great pomp and vigour by distributing food to the poor etc.