Purnia

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Purnia district.

Purnea/Purnia(पूर्णिया)
—  city  —
Purnea/Purnia(पूर्णिया) Location of Purnea/Purnia(पूर्णिया) in Bihar and India
Coordinates	25°47′N 87°28′E
Country	India
State	Bihar
District(s)	Purnia
Parliamentary constituency	Purnia
Population • Density	520,353 (2011) • 794.49 /km2 (2,058 /sq mi)
Literacy • Male • Female	62.10%  • 68.63% • 54.42%
Official languages	Hindi, Maithali, Urdu, Bengali
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 36 metres (118 ft)
Codes • Pincode • 854301 • Telephone • ++916454 • Vehicle • BR-11
Website	http://purnea.bih.nic.in

Purnia is a city and a Municipal Corporation in Purnia district of the Indian state of Bihar. It is located 400 km from Patna. The Indian army, Border Security Force (BSF),and the SSB and the have bases around the city. The Purnea Airport, which serves the city, is located within the Indian Air Force's cantonment area.

Name

The origin of the name appears to have different sources.

The name possibly originates from the Sanskrit word Purna–Aranya which stands for "complete jungle".

Purnia could be an altered form of the old name Purania, derived from the word purain or Lotus, which is said to have grown on the Kosi and Mahananda rivers. This derivation is stated by O'Malley and is also in the old gazetteer.^{[citation needed]}

An alternative could be a derivation from the words Pur Aranya. W.W. Hunter and Buchanan have mentioned the name of Purnia,^{[citation needed]} it being a forested area, using combination of the words purn and aranya (full and forest).

The name of Purnia's 600 year old temple of Mata Puran Devi (Kali), located about 5 km outside the city, is believed to be the name origin of Purnia.^{[citation needed]}

History

Purnia has a tradition of at least a few centuries behind it. Under the Mughal rule, the district comprised Sarkar Tajpur, east of the Mahananda and Sarkar Purnia, west of the river. Purnia, at that time was a great military seat under the rule of a Fauzadar as a frontier district; Purnia has always had an extra administrative importance. The district of Purnea in modern history was formed by the East India Company on February 14, 1770. . Even in the early British days, Purnia was considered to be an important responsibility particularly as it was located on the border of Nepal.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Purnia and its surrounding lands, lies in the sub-montane alluvial tract of the Gangetic Plain.

There is a hilly tract in the north with a small hill of Calcareous belt, called Chotapahar near Manihari. It has a slope from the north to the south and is traversed by a number of rivers and their tributaries. The district is composed of alluvial soil, partly old and partly new. The old alluvium is found in the north of the district where it consists of kankars (stone dust). The new alluvium is available in the south of the district and is composed of silt, clay and the sand. The alluvial soil is supposed to be brought by the Ganges and its tributaries from the Himalayas and is very rich with fertilizing elements.^{[citation needed]}

Climate

Purnia, with the highest rainfall in Bihar state, has a largely humid climate, with humidity rising to above 70%. A cold season, from November to February, is followed by a hot season from March to June. The monsoon season begins in early June and lasts until September, during which 82% of total annual rainfall falls.

January, the coldest month, has a mean daily minimum temperature of 5 °C (41 °F) to 10 °C (50 °F) 5-10 °C, and a mean daily maximum of 20 °C (68 °F) to 25 °C (77 °F). Wind is typically light in the non-monsoon seasons, but during the monsoon, storms and depressions originating in the Bay of Bengal cause heavy rain and strong winds.

Agriculture

Purnia is supplied by agriculture from its surrounding district. The alluvial soil, irrigated by the Kosi and Mahananda rivers, has been particularly suited to the paddy cultivation of rice. Other crops grown are potatoes, wheat, khesari, chickpeas, chillies peppers, maize, lentils, arhar dal, barley, sugarcane, tobacco, makhana, mung beans, and jute. The previous extensive growing of jute supported a former flourishing jute industry in the city.^{[citation needed]}

Transport

Rail

Purnia is connected through a still developing railway system. There are daily and weekly trains to Kolkata, New Delhi and other neighboring cities. Katihar is the nearest major railway station for connection to all parts of the country.

Air

The nearest airport is about 159 km away at Bagdogra.

Road

National Highways NH 31, NH 57 and NH 107 give access to the other states and cities, where state highways connect the neighboring cities and villages.

Language and literature

Hindi, Bengali Urdu and Santhali are the principal languages of Purnia, spoken with Maithili, Surjapuri, Polia, Angika and Santhali dialects. In most of the parts of Purnia, Maithili is spoken.

Purnia is associated with many poets and literary figures,^{[citation needed]} including:

• Satinath Bhaduri (1906–1965) – novelist and politician
• Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' (फणीश्‍वर नाथ रेणु) (1921–1977) – novelist

Education

Purnia has always been the centre of education in the north Bihar region. While previously there had been few schools, there has recently been a growth in numbers with most teaching curriculum to the CISCE (ICSE, ISC), CBSE and the Bihar Secondary and Higher Secondary Board.

Founded in 1800 at the time of British rule, Zila School is Purnia's oldest, and one of the city's largest. Other schools are Purnia Girls' High School, Braj Bihari Memorial School, Adarsha Vidyalaya, Millia Convent English School, Rambagh Vidya Vihar residential public school, Bijendra Public School (BPS), Don Bosco, Bright Career School, Manas Bharti Public School, Saraswati Vidhya Mandir, and Ursuline Convent English Medium School.

There are two engineering colleges, Millia Institute of Technology and Vidya Vihar Institute Technology, and Purnia College Purnia, Women's College Purnia, and Law College Purnia.

Colleges in Purnia deliver general and specialised honours degrees under the auspices of BN Mandal University.

Festivals

Idol of Devi Durga

Many religious festivals are observed in Purnia, including Chhath, Durga puja, Ramzan, Muharram, Laxmi puja, Diwali, Saraswati puja, Tij, Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi and Shab-e-Barat. Durga puja is celebrated every April at the Ramakrishna Mission.

Sport

Cricket, football hockey and table tennis are the most popular sports.^{[citation needed]} The Indira Gandhi Stadium and the DSA and Zila School grounds are the city's outdoor stadiums, and have hosted state level matches.^{[citation needed]} The stadium houses the SAI sports hostel for athletes. There are two indoor stadiums in the city.^{[citation needed]} This new stadium has facilities for badminton, table tennis, and other indoor sports.^{[citation needed]} Purnia has produced national football players Samad and Latif.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Purnia had a population of 520,353 . Males constitute 52.2% of the population and females 47.8%. Purnia has an average literacy rate of 35.1%, much lower than the national average of 64.8%: male literacy is 45.63%, and female literacy is 23.42%. In Purnia, 16% of the population is under 30 years of age. Purnea has a majority Biharis population .Other minority communities include muslims, Marwaris, Bengali and Punjabi.

Notable people

• Satinath Bhaduri (1906–1965) - novelist and politician
• Ajit Sarkar (1947–1998) - MLA politician
• N. K. Singh - former IAS officer, currently Rajya Sabha MP
• S.M Ghosh - former IPS officer, Director General of Police (CRPF) and member of Indian Government's UPSC
• Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' (फणीश्‍वर नाथ रेणु) (1921–1977) - Hindi novelist of the post-Premchand era
• Raja Prithwi Chand Lall Choudhary CBE - former Raja of Nazargunj, Indian princely state originating in Purnea
• Raja Bahadur Kirtyanand Sinha - former Raja of Banaili
• Rai Bahadur Nitya Gopal Ghosh - former barrister and Chairman of Purnea Municipality