Purulia district forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills.Raghunathpur subdivision occupies the northern part of the district. 83.80% of the population of the subdivision lives in rural areas. However, there are pockets of urbanization and 16.20% of the population lives in urban areas. There are 14 census towns in the subdivision.It is presented in the map given alongside. There is a coal mining area around Parbelia and two thermal power plants are there – the 500 MW Santaldih Thermal Power Station and the 1200 MW Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station. The subdivision has a rich heritage of old temples, some of them belonging to the 11th century or earlier. The Banda Deul is a monument of national importance.The comparatively more recent in historical terms, Panchkot Raj has interesting and intriguing remains in the area. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India Para had a total population of 9,697 of which 5,031 were males and 4,666 were females. There were 1,158 persons in the age range of 0-6 years. The total number of literate persons in Para was 5,453.
Civic administration
Police station
Para police station, along with Santaldih police station, has jurisdiction over the Para CD block. The area covered is 270.59 km2 and the population covered is 200,621.
CD block HQ
The headquarters of the Para CD block are located at Para.
Education
was established in 2008 at Usir, PO Chatarmahul. Para Shib Narayan High School is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1916. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII. It has a play ground and 2,500 books in the library.
Culture
Para was probably capital of the Panchkot Raj at some point of time. It may also have been associated with some other royal establishment. However, what remains of its royal connections are three dilapidated temples, one built of bricks, another built of stone and third one built of bricks and stone. Scholars date the brick temple as belonging to 10th-11th century. The stone temple, standing nearby, probably predates the brick temple. In the stone temple one can still see some of the intricate designs. It has a lot of similarity with another remarkable temple, located nearby, at Banda.There is an 11th century rekha deul at Banda. Numerous statues related to Jainism and Hinduism have been found at Haraktor.
Rekha deul
says that the pre-dominant traditional architectural style for temples in the western areas of Bengal in the pre-Muslim period is the tall curvilinear rekha deul and it went on developing from the late 7th century or early 8th century to around the 12th century, increasing its complexity and height but retaining its basic features. Such temples had “curvilinear shikhara with chaitya mesh decoration, surmounted by a large amalaka and kalasa finial. Examples of such dilapidated deuls are still standing at Satdeula, Bahulara and Sonatapal and Deulghat. On the brick deuls already mentioned here, plus Jatar and Para, “we find extensive and remarkably fine stucco work on carved brick”.
Para picture gallery
Some pictures are a part of Wiki Explores Purulia programme, an initiative by West Bengal Wikimedians User Group
