Suri, Birbhum

Suri (pronounced [sIʊərɪ]) (also spelt as Siuri) is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Birbhum district.

Suri সিউড়ি
City
Siuri
Siuri railway station, Suri Municipality, Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church, Suri
Suri Location in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Suri Suri (India) Show map of India Suri Suri (Asia) Show map of Asia
Coordinates: 23.910°N 87.527°E / 23.910; 87.527
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Birbhum
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Body	Suri Municipality
Area [1]
• Total	9.47 km2 (3.66 sq mi)
Elevation	71 m (233 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	67,864[2]
• Density	7,166/km2 (18,560/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Bengali[3][4]
• Additional official	English[3]
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	731101 (Suri main) 731102 (Hatjan Bazar) 731103 (Barabagan) 731126 (Karidhya)
Telephone/STD code	+91 / 03462
Vehicle registration	WB-54
Lok Sabha constituency	Birbhum
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Suri
Website	birbhum.nic.in

Geography

8km
5miles

Ajay River

Bakreshwar
River

Mayurakshi
River

Tilpara
Barrage

B

Patharchapuri

R

Bakreshwar

R

Deucha

R

Bara Chaturi

R

Nakrakonda

R

Abinashpur

R

Hetampur

R

Purandarpur

R

Angar Garia

R

BTPP Township

R

Kankartala

R

Khoyrasol

R

Panrui

R

Chandrapur

R

Lokpur

R

Mohammad Bazar

R

Dubrajpur

M

Sainthia

M

Suri

M

Rajnagar

CT

Ahmedpur

CT

Kalipur

CT

Karidhya

CT

  

Cities and towns in Suri Sadar subdivision of Birbhum district
M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, B: Barrage.
Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

Location

Suri is located at 23.910°N 87.527°E / 23.910; 87.527.^[5] 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.^[6] It is on Panagarh–Morgram Highway.(known as N.H 60). It has an average elevation of 71 metres (233 feet).^[7] It is situated on the extended part of Chota Nagpur Plateau. Tilpara barrage on Mayurakshi River is located 3 km north-west of Suri.

As per the District Census Handbook 2011, Suri covered an area of 9.47 km².^[8]

History

Prior to the advent of the British in India and their acquisition of the territory of Bengal, Suri was but merely a small village. Yet, the British colonists preferred to choose Suri as the district headquarters of Birbhum, probably owing to convenience of transport and communication. Suri was well-connected to many places via road, however, it is not possible to tell about the conditions of those roads clearly. These roads can be traced in James Rennel's map of the 'Jungleterry District'(1779).^[7] After the defeat of Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, the British placed many puppet-kings in his place. When Mir Quasim was the Nawab, he ordered all the zamindars (landlords) to pay more revenue. At this, the ruler of Rajnagar, Asad Jama Khan disagreed. In December 1760, the army of the Nawab and the British marched together to attack Birbhum. Asad Jama Khan also got prepared with a cavalry of about 5,000 soldiers, and an infantry of nearly 20,000. In the battle, Asad Jama Khan was defeated and his zamindari was snatched. He took shelter amidst the very dense woods of Chotanagpur. There he had a clandestine meeting with a Maratha army general, Shivabhatta, and Shivabhatta joined him with a cavalry of two to three thousand soldiers as well as a large infantry. Another battle was fought near Kariddhya in 1763 in which he was defeated again. Thus, the British got the control of Suri.^[7] During the early years of the British rule, Bishnupur and Birbhum was administered from Murshidabad. Then, a new district was formed joining Birbhum and Bishnupur, and Suri was made the headquarters. The term "Suri" came from the people who lived here. In bengali"Suri" denotes the people who make alcohol, thus the name. During this time, British officials used the name '(Laat) Hydrabad', the name Suri was also used, but only later.^[7] G.R. Foley was the first District Collector of Birbhum. He was appointed in 1786. Then, J. Sherburne became the collector and after him, Christopher Keating became the collector.^[7] Suri Municipality started functioning from 1876. Then, the population of Suri was no more than 7,000. The first Chairman of the municipality was A.A. Owen. Rail transport arrived in Suri in 1913 when the first train started on the route Andal–Sainthia.^[9]

Economics

The chief industries of Suri include rice milling, cotton and silk weaving, and furniture manufacture.

In March 2008, a private Kolkata-based firm, Ramsarup Group, unveiled a proposal for large-scale investment in a greenfield power plant and cement manufacturing plant worth Rs 2200 crores (US$550 million) was submitted to the Government of West Bengal.^[10] Bakreshwar Thermal Power Plant is around 12 kilometres away from Suri town.

Demographics

Population of Suri

Year	Pop.	±%
1901	8,692	—
1911	9,131	+5.1%
1921	8,915	−2.4%
1931	10,908	+22.4%
1941	15,867	+45.5%
1951	18,135	+14.3%
1961	22,841	+25.9%
1971	30,110	+31.8%
1981	40,783	+35.4%
1991	54,298	+33.1%
2001	61,806	+13.8%
2011	67,864	+9.8%
2022	106,789	+57.4%
Source: District Census Handbook Birbhum, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A

As of 2011 Indian Census, Suri had a total population of 1,06,789, of which 54,589 were males and 52,200 were females. The sex ratio in Suri is 963. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 8,935. The total number of literates in Suri was 94,348, which constituted 88.3% of the population with male literacy of 92.8% and female literacy of 85.7%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Suri was 92.9%, of which male literacy rate was 94.8% and female literacy rate was 89.9%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 28,857 and 927 respectively. Suri had 25385 households in 2011.^[2]

Transport

Suri has a well organized road transport system with both Govt. Bus Service (SBSTC, NBSTC & WBTC) and private bus service. The town is well connected to major towns and cities like - Kolkata, Durgapur, Asansol, Purulia, Bankura, Medinipur, Digha, Massanjore, Dumka, Bolpur, Burdwan, English Bazar, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Katwa, Balurghat, Raiganj etc. through roadway.

Siuri is a model Railway Station. It is situated at the southern part of the town, at Hatjan Bazar. It connects Suri directly with places like Howrah, Kolkata, Bardhaman, Durgapur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Malda, Siliguri, Puri, Chennai, Surat, Jhajha, Asansol, Ranchi Nagpur, Bilaspur, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Dimapur, Jamshedpur, Purulia, Cuttack, Vijayawada, Raipur, Durg etc. Some of the important trains that run via Siuri are,

• Vananchal Express
• Surat–Malda Town Express
• Ranchi–Kamakhya Express
• Puri-Kamakhya Express (via Adra)
• Mayurakshi Fast Passenger
• Nagaon Express
• Dibrugarh–Tambaram Express
• Hool Express
• Siuri-Sealdah Memu Express

Language

Principal language of communication is Bengali, Hindi and English.

Education

Colleges

Suri Vidyasagar College main entrance

• Suri Vidyasagar College
• Birbhum Mahavidyalaya.^[11]
• Birbhum Institute of Engineering & Technology
• Sri Ramakrishna Shilpa Vidyapith, also known as "L. C. College

There few Diploma Technical Colleges (private), D.ED. Colleges and B.ED. colleges situated at Suri. Satsang Mission Medical College, Hospital & Cancer Research Institute is expected to be completed in the next 3 years.^[12]

Schools

• Total 18 Higher Secondary Schools including Levelfield School, Birbhum Zilla School are there. Others schools are R.T. Girls' High School (established-1884 as River Thompson Girls' High School, Suri Public and Chandragati Mustafi Memorial High School, Suri Benimadhab Institution (established-1917), Kaligati Smriti Narishiksha Niketan, Suri Ramkrishna Vidyapeeth and Muuk-Badhir Vidyalaya (Deaf and Dumb School, established-1936).^[7]

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, The Ramaranjan Town Hall and Public Library was set up in 1900. 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.^[7]

Civil Administration

There is a Suri municipality. It is divided into 21 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. Municipal Election 2021 Trinamool Congress won all 21 wards

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.^[13]

Places of worship

Terracota panels. Click on the pic to see more details of the carvings.

Radha Damodar temple at Sonatopara in Suri

“Serious scholars of terracotta have accepted Birbhum as the place where some of the finest terracotta temples of Bengal are found… the oldest and the finest temple — known as Radha Damodar temple — is in Suri town. It’s a majestic aatchala dedicated to Damodar, the other name of Shiva.”^[14]

David J. McCutchion mentions the aatchala Radha-Shyam temple built in the 17-18th century, brick-built with phulpathar facades richly carved.^[15]

Suri is one of 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 Anandapur Sarbajanin Matrimandir and Shib Mandir, Radha Ballav Mandir, Shani Mandir, Damodar Mandir, Rabindrapalli Kalibari, Rakshakali Temple, Kendua Dakshin Para Kali Mandir.

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.

Singha Bahini Mandir, situated in Barui-Para is another very old temple which attracts many devotees every day. The traditional-style Durga puja and Kali puja at the Singha Bahini Mandir is also enjoyed by the devotees.

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. The oldest one is Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church, Suri situated near Lalkuthipara in Suri.

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. Religious festivals like Durga Puja, Laxmi Puja, Kali Puja, Diwali, Jagaddhatri Puja, Janmashtami, Hanuman Puja, Ram Navami, Eid, Muharram, Christmas are celebrated in Suri. Book-fairs are also held every 3–4 years.

Climate

The climate of the district is generally dry, mild and healthy. The hot weather usually lasts 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

^[16]

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	48	24
July	38	24
August	35	24
September	...	...
October	35	16
November	32	11
December	30	7
Yearly	46	7

^[16]

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

References

1. "Suri Municipality". Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
2. "Census of India: Suri". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
3. "Fact and Figures". www.wb.gov.in. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
4. "52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. p. 85. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
5. "GeoHack - Suri, Birbhum". www.geohack.toolforge.org.
6. Eastern Railway time table
7. Suri Saharer Itihas by Sukumar Sinha, Ashadeep Publication
8. "District Census Handbook Birbhum, Census of India 2011, Series 20, Part XII A" (PDF). Section II Town Directory, Pages 1025- 1033. Directorate of Census Operations V, West Bengal. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
9. Kamangulo Sab Gelo Koi(Where Have the Cannons Gone), Dayal Sengupta, the Anandabazaar Patrika
10. "Ramsarup Group plans Siuri greenfield project". mJunction. 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
11. "Affiliated Colleges". www.buruniv.ac.in.
12. "Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony of Satsang Mission Medical College, Hospital & Cancer Research Institute along with various Projects held at Haripur Dham, Chandrapur, Suri, Birbhum".
13. MODERN LIFE ONLINE. "Suri: Old and Small City In Birbhum District You Must Visit". www.modernlifeonline.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
14. Sengupta, Somen. "Next weekend you can be at Suri". The Telegraph, 20 April 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
15. McCutchion, David J., Late Mediaeval Temples of Bengal, first published 1972, reprinted 2017, page 31. The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, ISBN 978-93-81574-65-2
16. http://birbhum.gov.in/DDAgri/PAO.htm#rail ^{[dead link‍]}