Adra, Purulia

This article is about the town in West Bengal, India. For other uses, see Adra.

Adra আদ্রা
Town
Adra railway station
Adra Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Purulia
Elevation	185 m (607 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	38,032
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	723121
Telephone code	91-03251
Sex ratio	1.2:1 ♂/♀
Lok Sabha constituency	Bankura
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Raghunathpur & Kashipur
Website	purulia.gov.in

Adra is a census town and a railway colony which was originally known for its 90% of Anglo Indian population in Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the seat of an important railway division.

Geography

The major sub-divisions of Adra are Subhasnagar, Beniasole, Palashkola, Jhariadih, Panchudanga, Laldanga, Daulatpur, Arabinda Pally, Medical colony, Children's Park and SER colonies (north and south)New colony.

The area forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills.

Railway centre

Adra is the divisional headquarters of the Adra division of South Eastern Railway. The economy of the town is driven by the presence of the railways there. It is one of the three most important coal loading divisions (the other two being Bilaspur and Chakradharpur) which supply coal to power plants across India.

An important railway junction, Adra railway station connects to Asansol on the Howrah-Delhi Main Line, Tatanagar on the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line, Kharagpur on the Kolkata-Chennai and Kolkata-Mumbai lines, and Gomoh on the Kolkata-Delhi line. The railroad station has four platforms which are busy throughout the day with trains passing to a number of destinations in each direction. The present station building was built on year 1903.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Adra had a population of 38032 Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Adra has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. Around 65% of the population are Anglo Indians earlier considered to be about 90% of the population. Towards the later years most of the Anglo Indians migrated to foreign countries such as Australia and England.

Tourism

Places of tourist interest close to Adra include Bankura, known for the 'Bankura Horse', clay sculptures, and Bishnupur known for its baluchari silk sarees and terracotta temples. There is also a nature park called "satabdi park" with a natural water reservoir called "shaheb bandh" and a forest called "mohanpura reserve forest". Joychandi Pahar(Hill) about 5.km away from Adra Railway Station is one of the popular places for Rock Climbing,picnic,shooting films, documentaries and music albums. It is a favourite location for so many Bengali, Hindi, Oriya, Bhojpuri movies, albums and serials. Gupi Gayan Bagha Bayan, Hirak Rajar Deshe, Gupi Bagha Phire Elo are the most popular movies in Indian Film history filmed at Joychandi Pahar ADRA location Directed By OSCAR Winner Late Satyajit Roy. Kashipur Rajbari also a tourist place near Adra. Pancheet Dam is not far away from Adra

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Beautiful Adra By Samiran Kundu

Education

Adra has a good number of schools. There is the Kendriya Vidyalaya, which is a part of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), under the Ministry of HRD. The South Eastern Railway Boys' School, South Eastern Railway Girls' High School, South Eastern Railway Primary School, Sacred Heart School, Ashram School, Vidyasagar Vidyapith. The buildings of Kendriya Vidyalaya (the old building) and SE Railway Boys' School are among the magnificent structures in the town which were built by the British.

A part of S.E.Rly. Boys' H.S. School, Adra

Culture

Adra can be considered a cosmopolitan town, representing a mix of diverse cultures of India. There are many people from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Orissa,Tamil Nadu, Gujrat, who live in Adra. The people of Adra are fond of Pujas. Every month there is one Puja or another. Starting from January–February till December, people are seen busy with celebrations. Come January, you have Saraswathi puja, then Ganesh Puja, Viswakarma Puja (a major attraction of Adra), Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja, Chat, Balaji puja, Eid, Guru Nanok Birthday and so on. The most important part of these all puja is the idol bisarjan at the last day of puja. People come together in the street and dance together to all the Bollywood hots including Bhojpuri and Bengali songs. Another very famous culture that's being followed for more than 100 years is the famous 31st Dance (31 December Night) that's celebrated every single year. All the Anglo families get together and have this dance every year, people from different places like Asansol, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Kharagpur etc. come to Adra for this night which is held at the South Eastern Institute.

Adra is known for Sacred Heart Church, which is one of the oldest churches built by the Britishers in 1819. Sacred Heart Church is the largest church under the Jamshedpur Diocese. Sacred Heart Church School is also considered to be the best convent school for exclusive education.

Sports

Adra is the state center for training for the Bharat Scouts and Guides, and holds the Presidents' Award selection camps occasionally. It has the SERSA Stadium and Engineering Ground where annual Football and Cricket Events organised by Railways and others are held. There are many Cricket and Football tournaments organised at Adra. ICL Madhav Rao Scindhia Memorial Cricket Tournament is one of the biggest events which organise by SERMC (Adra Division).NCC Club is a private coaching club for cricketers in Adra. Many of the former NCC players have been placed to Indian Railways and Government organisations.

Religious Institutions

Adra has a host of religious institutions including churches, mosques, and temples. Of particular interest are the Ram Mandir, Kamala Sthan, and the newly constructed Balaji Mandir. A Gurdwara is also present in Adra, which is very well constructed.