# Purulia

Purulia, officially Purulia Sadar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River.

## Geography
### Location

Purulia is located at 23°20′N 86°22′E﻿ / ﻿23.33°N 86.37°E﻿ / 23.33; 86.37. It has an average elevation of 228 metres (748 feet).

### Area overview

Purulia district forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills. Purulia Sadar subdivision covers the central portion of the district. 83.80% of the population of the subdivision lives in rural areas. The map alongside shows some urbanization around Purulia city. 18.58% of the population, the highest among the subdivisions of the district, lives in urban areas. There are 4 census towns in the subdivision. The Kangsabati (locally called Kansai) flows through the subdivision. The subdivision has old temples, some of them belonging to the 11th century or earlier. The focus is on education - the university, the sainik school, the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith at Bongabari, the upcoming medical college at Hatuara, et al.
The area is served by the Purulia Junction railway station.
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.

### Climate

Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures ranging from lows of 23 °C to highs above 38 °C. Winters are dry and cool, with daily temperatures ranging from 12 °C to 26 °C. Most of the rainfall occurs during the wet monsoons.
Climate data for Purulia (1991–2020, extremes 1901–2020) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 33.4 (92.1) | 37.3 (99.1) | 41.7 (107.1) | 46.0 (114.8) | 46.3 (115.3) | 46.2 (115.2) | 40.7 (105.3) | 37.8 (100.0) | 39.0 (102.2) | 36.3 (97.3) | 35.1 (95.2) | 33.3 (91.9) | 46.3 (115.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 24.2 (75.6) | 28.2 (82.8) | 33.1 (91.6) | 37.4 (99.3) | 37.9 (100.2) | 35.2 (95.4) | 31.9 (89.4) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.4 (88.5) | 28.7 (83.7) | 25.0 (77.0) | 31.3 (88.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.8 (53.2) | 15.4 (59.7) | 19.8 (67.6) | 24.2 (75.6) | 25.9 (78.6) | 26.0 (78.8) | 25.6 (78.1) | 25.5 (77.9) | 24.8 (76.6) | 22.2 (72.0) | 17.2 (63.0) | 12.8 (55.0) | 20.9 (69.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 3.8 (38.8) | 6.3 (43.3) | 10.7 (51.3) | 13.5 (56.3) | 15.6 (60.1) | 18.3 (64.9) | 17.8 (64.0) | 17.2 (63.0) | 17.0 (62.6) | 13.2 (55.8) | 7.7 (45.9) | 5.7 (42.3) | 3.8 (38.8) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 19.7 (0.78) | 15.3 (0.60) | 25.8 (1.02) | 39.7 (1.56) | 81.9 (3.22) | 250.6 (9.87) | 341.2 (13.43) | 295.8 (11.65) | 241.7 (9.52) | 92.9 (3.66) | 19.3 (0.76) | 13.6 (0.54) | 1,437.5 (56.59) |
| Average rainy days | 1.7 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 5.5 | 12.6 | 16.4 | 15.3 | 10.5 | 4.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 75.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 52 | 43 | 36 | 36 | 48 | 66 | 77 | 79 | 75 | 68 | 59 | 57 | 58 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department ||||||||||||||

## Administration
### Police stations

Purulia (Town) police station has jurisdiction over Purulia municipality and parts of Purulia I and Purulia II CD Blocks. The area covered is 13.9 km$^2$ and the population covered is 151,210.

## Demographics
### Languages

* Bengali (83.6%)
* Hindi (10.51%)
* Urdu (4.44%)
* Santali (0.32%)
* Marwari (0.3%)
* Other (0.83%)
Purulia (Muffasil) police station has jurisdiction over parts of Purulia I and Purulia II CD Blocks. The area covered is 434.57 km$^2$ and the population covered is 235,853.
Purulia Sadar Women police station was opened in 2014 at Bhatbandh, As of 2016, it is covering the jurisdiction of Purulia (T) PS, Purulia (M) PS, Kotshila PS, Arsha PS, Jhalda PS and Joypur PS.

## Education
### University

* Sidho Kanho Birsha University

### Degree colleges

* Raghunathpur College
* Achhruram Memorial College
* Bikramjit Goswami Memorial College
* Balarampur College
* J.K. College, Purulia
* Kashipur Michael Madhusudhan Mahavidyalaya
* Nistarini Women's College

### Engineering colleges

* Ramkrishna Mahato Government Engineering College

### Medical colleges

* Purulia Government Medical College and Hospital
* Purulia Homoeopathic Medical College & Hospital

### Polytechnic colleges

* Purulia Polytechnic

### Schools

* JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA PURULIA
* Sainik School, Purulia
* Purulia Zilla School
* DSK DAV Public School
* The Assembly of God Church School
* G.R.K. D.A.V. Public School
* Purulia M.M. High School
* Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith

## Notable people

* Gambhir Singh Mura