Chandrakona

Chandrakona is a town and a municipality in the Ghatal subdivision of Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. The city is located between Ghatal and Garhbeta. Chandraketu was the founder of the kingdom of Chandrakona. In the Ain E Akbari, the 16th century Mughal document, it was mentioned as ‘Mana’.

Chandrakona is located at It has an average elevation of 28 metres (91 feet).

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, scholar, social reformer and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance, was born at Birsingha on 26 September 1820. Ghatal subdivision, shown in the map alongside, has alluvial soils. Around 85% of the total cultivated area is cropped more than once. It has a density of population of 1,099 per km2, but being a small subdivision only a little over a fifth of the people in the district reside in this subdivision. 14.33% of the population lives in urban areas and 86.67% lives in the rural areas. 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.

As per 2011 Census of India, Chandrakona had a total population of 23,629 of which 11,977 (51%) were males and 11,652 (49%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 2,526. The total number of literate persons in Chandrakona was 17,564 (83.23% of the population over 6 years). as of 2001 India census, Chandrakona Municipality had a population of 20,400. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Chandrakona has an average literacy rate of 66%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 73% and female literacy of 58%. 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The headquarters of Chandrakona II Block are located at Chandrakona.

Chandrakona police station has jurisdiction over Chandrakona, Khirpai and Ramjibanpur municipalities and Chandrakona I and Chandrakona II CD Blocks.

The main economy is dependent on agriculture. Some of the main agricultural products are rice, potato and jute. Only large scale industry here is formed by about 20 cold storages of potato. A few of the percentage of the people are government employees, School Teachers and employed in other small private sectors. The financial status of most of the people is in middle class and lower middle class category.

The oldest bank in Chandrakona is United Commercial Bank (UCO). Apart from this other three esteemed nationalized banks have branches in this city. Those are State Bank of India (SBI), United Bank of India (UBI) and Canara Bank. Also Punjab National Bank has a branch at Kalikapur, which is adjacent to Chandrakona municipality. From 1 April 2021 as per govt india directive united bank of india and oriental bank of commerce merged with Punjab national Bank, so the ubi branch in chandrakona town has become Punjab national bank's branch office. The private Bandhan Bank has an operational branch here as well. One of the famous co operative bank in Bengal, "Tamluk Ghatal Central Co operative Bank" has an older branch here, which assists people for more than two decades. Other than those, few micro finance organizations operate from here. Their business and financial transactions basically deal with comparatively poor people in this city. Those are like "Chandrakona Samabay Samiti", "Bala Samabay Samiti", "Smartkart Financial Planners" etc. The city has one CSP from Bank of India, which is located at Jayantipur.

A traceable history of Chandrakona and its adjoining areas begins to emerge about 690 A. D. when the Malla Dynasty was founded at Bishnupur. It must have been at that time a prosperous place, but not much else is certain. Historically, it was turbulent times; the anarchical period known as Matsyanyaya (মৎস্যন‌্যায়) in the history of Bengal. But tucked into the less populated, forest covered fringes of the Chotonagpur plateau, the kingdom of Bishnupur lived by its own standards. And thanks to its excellent supply system of agriculturally rich areas irrigated by river Shilaboti and its canals, Chandrakona grew in eminence, though gradually. 17th century scholar Jagamohan Pandit, in his Sanskrit geography text Deshavali Vivriti, described Chandrakona as an important place in Bhan Desh a land lying between the rivers Kangsabati and Shilaboti; a rich land where quality jute grew in abundance and sustained a renowned jute textile industry. Cotton also grew, and the cotton textile industry was almost equally famous. Its rivers and waterbodies yielded abundant fish and sustained a large population of fishermen. This prosperity was gained even as the Mughals and the Pathans clashed over the terrain for dominance till the former emerged victorious. The political stability required for this prosperity came Chandrakona's way as the chief of a Rajput contingent, Indraketu, established almost independent rule here in the early 15th century. At about the same time another Rajput, Gajapati Singh, assumed the rule of Bagri, lying west of Chandrakona. These two tiny kingdoms fought each other several times during the next centuries, so that their family trees and fate became inextricably entangled. Chandrakona thrived during the century long rule of the Ketu kings. The town probably got its name from the third of them Chandraketu. Jogesh Chandra Basu, a scholar on the history of Medinipur, says that Chandrakona was previously known as Mana. Chandraketu ruled during the early decades of the fifteenth century. The Gurudwara of Chandrakona dates from this time. Guru Nanakji and Mardanaji came to Chandrakona in 1510 on their way to Puri and set up a manji here which has now evolved into a gurudwara revered and visited by Sikhs from different parts of the state. During Mughal rule Chandrakona retained its status of a semi independent kingdom. By the middle of the 16th century Birbhan Singh, a Chauhan, began a new line of rulers. They efficiently ruled over the town for about 150 years, till in the early eighteenth century Maharaj Kirtichandra of Burdwan overthrew Raghunath Singh, the last of them. However, most of what constitutes the glory of Chandrakona, its temple complexes and its large tanks, tell us of the interest the Bhan rulers took in public works as well as of their patronage of religion and art. The legendary prosperity of Chandrakona, a town with fifty two market places and a network of fifty three inter linked roads, owed itself to the efficient administration of the Bhan rulers. Chandrakona came under the British East India Company in 1760. The textile industry was most hardly hit as a consequence. The famous weavers of Chandrakona had either to re locate or to take up farming as profession. However, the town held its own as an important centre of trade and commerce. In the nineteenth century Chandrakona was known for producing quality brass utensils. It got its municipal administration in 1869 and Beverley's Census Report of Bengal, 1872, records that the town had a population of 21,311; that is to say, almost equal to its present population. Once a part of Hooghly district, the town was incorporated into the Ghatal subdivision of Medinipur district in 1872. Over the next six decades the population of the town depleted alarmingly. In 1931, it was reported to have a population of a little over 6000. Like its more famous neighbour Bishnupur, Chandrakona may also be termed a temple town. Its temples display the blending of several architectural styles the Rekha Deul, the char chala and at chala styles of Bengal, and so on. Some of them, like the one at Mitrasenpur, are decorated with excellent terracotta plates depicting events from the Mahabharata and the Avatars of Vishnu. The pancharatna temple of Malleswar is also a grand structure. But most of these temples have become dilapidated, and hardly any effort is being made to preserve these heritage structures. In addition to the temples, there are three Asthals i. e. monastic establishments of the Sri Vaishnava Ramanuja sampradaya hailing from the spiritual lineage of the Ahobila Mutt. The eminence of the Dharmathakur cult in Chandrakona points to the co existence for centuries of Brahminical and non Brahminical religions. Several Dharmathakur images are found at Gobindapur, Narahipur and Jayantipur localities of Chandrakona. The Shivagajan festival at the end of the Bengali year, one of the major religious festivals in Chandrakona, is also reminiscent of pre Aryan rituals.

Chandrakona is well connected by roads/highways to state capital Kolkata and other important towns of South Bengal including Medinipur (42 km South West), Burdwan, Bankura, Haldia, Kharagpur, and Tarakeswar. State Highway 4 (West Bengal) connects the town to National Highway 6 (Kolkata Mumbai) at Mechogram (60 km South East). The nearest railway station is Chandrakona Road railway station, 20 km West. Locals use bicycles and motorbikes for transportation within the town. Rickshaws, Battery operated rickshaws and cabs are also available.

There are schools and colleges in Chandrakona Town. Institute of Science & Technology is a technology oriented private college established in 2005. This institute is affiliated to Wbut. It is an emerging engineering and management college in West Medinipur district as well as in West Bengal. There is also another college named Chandrakona Vidyasagar Mahavidyalaya, which is under Vidyasagar University. The schools of Chandrakona Town are Chandrakona Jirat High School, Kalyanshri J D Girls School, Malleswarpur Sarada Vidyapith High School and Atasi Smriti High School. There is also a non governmental educational organization to help the poor meritorious students named Rakshabandhan For Education. Under Chandrakona Block II, there is a village named Kiageria, 3 km from the town. In this village, a non conventional school called School in the Cloud has been organized and established by Sarbik Palli Kalyan Kendra, a 27 year old non governmental organization. This school allows village children aged four to fourteen years old to learn subjects on their own through the Internet and Skype without teachers (self organized learning environment). This system has been introduced worldwide by Professor Dr. Sugata Mitra, 2013 TED Talks prize winner, of Newcastle University, UK.

There is a hospital in Chandrakona town. People of Chandrakona and its nearest areas mainly depend on that hospital.

Chandrakona Rural Hospital, with 60 beds at Chandrakona, is the major government Chandrakona II CD block.