Nanoor
Nanoor, is a village with a police station in Nanoor CD block in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal. Nanoor is the birthplace of 14th century lyric poet Chandidas of Vaishnava Padavali fame. It is developing as a craft centre with NGO support. With the massacres in 2000, Nanoor was in intense media focus.
History
Archaeological finds
The archaeological department of Calcutta University organised an excavation programme in Nanoor in 1932 and 1957 but nothing much has happened since then. The archaeological discoveries at Jalundi village in Nanoor block in 2007 are believed to be the ruins of the ancient Pala or Sen dynasties.Chandidas
According to the historian Binoy Ghosh, there were at least three poets associated with the name of Chandidas. They were identified as ‘Baru’, ‘Dwija’ and ‘Din’. Baru Chandidas possibly belonged to Chhatna in Bankura district and he composed Srikrishnakirtan. Not much is known about Din Chandidas, except that he also composed on the life of Sri Krishna. Dwija Chandidas possibly belonged to Nanoor and composed lyrically rich creations initiating the finest traditions of Bengali padavali. The Nanoor-Kirnahar area is full of folk-myths about Chandidas – the story of his love for a washer woman, the story of his religious devotion and music and the story of his death.The temple of Bisalakhi or Bagisree is believed to have been the centre of the devotional activity of Chandidas. The place at Nanoor where the Basuli temple now stands and the surrounding area resembling a mound is called Chandibhita. An effort was made by the University of Calcutta to understand what is there in the mound by excavating a small section of it. In the “Excavations at Nanoor by K.G.Goswami, March 1950”, the report says that in the mound, with a radius of around 550 feet and height of 17 feet, there are five occupational levels. The lowest of these levels belong to the Gupta era. At another place in Nanoor, some coins of the Gupta era were recovered. During and prior to the Gupta era, Buddhism had a strong hold over Bengal and early tantric practices prevailed.
Chandidas lived about 500 years ago, just around or a little prior to the arrival of Muslims in Bengal. By then the poet Jaydeva had already composed the Gita Govinda. It is natural that such an age could produce a tantric devoted to his goddess, who could indulge in composing Sahajiya lyrics and propagate the merits of humanism. His compositions were a possible source of inspiration for Sri Chaitanya.
There are claims that Chandidas originally belonged to Ketugram, in neighbouring Purba Bardhaman district, and later came to Nanoor.
Geography
Location
Nanoor is located at. It has an average elevation of.It is 47 km from Suri, 18 km from Bolpur/Santiniketan and 29 km from Ahmedpur.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the area. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Physical features
Nanoor is located in the south-eastern corner of the district which is an alluvial plain between Ajay and Mayurakshi Rivers. It has hot and dry summers, spread over March - May, followed by the monsoon from June to September. 78 per cent of the rainfall occurs during this period.As per historical records there have been at least 13 intensive droughts between the years 1799 and 1855. The drought of 1836-37 was particularly severe. Floods also wreak havoc. Some 7,000 mud houses either collapsed or remained in bad shape in Nanoor and three other blocks, affecting around 15,000 villagers in 2004.
Police station
Nanoor police station has jurisdiction over Nanoor CD block.CD block HQ
The headquarters of Nanoor CD block are located at Nanoor.Demographics
As per the 2011 Census of India, Chandidas Nanur had a total population of 8,399 of which 4,268 were males and 4,131 were females. Population below 6 years was 977. The total number of literates in Chandidas Nanur was 5,409.Socio-economics
Nanoor Block covering 24 villages, is economically backward. It has many artisan families who live below the poverty line. A large section of the population is either Muslim or belong to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Although the population is talented they hardly had an opportunity to earn a decent living. The Institute of International Social Development – an international NGO, based and headquartered in Kolkata, has initiated steps to rectify the situation. The artisans get an opportunity to meet people from different countries. Such people visit Nanoor to have a first hand experience of the living and working conditions of artisans. Internationally renowned designers are helping the artisans to use the traditional kantha craft for producing modern-day utilities.Traditionally, there used to be a weekly market, locally called hat. Apart from vegetables, such needs as pottery, wooden materials, iron materials, baskets, seeds etc. were available. With the passage of time the periodicity gradually increased till it became a daily market.
Nanoor massacre
On 27 July 2000, CPI activists allegedly killed 11 landless agricultural labourers in Suchpur, near Nanoor and under Nanoor police station. Just after the massacre CPI leaders said those killed were dacoits but a few days later they admitted that the dead were landless farmers and that they were killed over a land dispute. Two of the CPI's senior leaders, Anil Biswas and Biman Bose, both politburo members, condemned the Nanoor killings as well as the loss of lives in incidents of violence in the preceding weeks.The Hindu wrote, "On a long term, the killings, symbolising the birth of a new theatre of violence after Keshpur in district Midnapore - where deaths and maiming in political clashes have become a bizarre routine - constitute an extremely disturbing augury for the society in Bengal."
The prime witness to the Nanoor killings was injured in an attack allegedly by CPI-M activists. The Statesman, in an editorial, wrote, "The sole purpose in attacking the prime witness in the gruesome Nanoor massacre of July 2000 in which 11 Trinamul Congress supporters were slaughtered by armed CPI cadres was to shield those responsible and abort their trial, by hook or by crook. The irony is that although five years have elapsed since the occurrence of the horrendous killings by the Marxists, the trial of their 79 accused comrades has not yet begun. Repeated postponement of hearing because of failure of the accused to turn up in court has made the outcome uncertain."
The Nanoor area has continued to be turbulent, with political clashes and murders continuing. On the basis of a FIR lodged with the police against CPI men, the police made arrests and in August 2001 they submitted charge sheets against 82 accused. The trial started in 2000 and continued for eight years.
The session court delivered verdict on Nanoor Massacre case in 2010, when 44 persons were convicted and sentenced to Life Imprisonment. Out of the 44, four were CPI members.
Education
Nanoor Chandidas Memorial High School is a Bengali-medium co-educational institution established in 1937. It has arrangements for teaching from Class V to XII.Chandidas Mahavidyalaya was established at Khujutipara in 1972.
Culture
Temples
There is a temple dedicated to Devi Basuli at Nanoor. The Navaratna temple at Brahmandihi, Kirnahar Vadrokali Tala Temple, Parota Mahaprabhu Tala Temple and the Chand Roy temple and four Shiva temples at Uchkaran are amongst the temples under the protection of the state archaeological department. The renowned Navaratna temple was undertaken by the ASI but is now in bad shape. The four Shiva temples carry somewhat unusual terra cotta sculptures that need preservation. In 2001, the invaluable and rare black-stone Saraswati idol went missing from the Bishalakshmi temple.David J. McCutchion mentions several temples in the Nanoor area:
the Shiva temple at Thupsara built in 1833 as a standard tightly ridged early rekha deul of Birbhum-Bardhaman type with terracotta carvings on three sides,
the Jora Shiva temples at Serandi built in 1830 as a late wide ridging rekha deul with terracotta carvings,
the four Shiva temples at Uchkaron built in 1769 as standard small char chala structures with rich terracotta facades,
the small decorated char chala Shiva temples at Nanoor,
the Jora Shiva temple at Nanoor as a standard ‘Hooghly-Burdwan’ 18th century or earlier small at chala structures,
the Vishnu temple at Serandi built in mid 19th century as a navaratna with turrets arranged without an upper storey and with porches on triple archways with terracotta façade, and
the renovated Chand Raya temple at Uchkaran as a small flat roofed or Chandni type structure with traditional pillars and terracotta decoration.
Fairs
A fair is organized annually on the occasion of dol purnima on the bank of the Dontapukur at Nanoor in memory of Chandidas and Rajakini Tami. It is called Chandidas Mela and was earlier organized near Bisalkshi temple.Japeswar Shiva-Charturdashi Mela is organized at Japeswar in the Nanoor area. Locals here trace back the history of the Shiva temple to 1000 BC.
Radhamadhab Mela is organized at Charkalgram on 14 Chaitra and continues for a week.
Pirer mela is organized at Sherpur for 5/6 days in the month of Magha.
In the month of Falgun, a fair is organized at Basapara. It was started by Atai Mian, a zamindar of the area.
See also - Fairs in Birbhum