Purbasthali is a village with a police station in Kalna

Kalna

Ambika Kalna or simply Kalna is a town, a municipality and head quarters of Kalna subdivision in Bardhaman District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated on the western bank of the Bhāgirathi. The town is more popularly known as Ambika Kalna, named after a very popular Deity of...

 subdivision of Bardhaman district

Bardhaman District

'Bardhaman district is a district in West Bengal. The headquarter of the district is Bardhaman, though it houses other important industrial towns like Durgapur and Asansol...

. It is located 120 km north from Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

. Also known as Chupi Char, it lies on the banks of a large oxbow lake created by the Ganges river

Ganges River

The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...

 and is only a few km from the old and holy town of Nabadwip

Nabadwip

Nabadwip is a city and a municipality in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its name means "9 islands" in the Bengali language. The islands are named Antardwip , Simantadwip, Rudradwip, Madhyadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Koladwip...

. The 2-3 km long lake attracts migrants and water birds. The Purbasthali area has a fairly high level of arsenic in the ground water.

Geography

Purbasthali is located on the agriculturally rich alluvial plains between the Bhagirathi, Ajay

Ajay River

The Ajay River is a major river in Jharkhand and West Bengal. The word “Ajay” means “not conquered”.-Geography:The Ajay River originates on a small hill about 300 metres high, south west of Munger in Bihar. It then flows through Jharkhand and enters West Bengal at Simjuri, near Chittaranjan...

 and Damodar

Damodar River

Damodar River originates near Chandwa village, Palamau district, on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Jharkhand state in eastern India, and flows eastward for about 592 km through the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal to the estaury of the River Hooghly...

 rivers. Temperatures in this region varies from 17-18°C in winter to 30-32°C in summer.
The whole area of Purbasthali is covered with greenery, fruit-gardens,flower-gardens and agricultural fields producing a considerable amount of vegetables and fruits for export.

Transport

Purbasthali is 73 km from Bandel

Bandel

Bandel , founded by Portuguese settlers, is a gram panchayat in Chinsurah-Mogra block in Chinsurah subdivision of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is under Chinsurah police station. A major junction station of Eastern Railway, it is 40 km from Howrah station...

 and 8 km from Nabadwipdham

Nabadwip

Nabadwip is a city and a municipality in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Its name means "9 islands" in the Bengali language. The islands are named Antardwip , Simantadwip, Rudradwip, Madhyadwip, Godrumdwip, Ritudwip, Jahnudwip, Modadrumdwip, and Koladwip...

 on the Bandel-Katwa branch line of Eastern Railway

Eastern Railway (India)

The Eastern Railway is one of the 17 zones of the Indian Railways. Its headquarters is at Fairley Place, Kolkata, and comprises four divisions: Howrah, Malda, Sealdah, and Asansol. These are the financial departments and each has an assistant divisional financial manager , divisional railway...

.
On road, from Bandel on S.T.K.K.Road(Saptagram TribeniKalna Katwa Road)80 km towards north, 38 km towards south from Katwa.

Avi-fauna

Oxbow lake is famous here for thousands of migratory birds coming here from far-off places including Siberia in winters. Hundreds of bird species (Birds of Purbasthali) can be seen here. People from far-off places come here for Birding.

Notable personalities

• Dr. Upendranath Brahmachari
  Upendranath Brahmachari
  Sir Upendranath Brahmachari, KIH was a noted Indian scientist and a leading medical practitioner of his time...
  
   (1873 – 1941), the renowned scientist, hailed from Purbasthali. http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/scientists/UNBrahmachari.htm http://bardhaman.gov.in/personality/emiper.htm
• Krishnanath Nyayapanchanan (1833-1911) Sanskrit scholar, authority in Nyaya, Mimangsa and other branches of Indian philosophy http://a-bangladesh.com/banglapedia/HT/K_0301.htm
• Baneswar Sarkar won the national award for weaving in 1998. http://www.craftrevival.org/Ahtml/Awards/003367.htm

Purbasthali is now declared a model railway station.

See also

• Purbasthali I (community development block)
  Purbasthali I (community development block)
  Purbasthali I is an administrative division in Kalna subdivision of Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Purbasthali police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is at Srirampur...
  
  
• Purbasthali II (community development block)
  Purbasthali II (community development block)
  Purbasthali II is an administrative division in Kalna subdivision of Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Purbasthali police station serves this block...
  
  

External links

• Birding at purbasthali - birds checklist at bengalbirds.info http://www.bengalbirds.info/purbasthali_oxbowlake_birds.php