Places in Purulia Sadar subdivision in Purulia district M: municipality, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, H: historical/ religious centre, F: facility Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
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.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
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.
Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Chharra had a total population of 6,131, of which 3,163 (52%) were males and 2,968 (48%) were females. There were 818 persons in the age range of 0–6 years. The total number of literate persons in Chharra was 3,312 (62.34% of the population over 6 years).[10]
Chhara High School is a Bengali-medium coeducational institution established in 1959. It has facilities for teaching from class V to class XII.[12]
Culture
There is a small rekha deul built of stone in the village. The tower is extensively carved. The ornamentation of the sikhara suggests that it belongs to an age earlier than the Telkupi temples, i.e., earlier than 11th century. There was another temple which has fallen. It was a plain pancha ratna temple. With loose Jain sculptures strewn around the village, it is possible that both were Jain temples.[13]
^"District Census Handbook, Puruliya, Series 20, Part XII A"(PDF). Deulghat - Pages 99-100: Brief Description of Places of Religious, Historical or Archaeological Importance and Places of Tourist Importance of the District. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
^"District Census Handbook, Puruliya, Series 20, Part XII A"(PDF). Charra - Page 103: Brief Description of Places of Religious, Historical or Archaeological Importance and Places of Tourist Importance of the District. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
^"District Census Handbook, Puruliya, Series 20, Part XII A"(PDF). Charra - Page 103: Brief Description of Places of Religious, Historical or Archaeological Importance and Places of Tourist Importance of the District. Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
^McCutchion, David J., Late Mediaeval Temples of Bengal, first published 1972, reprinted 2017, page 2. The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, ISBN978-93-81574-65-2