Asansol

Initially people of Dravidian and Austroloid stock inhabited this region. Around two thousand five hundred years ago, it became an area of significant Jain activity. According to some, the last Tirthankar of Jain religion, Mahavira Vardhamana, used to live and work in the area. The district and headquarters town thus came to be known as Bardhaman. Some identify the spread of Jainism in West Bengal with the Aryanisation of the region. Evidence of major Jain activity exists in the Jain temples on Pareshnath Hill in neighbouring Jharkhand. There is an old Jain temple at Begunia on the bank of the Barakar river. A number of temples in neighbouring Bankura district also bear evidence of major Jain activity in the region.



Later, the area was possibly part of the Vishnupur kingdom, where the Malla dynasty ruled for around a thousand years till the advent of the British. There is a Vishnupur style temple in Chhotodighari village providing a clue to its links with Vishnupur. The local dialect and culture of the region has closer affinities with those of Bankura and Vishnupur than the other neighbouring areas. It is evident that the area was part of different kingdoms at different points of time.

Asansol is located at 23.68° N 86.98° E. It has an average elevation of 97 metres (318 feet). It is located between two mighty rivers, Damodar and Ajay. Another mighty river, Barakar, joins the Damodar near Dishergarh. A small rivulet, Nunia, flows past Asansol. The Ghagarburi temple on its banks attracts devotees round the year.

The climate of Asansol changes according to what the season is. There is a long summer, a rainy spring like season, a very short autumn and winter. It is probably sometime during the spring or early on in winter.

Asansol's economy is primarily based on the coal and steel industries. Situated in the Damodar River valley, the city has evolved and expanded over time to a current population of one million, ranking it 23rd in India. It is located about 200 km from Kolkata. The industrial growth that has taken place since the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991 is yet to make an impact on the Asansol industrial region. However, with the continued good performance and development of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, extensive activities of Eastern Coalfields, and the sanction of major investment for the modernisation of the IISCO Steel Plant of SAIL, things have started looking up again.

The uplands of Asansol subdivision and the laterite area of the district are in places covered with Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.), Mohua (Madhnea latifolia),Palas (Butea monosperma), Bans (Bambusa arundinacea), Shireesha (Albizzia lebbek), Arka (Calotropis gigantea), Kend Diospyros melanoxylon), Arjun (Terminalia Arjuna) and Ashan (T. tomentosa). The common plants in hedges and wastelands are lal-bharenda( Jatropha gossypifolia L.), Ban-okra (Urena lobata L.), Heliotropium strigosum Willd., Hati-soond (H. indicum L.), Ulu(Imperata arundinecea), Sida veronicifolia Lam., S.cordifolia L., etc.

The carnivora of the district comprise leopard, wolf, hyaena, jackal and other smaller species, but hyaenas and leopards are not common. Tigers were formerly common in the district, especially in the jungles of the Asansol subdivision adjoining the Jharkhand, but have now entirely disappeared. Wolves are scarce, and are mostly met with in the jungles north of Kanksa. Wild pigs are numerous throughout the district and monkeys also abound including the variety known as Hanuman. In the hilly areas an occasional python is met with. Poisonous snakes are very common and include several kinds of cobra, the karait and the deadly Russell's viper. Other most frequently seen varieties are the Dhamna and various species of harmless grass snakes.