About Birbhum

Birbhum is a district in West Bengal state of India. The district headquarters is located at Suri. It lies at the middle of the western border of West Bengal right below the narrow waist of the state_name. Birbhum is the northernmost district of "Bardhaman Division" -one of the three administrative divisions of the state_name. Called by the name of "The land of red soil" Birbhum is famous for its topography and cultural heritage which is unique and is somewhat different from that of the other districts in West Bengal. Birbhum has also been the proud abode of nobel laureates like Rabindranath Tagore and Amartya Sen.

Birbhum has a dual blend of bushy plateau (Chhotanagpur) terrain from the west with its partly migratory tribal (Santhal) anthropological components, that gradually merges with the alluvial plainland terrain with stable farmer communities towards the east. The district is cyclically dried and flooded by the rain-fed rivers like Ajay and Mor. Ridden with this geo-anthropological diversity this land has given birth to many cultural and religious movements in history. As a single district it harbours the largest number of shakti peethas exemplified particularly by Bakreshwar and Tarapeeth. Visva Bharati University at Santiniketan, established by Rabindranath Tagore, is one of the places Birbhum is internationally renowned for. The star attraction of many of the famous festivals of this district, including Pous mela, are the safron clad bauls singing their deep philosophical songs in the local dialect along with playing their folk music typified by the indigenous instrument called ektara.