Cities and towns in the Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district M: municipal city/ town, CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, H: historical site, W: river project, C: craft centre Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly
73.58% of the population of Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision live in the rural areas. Only 26.42% of the population live in the urban areas, and that is the highest proportion of urban population amongst the four subdivisions in Purba Bardhaman district.[1] The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision.
As per the 2011 Census of India Kurmun had a total population of 8,478, of which 4,256 (50%) were males and 4,256 (50%) were females. Population below 6 years was 796. The total number of literates in Kurmun was 5,512 (71.75% of the population over 6 years).[2]
Kurmun High school is a coeducational Bengali-medium higher secondary school. Established in 1914, it has facilities for teaching from class V to XII. It is housed in a government building, it has 16 computers, a library with 6,000 books and a play ground.[4]
Kurmun also has a library named "Udayan Sangha Rural Library" with around 10000 books and some ancient books called 'Punthi'
Kurmun has two old temples, the Ishaneswar Shiva temple with a lingam in the shape of a trishula and Kalachand Dharmaraj temple in Buri Gachtala. Earlier, Kurmun used to celebrate two Gajan utsabs – Ishaneswar Gajan in the Bengali month of Choitro and Kalachand Gajan during Buddha Purnima. Now there is a combined Gajan festival in Choitro, celebrated by all castes in the village. In the earlier days there used to be a dance with a nara mundo (severed human head), that was collected from a dead body and painted in bright colours, this tradition still continues.[5] In the Ishaneswar Shiva temple there is an old stone idol of Saptamatrika Indrani. It is a rather unusual combination of Shiva and Shakti worship.[6]
In Kurmun, there is one Church at Arachiya More, where Christmas is celebrated by Christians.
In Palashi (also called Sonapalashi), an adjacent village, there is a Buro Shiva temple, constructed in 1872. It has an attractive terracotta façade. Lal Behari Dey, of Bengal Peasant Life (earlier named Govinda Samanta) fame was born at Palashi.[6]
Kurmun block primary health centre at Kurmun (with 10 beds) is the main medical facility in Burdwan I CD block. There are primary health centres at Baghat (with 4 beds) and Jamar, PO Korar (with 10 beds).[7] In 2012, the average monthly patients attending Kurmun BPHC were 4,880 and average monthly admissions were 112. It handled 799 annual emergency admissions.[8]
^ abChattopadhyay, Akkori, Bardhaman Jelar Itihas O Lok Sanskriti (History and Folk lore of Bardhaman District.), (in Bengali), Vol II, pages 576-77, Radical Impression. ISBN81-85459-36-3