Baruipur is a city as well as a municipality located in the South 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal in India. It is at a distance of 25 km from the Sealdah Station. The South 24 parganas district has its headquarters in Alipore. It has the metropolitan city of Calcutta on one side and the remote riverine villages in the Sundarbans. The people of the district are mostly engaged in agriculture, industry and pisciculture.
The exact geographical location of Baruipur is at 22.35° North and 88.44° East. It has a mean elevation of 9 metres (29 feet). As per the 2001 India census, Baruipur has a population of 44,964. Males make up 51% of the population and females constitute 49%. Baruipur has a mean literacy rate of 84%, higher than the nationwide standard of 59.5%. 52% of the males and 48% of the females are literate. 8% of the population is children less than 6 years of age.
Baruipur is famous for the gajan utsab. As a certain legend goes, there was once a severe `lathi` fight between the lathials of the Sabarna Choudhurys of Barisa and the Roy Choudhurys of Baruipur pertaining to the boundary disputes of their respective Zamindaris. The head of the lathials of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury was Bhriguram. The lathials of Baruipur managed to decapitate him with a sword and won the battle. Nevertheless, Bhriguram was so much esteemed in the region that a lock of his hair was preserved. People still honour Bhriguram in public by displaying the preserved lock during the gajan mela at Baruipur.
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