Barpathar

Barpathar is a town as well as a town area committee situated in the Golaghat district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters of the Golaghat district are positioned at Golaghat. The district spreads over an area of 3502 square km. Its average elevation is 100 m above sea level. According to the 2001 India census, Golaghat district has a population of 945,781. As boundaries, it has the river Brahmaputra to the north, the state of Nagaland to the south, the Jorhat district to the east and the Karbi Anglong and Nagaon district to the west. The Dhansiri is the main river, which starts off from the Laisang peak of Nagaland. It traverses a distance of 352 km from south to north before uniting with the Brahmaputra. The catchment region of this river has a total area of 1220 square km. The Dhansiri has four rivulets, namely Doyang, Nambor, Doigrung and Kalioni. The river Kakodonga marks the boundary between Golaghat and Jorhat districts. The district experiences tropical type of climate with hot and humid weather conditions prevailing most of the summer and monsoon months. The average annual rainfall is 1300 mm. Highest rainfall occurs in the months of June and July. The temperature ranges from a maximum of 38.0ºC in June to a minimum of 10.0ºC in December.

The exact geographical location of Barpathar is at 26.3° North and 93.87° East. The town has a mean elevation of 99 metres (324 feet). The river Dhanshiri runs along the south- west border of the town a major road joins Barpathar at the northwest with the District town of Golaghat situated 44 kilometres to the northwest. The same road also links the town with the National High Way No 36 on the west in turn connecting the town by road to Guwahati. The Railway line of the North Eastern Railway connecting Guwahati and Dibrugarh splits the town in two parts, with Barpathar Railway Station in the middle. Other rods connecting the town to different areas are the Uriamghat Road, the road running from the east to the north east to Rengmai on the bank of Doiyang river, the road that goes from the east to the north west connecting the town with Jamuguri, Furkating and then to Golaghat and the road coming to the west part of the town from Golagaht.

The main occupation of the people is agriculture. There are a cluster of villages near Barpathar which includes villages like the Dubarani, Baramukhia, Kordoiguri, Dhundasam, Rengmai, Sewaguri, Premhara, Jorhatiya, Pabhajan, Boranagar, Hezari, Sarulangtha, Upperlangtha, Nahorani, Jaljori, Singimari, and the like. The villages have a large number of orchards that grow paddy fields, coconuts, bananas, pineapples, lichees, betel nuts, sugar cane fields, etc. Since Barpathar is rich in monsoon fed fertile lands, it is known as the "Granary of Sivasagar". It produces rice, sesame, mustards, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables and tea. The town has countless tea estates. Some of these are the Pabhajan Tea Estate, the Bhuyan Bagan, the Dighali Tea Estate, the Rengmai Tea Estate and the Singimari Tea Estate. The area adjoining Uriamghat produces large amounts of crude oil that partly sustains the Numaligarh Oil Refinery.

The town of Barpathar has many categories of Assamese speaking people. They are the Ahoms, the Sutias, the Bodos, the Kacharis, the Kalitas, the Mahantas, and the Brahmins. The town has many Bengali speaking people and also small fractions of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists. The Marwari business community and the Buddhists Shyam community are also residents of this district.

The Barpathar Higher Secondary School, established in 1948 by Mr. Mineswar Gogoi, is the oldest educational organization. Other educational institutions are Hindi School, Bengali School, Girls High School, Industrial Technical Institute (ITI) and the Barpathar College. A great many English Medium Schools have been established in the Town during the last 15 years. Important persons of this town are Prof. Biseswar Hazarika, Mr Anup Kumar Sahu, Mr Prafulla Handique, Mr Shubhan Bhuyan, Dr. Utpal Bhuyan, and many others.

Every village in the town of Barpathar has a Namghar where the Vaishnava followers get together to perform nam prasangs offering prayers to Lord Krishna. Various religious Bhawanas (dramas) are also presented in these namghars. Moreover, there is also a Sarvajanin Mandap where Durga Puja is celebrated every year. `Bihu` Sanmilan held in April each year, in the Hindu Month of Vaishakha (Assamese Bohag) attracts great many Bihu dancing troupes to the town.

As per the 2001 India census, Barpathar has a population of 7078. Males make up 53% of the population and females constitute 47%. Barpathar has a mean literacy rate of 78%, greater than the nationwide standard of 59.5%. 56% of the males and 44% of the females are literate. 12% of the population is children whose age is less than six years.