Sagar Island

Geography

R: rural/ urban centre Places linked with coastal activity are marked in blue Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly |mark-coord1= | label-pos1=bottom|label1= Kakdwip| numbered1=R| mark-title1= Kakdwip (R)|label-color1= #800000 |label-size1=11| mark-size1=12|shape1=l-circle|shape-color1=#C42222 |shape-outline1=white|label-offset-x1=2 |mark-coord2= | label-pos2=left|label2= Harwood Point| numbered2=R| mark-title2= Harwood Point (R) |shape-color2=#0048BA |mark-coord3= | label-pos3=right|label3= Namkhana| numbered3=R| mark-title3= Namkhana (R) |mark-coord4= | label-pos4=right|label4= Fraserganj| numbered4=R| mark-title4= Fraserganj (R) |shape-color4=#0048BA |mark-coord5= | label-pos5=right|label5= Rudranagar| numbered5=R| mark-title5= Rudranagar (R)|shape-color5=#0048BA |mark-coord6= | label-pos6=right|label6= Gangasagar| numbered6=R| mark-title6= Gangasagar (R) |shape-color6=#0048BA |mark-coord7= | label-pos7=left|label7= Patharpratima| numbered7=R| mark-title7= Patharpratima (R) |mark-coord8= | label-pos8=left|label8= Gobardhanpur| numbered8=R| mark-title8= Gobardhanpur (R) |shape-color8=#0048BA |mark-coord9= | label-pos9=right|label9= Ganespur| numbered9=R| mark-title9= Ganespur (R) |mark-coord10= | label-pos10=right|label10= Ramganga| numbered10=R| mark-title10= Ramganga, Patharpratima (R) |mark-coord11= | label-pos11=right|label11= Harinbari| numbered11=R| mark-title11= Harinbari (R) |mark-coord12= | label-pos12=right|label12= Bakkhali| numbered12=R| mark-title12= Bakkhali (R) |shape-color12=#0048BA |mark-coord13=| label13=Sagar Island| label-color13 = Black| label-angle13=-0| label-pos13=right| label-size13=10| mark-size13=0| mark-title13=none |mark-coord14=| label14=Hooghly River| label-color14 = #77A1CB| label-angle14=-60| label-pos14=right| label-size14=10| mark-size14=0| mark-title14=none |arc-coordC=| arc-textC= Bay of Bengal | arc-text-colorC = soft blue| arc-angleC=200| arc-gapC=-1.0| arc-radiusC=1.6| arc-text-sizeC=14}}

Location

Sagar Island is located at . It has an average elevation of 4 m.

Climate

| Jan record high C = 30.6 | Feb record high C = 33.9 | Mar record high C = 38.3 | Apr record high C = 39.4 | May record high C = 38.7 | Jun record high C = 40.0 | Jul record high C = 36.1 | Aug record high C = 36.7 | Sep record high C = 36.1 | Oct record high C = 34.0 | Nov record high C = 32.9 | Dec record high C = 32.9 | year record high C = 40.0 | Jan record low C = 7.8 | Feb record low C = 7.2 | Mar record low C = 12.2 | Apr record low C = 12.9 | May record low C = 17.5 | Jun record low C = 18.0 | Jul record low C = 16.2 | Aug record low C = 16.4 | Sep record low C = 17.6 | Oct record low C = 17.2 | Nov record low C = 12.2 | Dec record low C = 9.4 | year record low C = 7.2 | access-date = April 8, 2024 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200205040301/http://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/1981-2010%20CLIM%20NORMALS%20%28STATWISE%29.pdf | archive-date = 5 February 2020 | access-date = 18 January 2021}}

History

Main article: Kapila#Birth of the Ganges, Bhagiratha#Bringing the Ganges to Earth

A holy man, Kardam Muni, made a pact with Vishnu that he would undergo the rigours of marital life, on the condition that Vishnu would incarnate as his son. In due time Kapil Muni was born as an incarnation of Vishnu and became a great saint. Kapil Muni's ashram was located on the island. One day King Sagar's sacrificial horse disappeared; it had been stolen by Indra.

The king sent his 60,000 sons to find it, and they found it next to Kapil Muni's ashram, where Indra had hidden it. Mistaking Kapil Muni for the thief, the sons accused Kapil Muni, who in his wrath at the false accusation burned the sons to ash and sent their souls to Hell. Later having compassion for the King Sagar's sons, Kapil Muni acceded to the prayers of King Sagar's descendants, agreeing to the restoration of the sons, if Parvati in the form of the river goddess Ganga would descend to Earth to perform the Last Ritual (Hindus also called as"Tarpan") of mixing the ashes with holy water (niravapanjali).

Through deep meditation, King Bhagiratha induced Shiva to order Ganga down from heaven and the 60,000 sons were freed (moksha) and ascended to Heaven, but the river Ganges stayed on the Earth. The date of the descent of Ganga was the date, as is at present the 15th Day of January of the Gregorian Calendar which coincides with that of Makar Sankranti (when Surya enters Makar Constellation, i.e. "Uttarayan" of Hindu Panchangam).

Based on this mythology the then Zamindar, the Gayen family of Ganga Sagar Island or also called as Sagar Island (Sagar Deep in Bangla) who moved in from north of South 24 Parganas donated huge lands to establish the Kapil Muni Ashram twice. But later they i.e. the Gayen family's majority members embraced Islam but remained close to Kapil Muni and Jagadhatri Puja as they were then the Zamindars during the British Rule.

Demographics

As per 2011 Census of India, Sagar Island had a total population of 212,037, of which 109,468 (52%) were males and 102,569 (48%) were females. Population younger than six years was 26,212. The total number of literates was 156,476 (84.21% of the population over 6 years).

Pilgrimage

The Gangasagar fair and pilgrimage is held annually on Sagar Island's southern tip, where the Ganges enters the Bay of Bengal.{{Cite web

In 2007, about 300,000 pilgrims took the holy dip where the Hooghly meets the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. Almost five-hundred thousand pilgrims thronged Sagar Island in 2008.{{Cite web

Travel

From Kolkata, Diamond Harbour Road (NH-12) runs south around 90 km to Harwood Point, near Kakdwip, where a ferry runs to Kachuberia at the north end of the island. The Panchyat Samity maintains a parking area near the ferry landing. The ferry travels about 3+1/2 km across a distributary of the Ganges river (also known as Hooghly River or Muriganga river locally) to reach Kachuberia. Small boats also cross from Harwood Point to Kachuberia. Private cars and buses travel the roughly 32 km to the pilgrimage site at Sagardwip. From the pilgrimage parking area the Kapil Muni Temple is about 200 m and the Gangasagar confluence is about 700 m.

Development proposals

The Government of India and Government of West Bengal are planning to connect Sagar Island with Kakdwip with a 3.3 km road-rail bridge and to build Sagar Port on Sagar Island.

References

References

1. (2006). "Dissemination of Cultural Heritage and Impact of Pilgrim Tourism at Gangasagar Island". Anthropologist.
2. (11 September 2007). "Sagar bridge on study table". The Telegraph.
3. [[Mahabharata. The Mahabharata]] translated by [[Kisari Mohan Ganguli]] (1883 -1896), Book 3: [[Vana Parva]]: Tirtha-yatra Parva: [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03107.htm Section 107], [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03108.htm Section 108] and [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03109.htm Section 109].
4. "C.D. Block Wise Primary Census Abstract Data(PCA)". Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India.
5. (2011). "The Rough Guide to India". Penguin.
6. Dawar, Damini. (14 January 2014). "Ganga Sagar Mela in West Bengal : A dip for Moksha". Merinews.
7. Chattopdhyay, Debashis. (15 January 2007). "Bridge plea for Sagar tourism". The Telegraph.
8. (14 January 2018). "West Bengal: On Makar Sankranti 2018, Ganga Sagar Mela witnesses record crowds". DNA, 14 January 2018.
9. Bindloss, Joseph. (2009). "Northeast India". Lonely Planet.
10. Manish, Visakhapatnam. (20 September 2013). "Major port at Sagar to be operational by 2019". [[The Times of India]].
11. (22 December 2013). "China to Sell Bangladesh 2 Submarines". The Diplomat.