Kopai River

Kopai River
River Kopai at Ballavpur, Birbhum
Country India
State West Bengal
Tributaries
 - left Bakreshwar River
Cities Santiniketan, Labhpur

The Kopai River (also called Sal River) is a tributary of the Mayurakshi River.[1][2] It flows past such towns as Santiniketan, Bolpur, Kankalitala and Labhpur in Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal.[3] It is a small river in dry season but overflows its banks during the monsoon.[4][5]

Literary association

The area around the river quite often has red soil, which forms ravines on the river bank with weathering and is popular as the khoai. It has inspired literary figures in the area.[4] It is described by Rabindranath Tagore as follows –

amader chhoto nodi chale anke bankey
boisakh masey taar hantu jal thakey[6]
Our small stream moves forward in bends and curves
In the month of Baisakh it only has knee deep waters

The local name of a sickle-shaped curve in the river inspired the title of the novel Hansuli Banker Upakatha (Story of the Sickle-shaped Curve) by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, made into a film by Tapan Sinha.[7][8]

Archaeology

Microliths of crystalline stone and petrified wood from about 1250–1000 BC are found in many places in the Ajay-Kunur-Kopai river system.[9]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kopai River.

References

  1. ↑ "Rivers". West Bengal Tourism. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  2. ↑ "River System". Birbhum district administration. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  3. ↑ "Birbhum". bangalinet. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  4. 1 2 Halder, Ritam (2008-07-04). "Next weekend you can be at ...Santiniketan". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph, 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  5. ↑ "Kopai River". india9.com. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  6. ↑ Sahaj Path by Rabindranath Tagore
  7. ↑ Mukhopadhyay Manabendra, Tarashankarer Birbhum, Paschim Banga, Birbhum Special issue, pp. 259–268, February 2005, Information and Culture Dept., Govt. of West Bengal.
  8. ↑ Hansuli Banker Upakatha at the Internet Movie Database
  9. ↑ "Ancient Bengal in Ancient India". Retrieved 2009-02-14.

Coordinates: 23°51′41″N 88°01′43″E / 23.86135°N 88.028641°E / 23.86135; 88.028641


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