Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. The special variety of mango, Fazli, produced in this region is popularly known by the name of the district and is exported across the world and internationally acclaimed. The folk culture of gombhira is a feature of the district, being a unique way of representation of joy and sorrow of daily life of the common people, as well as the unique medium of presentation on national and international matters. According to the National Investigation Agency Malda is believed to be a hub of a fake currency racket. It is reported that 90 per cent of the fake currency that enters India originates in Malda.
District headquarters is English Bazar, also known as Malda, which was once the capital of Bengal. The district maintains the traditions of the past in culture and education. Old Malda, the town which lies just east of the confluence of the Mahananda and Kalindi rivers, is part of the English Bazar metropolitan city. The town rose to prominence as the river port of the old capital of Pandua. During the 18th century it was the seat of prosperous cotton and silk industries. It remains an important distributing centre for rice, jute, and wheat. The area between the historical monument of Jame Masjid (1566) and the landmark of Nimasarai tower across the river Mahananda, constituted a municipality in 1867. Rice, jute, legumes, and oilseed are the chief crops in the surrounding area. Malda is the largest producer of excellent quality of jute in India. Mulberry plantations and mango orchards occupy large areas; mango trade and silk manufacture are the main economic activities. The Independence Day of Malda is 17 August 1947.
Culture
Malda has special cultural sorts like Gombhira, Alkap, Kavigan etc.
Festivals
Almost all of the major religious festivals are celebrated, like
Durga puja
Kali Puja
Diwali
Dussehra
Bhogta mela
Eid al-Adha
Muharram
Milad un-Nabi
Shab-e-Barat
Guru Nanak Jayanti
Christmas
Ratha-Yatra
Maha Shivratri
Fairs
Some of the mostly reputed cultural fairs of the district are
Aiho and Bulbulchandi ' Kali Puja Fair
Charu Babu Mela
Charak Fair
Chobbish (24) Prahor at Shingabad and Rishipur
Dariapur Urush at Dariapur, Kaliachak
Gazole Utsab
Kahala Urush at Mothabari
Kahala Durga Puja Fair .
Kartik puja Fair
Moyna Bishohari Mela.
Eid Fair, Pirana Pir Dargah
Muharram Fair, at Sattari
Maha Shivratri Fair or Bhole Bam at Amrity
Ramkeli Fair, Gour
Christmas Carnival, Englishbazar, Malda
32 prahar harinam sankirtan at Debipur (Ratua 1,Malda)
Places of interest
Early 19th century lithograph of the Muslim ruins of Dakhil Darwaza at Gour
Adina Relics
Adina Mosque
Gol ghar
Eklakhi mosque
Adina deer park
Relics of Gour
Firoz minar
Chika Masjid
Qutwali Gate
12-gated mosque
Qudm-e-Rasul, shrine believed to contain footprint of the Prophet
Temple of Jahura Kali Bari, Malda
Aquatic Bengal
Jami Masjid
Nimai Sarai Tower
Pandua Sharif
Pirana Pir Dargah.
Lost monastery of Jagjivanpur
Temple of Ramakrishna Mission
Temple of Jahura Kali (Local avatar of Goddess Chandi)
Chanchal palace
Sattari Jame Mosque
Debipur Radhagobinda Temple(Debipur,Ratua 1,Malda)
Amrity Shiv Mandir
NAGHARIA
Education
Schools
Though Malda is one of the least educated districts of West Bengal, it contains some of the élite schools of the state.
Notable schools of the district include:-
A. C. Institution
Barlow Girls' High School
Malda Railway High School
Malda Town High School
Malda Zilla School
Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir
Sattari High School
Usha Martin School, Malda
Malda C C Girls High School
Lalit Mohan Shyam Mohini High School
Engineering Colleges
Ghani Khan Choudhury Institute of Engineering & Technology
IMPS College of Engineering and Technology, established - 2003
General degree Colleges
Malda College
Malda Women's College
Gour Mahavidyalaya
Manikchak College
Samsi College
Chanchal College
Gazole Mahavidyalaya
Harishchandrapur College
Kaliachak College
Manikchak College
Pakuahat Degree College
Samsi College
South Malda College
Medical College
Malda Medical College and Hospital
Polytechnic Colleges
Malda Polytechnic
Ratua Satyendra Nath Bose Government Polytechnic
University
University of Gour Banga
Notable people
Subhamita Banerjee (singer)
Subhash Bhowmick (Footballer)
Shibram Chakraborty
A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury
Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury
Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury
Sabitri Mitra
Bidhushekhar Shastri
Mausam Noor
Rubi Noor
Uma Roy
Benoy Kumar Sarkar (Indian social scientist, Professor, Nationalist)
Tapan Sikdar
Sabina Yeasmin
Divisions
Administrative subdivisions
The district comprises two subdivisions: Chanchal and Malda Sadar. Chanchal consists of six community development blocks: Chanchal–I, Chanchal–II, Ratua–I, Ratua–II, Harishchandrapur–I and Harishchandrapur–II. Malda Sadar subdivision consists of Old Malda municipality, English Bazar municipality and nine community development blocks: English Bazar, Gazole, Habibpur, Kaliachak–I, Kaliachak–II, Kaliachak–III, Manickchak, Old Malda and Bamangola. English Bazar is the district headquarters. There are 11 police stations, 15 development blocks, 2 municipalities, 146 gram panchayats and 3,701 villages in this district.
Other than municipality areas, each subdivision contains community development blocs, which in turn, are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 10 urban units, 2 municipalities and 3 census towns. English Bazar and Old Malda form an urban agglomeration.
Chanchal subdivision
Chanchal I (community development block) consists of rural areas (8 gram panchayats) and town Chanchal,(second largest town in Malda).
Chanchal II (community development block) consists of rural areas only (7 gram panchayats).
Ratua I (community development block) consists of rural areas only (10 gram panchayats).
Ratua II (community development block) consists of rural areas only (8 gram panchayats).
Harishchandrapur I (community development block) consists of rural areas only (7 gram panchayats).
Harishchandrapur II (community development block) consists of rural areas only (9 gram panchayats).
Malda Sadar subdivision
English Bazar: municipality
Old Malda: municipality
English Bazar (community development block) consists of rural areas only (11 gram panchayats).
Gazole (community development block) consists of rural areas only (15 gram panchayats).
Habibpur (community development block) consists of rural areas (11 gram panchayats) and three census towns: Kachu Pukur, Kendua and Aiho.
Kaliachak I (community development block) consists of rural areas only (14 gram panchayats).
Kaliachak II (community development block) consists of rural areas only (9 gram panchayats).
Kaliachak III (community development block) consists of rural areas only (14 gram panchayats).
Manikchak (community development block) consists of rural areas only (11 gram panchayats).
Old Malda (community development block) consists of rural areas only (6 gram panchayats).
Bamangola (community development block) consists of rural areas only (6 gram panchayats).
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malda_district
