Podrah

Podrah or Padmarajpur (as known in ancient times) is a neighbourhood of South Howrah in Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal. This area falls under the jurisdiction of Sankrail PS of Howrah City Police. It consists of many small localities like Shibtala, Barowaritala, Vivekananda Nagar, Natun Pally, Chunavati, Balaji Nagar, Halderpara, and Vidyasagar Pally. Podrah is a part of the Howrah Dakshin (Constituency No: 173) Vidhan Sabha Constituency.

Podrah Padmarajpur
Neighbourhood in Howrah
Andul Road (part of SH 6), Podra
Podrah Location in West Bengal, India Show map of Kolkata Podrah Podrah (West Bengal) Show map of West Bengal Podrah Podrah (India) Show map of India
Coordinates: 22.563000°N 88.272689°E / 22.563000; 88.272689
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Howrah
Elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	21,589
Languages
• Official	Bengali, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	711109
Vehicle registration	WB
Lok Sabha constituency	Howrah
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Howrah Dakshin
Website	howrah.gov.in

Podrah is also a census town under Sankrail CD Block of Howrah Sadar subdivision. It houses one of the largest multispeciality hospitals in the district of Howrah, NH Multispeciality Hospital.

Toponymy

• Padma - In Bengali and Sanskrit, means Lotus. Also, the name for the goddess Lakshmi and the sacred river Padma in Bengal (the main distributary of the Ganges in Bangladesh).
• Rajpur - From Raj means (king, royal, rule).
• Pur - From Pur means (town or settlement).
• Padmarajpur - it could symbolically mean "The town of the lotus king" or "the royal place of the lotus".

Geography

520m
567yds

PODRA

   

Podrah is flanked by Santragachhi and Green Park in the North, Shibpur in the East, Garden Reach and the Ganges River in the South and Mullick Para Lane, Chunabhati Road and Mourigram in the West.

NH Narayana Multispeciality Hospital (Formerly Westbank Hospital), Andul Road, Podrah

Demographics

Podara was a part of the Kolkata Urban Agglomeration in the 2011 census.^[1]

As per the 2011 Census of India, Podara had a total population of 21,589, of which 11,220 (52%) were males and 10,369 (48%) were females. The age of 91.54% of the population is above 6 years, and 2,143 people were younger than 6. The literacy rate is 82.45%.^[2]

Historical places

Podrah Mahakali Mandir, located at Podrah Barowaritala.

It has been maintained by Podrah Barowari Samity (Estd. 1893). The organisation maintains the 132-year-old Maha Kali Mandir. It was the year 1893. Human history was in the last decade of the 19th century. The time period was one of the golden periods of Bengal, flourishing in spirituality, literature, arts, science, mysticism, nationalism, etc. Late 19th-century Bengal must be equated with the rise of nationalism, education, ideas, enlightenment and empowerment. Bengali legendary names that emerged in this era are like Ma Sarada Devi, Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Girish Chandra Ghosh, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Rishi Aurobindo Ghosh, etc., and many more were still walking on their feet on this great soil of Bengal. Subhash Chandra Basu, Satyendra Nath Bose, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, Pritilata Waddedar and many were their notable successors. During this era, these visionaries were roaring on their peak in the process of reforming the society of Bengal and Bharatvarsh on human progress and spiritual evolution through their intellect, outlook, social work, etc. Embedded in this was a severe pushback of anti-West conservatism and a harking back to Hindutva that formed the core of a parallel, exclusionary nationalism. Vandemataram already became a household blood boiler in this period. During this time in 1893, inspired by the above legends, blood-boiling boiled energetic youths in the village of Padmarajpur (currently known as Podrah) in Bengal, decided the uplift the spirituality among the people of the area. Thus, they established the Padmarajpur Mahakali Mandir in 1893. (currently known as Podrah Kali Mandir). Later, in 1923, the mandir also started celebrating Durga Puja every year, alongside Kali Puja. Since then, the tradition has continued, and this year, in May 2025, we celebrated the completion of 133 years of Kali Puja and Mandir. Alongside, in 2025, 103 years of Durga Puja will be celebrated. The successors of those young, energetic youths from 1893 carry forward this age-old tradition till today.

Transport

• Road: Andul Road (part of Grand Trunk Road/State Highway 6)^[3][4] is the main artery of the town.

Bus

Private Bus

• 61 Alampur - Howrah Station
• 80 Chunabhati - Howrah Station

Mini Bus

• 13 Ranihati - Rajabazar
• 13A Fatikgachi - Rajabazar
• 20 Alampur - Ultadanga Station
• 20A Mourigram - Salt Lake Tank no. 13

Bus Route Without Number

• Andul railway station - New Town Ecospace

Train

Mourigram railway station on Howrah-Kharagpur line is the nearest railway station.

Education

Podrah is home to many educational institutions:

• Goaberia High School
• Howrah South Point School
• ICan Learning Centre
• Ideal Institute of Technical Education [IITE]
• Kidzee Pre-school
• LN Model School
• Maria's Day School
• Narayana School
• Oxford High School, Podrah
• Painting School of Fine Arts [PSFA], Podrah
• Podrah Board Primary School
• Podrah High School
• Podrah Mahakali High School
• Rahi Kid's Planet School
• RYCSM Computer Learning Centre
• SIP Abacus Learning Centre
• St. Xavier's High School, Podrah
• The George Telegraph Training Institute
• Westbank School of Nursing
• Youth Computer Training Centre