History

The mark of a true visionary is his or her ability to imagine the future and act on it, yielding great results in the process and then using this success for the benefit of others. Such a visionary was Badani Devi, (later known as Patitpabani Devi for her philanthropy) a mere homemaker of Roy Pramanik family of Horekhali (Then known as “Doro”). It was her determination, strong will power, and most importantly her love and passion for education which helped establish Parbatipur Patitpabani High school.

The history of Parbatipur Patitpabani High School is intermingled with the history of Roy Pramanik family of Parbatipur village. The seed of establishment of the school was sown when Lakshminarayan Pramanik, a young energetic man came and settled in the Parbatipur village aftermath of the Sepoy Mutiny (Probably in between 1861-1871). Later on, he tied his nuptial knot with the same village girl Badani. He died at a very premature age. He left his wife and six sons- Srinath, Bhutanath, Priyanath, Haricharan, Dwarikanath, and Khirod at the time of his death. Besides, his widow sister Karunnamayee also was one of their family members. The bas-reliefs of all those patrons of education are still present in the school premises. However, with the passage of time, the family became rich to richer economically dealing in rice and owned huge immovable property--more than four hundred Bighas of land. The business was basically run by Bhutanath and his four brothers. It is known that the family, being a well-to-do one, used to stretch their helping hand to the needy and distressed people of the locality. For this, the locality had a deep love and respect for the family. During the time of their economic as well as social flourish, once the family, out of a legal matter, was sent a court letter written in English by the then British Government. But the family members, being untutored could not decipher the content of the letter. Later on, the content of the letter was deciphered by their lawyer. This incident left a deep mark in Badani Devi’s mind and she felt the need for education not only among the family members but amongst the local mass as well. Badani Devi then discussed the matter with her family members and they all agreed to set up a school in the locality. Primarily, the family appointed Mr. Rakhal Ghosh of Kelomal village of Tamluk sub-division as their home tutor and later on they donated more than two hundred Bighas of land for the establishment of a school and their wish and endeavour was materialized in the last decade of eighteen century. The school was named after Patipabani Devi. A school hostel was also set up in the adjacent area of the school, which was named after Karunamayee Devi as she too was one of the patrons of education and learning. Once, the Chotolat Hamilton Saheb visited the school to attend a meeting, and being pleased with their work of philanthropy conferred the Pramanik family with the title ‘Roy’. Since that time the family has been carrying this title with them and was known as ROY PRAMANIK. The school began its maiden journey as a junior high school and finally it got its official recognition on 17th November 1910. Hence 17th November is celebrated as the foundation day of the school. The school has now turned into a century-old prestigious, higher secondary institution of Purba Medinipur district with all facilities of modern education, and hopefully, it will keep continuing to impart education years after years against all odds.