Kalaigaon

Kalaigaon কলাইগাঁও Kālāigaon
Legislative Assembly Constituency
A view of the rice fields and tree plantations in Kalaigaon
Kalaigaon Show map of Assam Kalaigaon Show map of India Location in Assam, India
Coordinates: 26°34′29″N 91°58′32″E / 26.57459°N 91.97567°E / 26.57459; 91.97567Coordinates: 26°34′29″N 91°58′32″E / 26.57459°N 91.97567°E / 26.57459; 91.97567
Country	India
State	Assam
District	Udalguri
Government
• Member Of Legislative Assembly	Sri Maheswar Baro (Bodoland People's Front)
Area
• Total	232 km2 (90 sq mi)
Elevation	37 m (121 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	110,862
• Density	477/km2 (1,240/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Assamese
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	784525
Telephone code	91 - (0) 3713 - XX XX XXX
ISO 3166 code	IN-AS
Vehicle registration	AS-13 & AS-27 (Mangaldai & Udalguri)

Kalaigaon (Assamese: কলাইগাঁও, Hindi: कलाईगाँव, Kālāigaon) is a town and Legislative Assembly Constituency in north-eastern India. It is situated in the Udalguri district of Assam state. The average altitude is 37 meters. The climate is humid and congenial, while the relative humidity is around 82%. The annual rainfall is around 2,000 mm.

The origin of name of this ancient place can be found in a local legend about a brahmin priest, named Kendukalai who was appointed the chief priest of the Kamakhya Temple. According to the legend, he was supposedly able to cause the goddess Kamakhya Devi appear in her mortal form in the temple and dance, because of his musical talents and devotion to her. The erstwhile Koch king Naranarayan, coming to know of this, wished to see the goddess. He asked the king to hide near the temple and watch through a hole and began his worship. The goddess appeared and started dancing in the temple, but eventually saw the eyes of the King through the hole, and came to know of his treachery. Some versions of the legends say that the goddess cursed the dynasty of the king and the priest would be destroyed if they ever visited the temple, while others say the angered goddess turned the king into a stone statue and decapitated the priest. The head of the deceased priest got thrown away by the force of the mortal blow and landed in a place 13 km north, which was later named as Muradeor, which was his birthplace. The name of Kendukalai later degraded to Kalaigaon. Even today, Kendukalai village exists 8 km west, towards Tangla, from present day Kalaigaon, on M.B. Road.

According to 2011 census records, the total population of Kalaigaon sub-division was 110862, of which, 56285 (50.77%) were males and 54577 (49.22%) were females. Some villages of Kalaigaon fall in Darrang district, and the population there was 24246 (12723 males and 12523 females). The remaining majority of villages are in Udalguri district, and the population there was 85616 (43562 males and 42054 females).