Begusarai

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Begusarai district.

Begusarai
city
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	Begusarai
Area
• Total	1,918 km2 (741 sq mi)
Elevation	41 m (135 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Total	251,136
• Density	130/km2 (340/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Maithili, Hindi
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	851101
Telephone code	06243
Sex ratio	0.9109 ♂/♀
Lok Sabha constituency	Begusarai
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Begusarai
Website	begusarai.bih.nic.in

Begusarai is a city and a municipal corporation in Begusarai district in the state of Bihar, India. Begusarai district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar and Begusarai town is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district lies on the northern bank of the Ganga river . It is located at latitudes 25.15N & 25.45N and longitudes 85.45E & 86.36E. Begusarai is the birthplace of famous Hindi poet Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh and eminent historian Professor Ram Saran Sharma. Begusarai is the part of historic Mithila region. Begusarai had traditionally been a communist stronghold and was earlier also referred to as the Leningrad of Bihar.

History

The name of the district apparently comes from "Begum" (queen) and "Sarai" (inn). The Begum of Bhagalpur used to visit "Simaria Ghat" (holy place on the banks of the Ganges) for a month of pilgrimage, which later took to the slang of Begusarai. Begusarai was established in 1870 as a subdivision of Munger District. In 1972, it was given district status after a strong pressure on the government by Late Rai Saheb Bhubneshwari Sahai, a charismatic leader of the local community who was also the first person in the district to be awarded the prestigious title of Rai Saheb under the British Raj.

Geography

Begusarai is located at 25.42°N 86.13°E / 25.42; 86.13. It has an average elevation of 41 metres (134 feet). It has an area of 1879 square.

Climate

Being part of the Gangetic plains of the Indian subcontinent, the district experiences three climatic seasons – the summer season from March to mid June, the monsoon season from mid June to October and the winter season from November to February. The month of February & March fall in the transitional season from winter to summer described as Spring or “Basant”. Similarly the months of September & October falls in the transitional season from the monsoon season to the winter season and described as “Shishir”.

Demographics

As per 2011 census Begusarai Municipal Corporation had a total population of 251,136, out of which 133,931 were males and 117,205 were females. It had a sex ratio of 875. The population below 5 years was 37,966. The literacy rate of the 7+ population was 69.35 per cent.

See also: List of cities in Bihar

Notable people

Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' (रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर') (September 23, 1908– April 24, 1974) was an Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academician, who is considered as one of the most important modern Hindi poets. Dinkar emerged as a rebellious poet with his nationalist poetry in pre-Independence days. His poetry ekxuded veer rasa, and he has been hailed as a Rashtrakavi ("National poet") evoking the spirit of nationalism on account of his inspiring patriotic composition. Dinkar was born in a poor Hindu family.

Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011) commonly referred to as R. S. Sharma was an eminent historian and academic of Ancient and early Medieval India. He taught at Patna University, Delhi University (1973–85), University of Toronto and was a senior fellow at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; University Grants Commission National Fellow (1958–81) and President of Indian History Congress in 1975. He was born in Barauni, Begusarai, Bihar. He was foremost among the Indian intellectuals who wanted historians to realise that the discipline of history was not just about what happened in the past but what its lessons were for imaginatively and intelligently responding to the challenges of the present.

Civic administration

Administrative Division
No. of Sub-Division	5
No. of Blocks	18
No. of Pancha	257
*No. of Revenue Villages	1229
*No. of Habitations	1198

Sub Divisions: Begusarai, Manjhaul, Ballia, Bakhri, Teghara

Economy

There are many Ancillary Industries here. The three main Industries are Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS), Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL)(Closed) Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. 88.33% people depend upon agriculture. Main cash crops of the district are oilseeds, tobacco, jute, potato, red chilies, tomato and andi.

Type	Area (Hectare)
Total irrigated land	74,225.57
Forest	Nil
Orch. etc.	5,000
Kharif Paddy	22,000
Garma Paddy	10,000
Wheat	61,000
Irrigated	Permanent : 6,384.29 Seasonal : 4,866.37
Wasteland and non arable	2,118

Natural water sources : Begusarai district is located in the middle Ganges plain. Main rivers are Burhi Gandak, Balan, Bainty, Baya and Chandrabhaga.

Kaver Jheel: Kaver Jheel one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, also famous for bird sanctuary.

Minerals : No minerals of economic importance

Irrigation : Mostly by Tubwells

Transport

Begusarai is well connected to other parts of Bihar and India through railways as well as roads. New Delhi - Guwahati railway line passes through Begusarai. It is a station on the Barauni-Katihar section of East Central Railway. There is a small aerodrome in Ulao, five km from the district headquarters. Barauni Railway Junction holds major importance in east-central Bihar. A number of important trains originate from this station for major cities like Delhi, Guwahati, Amritsar, Varanasi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Chennai etc. Rajendra Setu on the Ganges is connected to Mokama and Hathidah. There are 18 railway stations in this district. Interior parts of the district are well connected to the main roads. The National Highways 28 and 31 link this district to the other parts of the country. Their total length is 95 km. State roads have a total length of 262 km. 95% of the all the villages are linked to the rural and urban road facilities.Transport area is also connected to hotels for customer stay.

Educational institutions

The Master Education Point Classes for XI & XII. Established by MLC Basudeo Pd Singh. Sanichara Asthan Begusarai. The foundation stone of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Engineering College was laid on 22 December 2013 by Nitish Kumar, beginning the eighth government engineering college in Bihar. Other than this G D College, U. T. Inter College, B.P.H.School, J.K.H.School, B.S.S.Collegiate H.School, Ayodhya H. School, K.P.H.School, M.G.H.School(Chhamahar), Savitri H.School, R.N.H.School(Mohanpur), Sarboday H.School, High School Bagbara, High School ChandPura, Janta H.School(Chandpura), Omer Girl H.School(Bishanpur Begusarai), High School Rajaira, Durga H.School Magail, High School Chhaurahi Matihani, High School Tara Bariyarpur, High School Dahiya, High School Nailagadh, High School Teyay, High School Banbaripur, High School Damodarpur, High School Chakkasohilawara, High School Naya Tola Aagapur, R.J.H.School Sahebpur Kamal, R.K.T.W.H.School Saligrami, High School Tarbanna, High School Sanha, High School Sakarpura, High School Nawkothi, High School Pahsara Bavangama, High School Gartpur, R.K.H.School Samasa, L.N.H.School Malipur Musopur, High School Mortar, High School Kumarso, R.K.H.School Parihara, High School Teghra, S.V.R H.School Teghra, R.K.C.H.School Phulwaria, J.K.H.School Barauni, High School Baro, R.J.M H.School Majhool, High School Cheriya Bariarpur, High school Sakrooli, R.E.O.Girl H. School Manjhaul, High School Narepur, N.N.S.H.School Mansoorchak, High School Rani, High School Chamtha, High School Ahiyapur, Mahatma Gandhi High School Bihat, High School Rajbara, High School Harpur, B.P.S H.School Birpur, Sankar High School Mahana, Balika High School Mahana, Balika High School Bihat, High School Simariya, High School Matihani, High School Ramdiri, High School Nayagawa Sahpur, High School Sahmo, R.K.High School Mahendrapur, High School Lihma, High School Haspur, High School Saphapur, R.S.A.S.H.School Ballia, R.M.L.H.School Sadipur, High School Sadanandandpur, High School Tetari, High School Parmanandpur, High School BariBallia, High School Goochhla Nagar Bishanpur, High School Bariyarpur are the educational institutions which come in Begusarai district.

Places to visit

• Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary which contains rare and endangered migratory birds and has a large Oxbow lake, Jai Mangla Temple (at Kanwar Lake), Nawlakha temple and the bank of the Ganges at Simaria (known as the birth Place of India's National Poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar) are worth visiting, Chhourahi Bakhadda is also one of the best place to visit.There are many pious temples to visit such as Kalisthan, Karpuristhan and Ram janki mandir (inside township campus).

There are some specimens of Pala, stone sculptures of Vishnu, Ganesh, Sun, Buddha, Nandi etc. Thousands of coins make a property of this museum. The coins displayed here represent a long span of time right from Mauryan India to that under British Rule. Accordingly, potteries of different cultural strata – Black and Red ware, NBP, Black ware, Red ware, Muslim ware etc. are displayed here. The Museum has a collection of terracottas and Manuscripts as well.

Festival attraction

The main attraction for the visitors is during the festival of Durga Puja. People from all over the state gather and come out of their home especially during evening time to enjoy the Mela. The street vendors set up variety of stalls to attract the crowds. Children and teenagers thoroughly enjoy sweets, samosa chat, ice-creams etc. People wear new clothes and offer praying to Goddess Durga.

Chhath is another common festival in which people get together in large numbers.

Languages spoken

The people living in Begusarai commonly speak Angika language(A Dialect of Maithili). In 2003, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which allows the language to be used in education, government, and other official contexts. Maithili is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in South-eastern Nepal and North Bihar of India by 46 million people as of 2000, of which 3 million were in Nepal. It is written with the Devanagari script, but used its own Mithilakshar script in the past. In the 19th century, linguistic scholars considered Maithili as a dialect of Bengali or Hindi and grouped it with other languages spoken in Bihar. Hoernlé compared it with Gaudian languages. Grierson recognized it as distinct language and published the first grammar in 1881. Chatterji grouped Maithili with Magadhi Prakrit.

External links

• http://begusarai.bih.nic.in/
• http://paprour.com/
• http://begusaraiheritage.com/history.html