Jayprakash Narayan was born in a Kayastha Family in Sitabdiara Siwan, Bihar. When he was a child, he had many pets. One day, his pigeon died and he did not eat food for two days afterward. His father Harsudayal was a junior official in the canal department of the State government and was often touring the region. Jayaprakash, called Baul affectionately, was left with his grandmother to study in Sitabdiara. There was no high school in the village, so Jayaprakash was sent to Patna to study in the Collegiate School. He excelled in school. His essay, “The present state of Hindi in Bihar”, won a best essay award. He entered the Patna College on a Government scholarship.Jayaprakash Narayan joined “Bihar Vidyapeeth” founded by Dr. Rajendra Prasad for motivating young meritorious youths and was among the first students of eminent Gandhian Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha , a close colleague of M. K. Gandhi who later became first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

Though JP was practically a committed Marxist, he was convinced that the communists in India must join the main stream of the struggle for National Liberation even if it was under the hegemony of the so-called bourgeoisie. On his way back to India, he had met Clemenus Dutt, brother of Rajani Palme Dutt and other communist leaders in London and discussed with them the issue of India’s freedom & revolution. JP, who had read Lenin’s famous “Colonial thesis” calling upon the communists in the “Slave” countries to take active part in the national freedom struggle, was not convinced of Dutt’s argument. Later when JP joined the nationalist freedom movement, he was surprised to find that Indian communists were following the line which Clemenus Dutt advocated. JP could not understand the rationality of the fight against the Indian National Congress which was fighting for the freedom of the country.

After returning to India, Narayan joined the Indian National Congress on the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1929; Mahatma Gandhi became his mentor in the Congress. He shared the same house at kadam kuan in Patna with his close friend and nationalist Ganga Sharan Sinha (Shrivastava). with whom he shared the most cordial and lasting friendship. During the Indian independence movement he was arrested, jailed, and tortured several times by the British. He won particular fame during the Quit India movement.

After being jailed in 1932 for civil disobedience against British rule, Narayan was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Desai and other national leaders. After his release, the Congress Socialist Party, or (CSP), a left-wing group within the Congress, was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as President and Narayan as General secretary.

During the Quit India Movement of 1942, when senior Congress leaders were arrested in the early stages, JP, Lohia and Basawon Singh (Sinha) were at the forefront of the agitations. Leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali were described as “the political children of Gandhi but recent students of Karl Marx.” He was also a great advocate of corelation ”SAHJEEVAN”

Initially a defender of physical force, Narayan was won over to Gandhi’s position on nonviolence and advocated the use of satyagrahas to achieve the ideals of democratic socialism. Furthermore, he became deeply disillusioned with the practical experience of socialism in Nehru’s India.

After independence and the death of Mahatma Gandhi, Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Basawon Singh (Sinha) led the CSP out of Congress to become the opposition Socialist Party, which later took the name Praja Socialist Party. Basawon Singh (Sinha) became the first leader of the opposition in the state and assembly of Bihar and Acharya Narendra Deva became the first leader of opposition in the state and assembly of U.P. His party is the first national party who distributed tickets on caste line. This was the point where Jayaprakash Narayan disagreed with the party principles and pursued Sarvodey and Lokniti.

On April 19, 1954, Narayan announced in Gaya that he was dedicating his life (Jeevandan) to Vinoba Bhave’s Sarvodaya movement and its Bhoodan campaign, which promoted distributing land to Harijans (untouchables). He gave up his land, set up an ashram in Hazaribagh, and worked towards uplifting the village.

In 1957, Narayan formally broke with the Praja Socialist Party in order to pursue lokniti [Polity of the people], as opposed to rajniti [Polity of the state]. By this time, Narayan had become convinced that lokniti should be non-partisan in order to build a consensus-based, classless, participatory democracy which he termed Sarvodaya. Narayan became an important figure in the India-wide network of Gandhian Sarvodaya workers.

In 1964, Narayan was vilified across the political spectrum for arguing in an article in the Hindustan Times that India had a responsibility to keep its promise to allow self-determination to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. He hit back at critics in a second article, dismissing the Indian version of the “domino theory” which held that the rest of India’s states would disintegrate if Kashmir were allowed its promised freedom. In his graceful if old-fashioned style, Narayan ridiculed the premise that “the states of India are held together by force and not by the sentiment of a common nationality. It is an assumption that makes a mockery of the Indian Nation and a tyrant of the Indian State”.

Narayan returned to prominence in State politics in the late 1960s. In 1974, he led the student’s movement in the state of Bihar which gradually developed into a popular people’s movement known as the Bihar movement. It was during this movement that JP gave a call for peaceful Total Revolution Together with V. M. Tarkunde, he founded the Citizens for Democracy in 1974 and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties in 1976, both NGOs, to uphold and defend civil liberties.

When Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court, Narayan called for Indira to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation which he termedSampoorna kraanti [Total Revolution]. Instead she proclaimed a national Emergency on the midnight of June 25, 1975, immediately after Narayan had called for the PM’s resignation and had asked the military and the police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders; JP, opposition leaders, and dissenting members of her own party (the ‘Young Turks’) were arrested on that day.

Jayaprakash Narayan attracted a gathering of 100,000 people at the Ramlila Grounds and thunderously recited Rashtrakavi Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar”s wonderfully evocative poetry: Singhasan Khaali Karo Ke Janata Aaati Hai.

Narayan was kept as detenu at Chandigarh even after he had asked for a month’s parole for mobilising relief in areas of Bihar gravely affected by flood. His health suddenly deteriorated on October 24, and he was released on November 12; diagnosis at Jaslok Hospital, Bombay, revealed kidney failure; he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life.

“Free JP” campaign was launched in UK by Surur Hoda and chaired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Noel- Baker for the release of Jayaprakash Narayan.

After Indira revoked the emergency on January 18, 1977 and announced elections, it was under JP’s guidance that the Janata Party (a vehicle for the broad spectrum of the anti-Indira Gandhi opposition) was formed. The Janata Party was voted into power, and became the first non-Congress party to form a government at the Centre. On the call of Narayan many youngesters joined the J P movement.

Jayaprakash Narayan died on 8 October 1979 due to effects of diabetes and heart ailments; but a few months before that, in March 1979, his death was erroneously announced by the Indian prime minister to the parliament as he lay fighting for his life in Jaslok Hospital, causing a brief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops. When he was told about the gaffe a few weeks later, he smiled.

The two children died in the last 24 hours and six in the last five days at Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH), about 100 km from here, hospital superintendent Sitaram Prasad said.

The first encephalitis-related death in the district this year was reported Aug 23.

Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain resulting either from a viral infection or when the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks brain tissue. The children reported high fever, followed by bouts of unconsciousness and convulsions, the health official said.

State Health Secretary Sanjay Kumar, who visited Gaya early this week, said the children died due to Japanese encephalitis.

“I have directed health officials to spray malathion in the affected areas and ensure doses of JE vaccine to children in affected villages by the end of October,” Kumar said.

According to ANMCH paediatrics head A.K. Ravi, most of the children who have died were from rural areas of Gaya and neighbouring districts. He said more than 280 children with suspected encephalitis have been admitted to date.

“Over three dozen children are still battling for life,” he said.

Suspected encephalitis in Gaya killed 46 children in 2009, 49 in 2008 and 29 in 2007, a district administration official said.

Two months ago, 55 children died in Muzaffarpur district but the state government is yet to confirm these as encephalitis deaths.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad last month informed the Rajya Sabha that clinical and epidemiological data suggested that it was an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, resulting in 150 cases and 55 deaths, mostly among children.

In a written reply, the minister said these cases were reported from early June to mid-July from Muzaffarpur and its bordering areas in Bihar.

PTI

Job or Vacancy Description:
Bihar Telecom Circle invites applications from eligible candidates to recruit Telecom Technical Assistants (TTAs)

1. Telecom Technical Assistants (TTAs) : 171 Posts
Pay Scale : Rs. 13600 to 25420 plus allowances per month
Qualification : Three years Diploma in Engineering in any of the following disciplines as on 31/10/2011 : (a) Three years Diploma in Engineering in Telecommunications Engineering / Electronics Engineering / Electrical Engineering / Radio Engineering / Computer Engineering / Instruments Technology / Information Technology . b) M.Sc. (Electronics) from a recognized institution/University.
SSA wise Breakup :

Ara -05
Begusarai -03
Bettiah -04
Bhagalpur -11
Chapra -08
Darbhanga -05
Gaya -20
Hajipur -04
Muzaffarpur -12
Motihari -05
Madhubani -05
Munger -08
Khagaria -05
Patna -55
Katihar -06
Kishanganj 01
Saharsa -05
Samastipur -03
Sasaram -06

Age : Between 18 to 27 years of age as on 31/10/2011. (relaxable as per rules)

Exam Fee : Rs. 500/- DD addressed to ” A.O. (B&A) ,BSNL, % C.G.M.T. Patna.” .No fee for SC & ST categories

How to apply : The specimen of the application form is included in this advertisement as Annexure I. Neatly typed [only on one side of paper] copy in A4 size [30 cms. X 20 cms] may be used for making application. Applications complete in all respects should reach AGM (Estt) O/o the Chief General Manager Telecom, Bihar Telecom Circle, Sanchar Sadan, Budh Marg, Patna: 800001 on or before 31/10/2011. BSNL shall not be responsible for any postal delay. The envelope containing the application must be superscribed with “APPLICATION FOR RECRUITMENT OF TELECOM TECHNICAL ASSISTANT” in block letters. Three identical copies of recent Passport size Photographs out of which one should be pasted (not stapled or pinned) on the application form, duly attested, and the other two to be pasted on the admit card at the place marked for this (Admit Card in Duplicate) (not to be attested) along with two self addressed unstamped envelopes (size 27 cm X 12 cm) should be enclosed.

General Instructions:
a) Examination fee of Rs. 500/-(Rupees Five hundred) only is payable by the applicants in the form of Demand Draft only addressed to “ A.O. (B&A) ,BSNL, % C.G.M.T. Patna.” Examination fee once paid will be not be refunded.
b) No fee for the applicants of SC & ST categories.
c) Exemption from payment fees is also available to the applicants of PH category. This exemption will, however, be available to only those handicapped persons who would otherwise be eligible for appointment to the post on the basis of the standards of medical fitness prescribed for that post and who enclose with the application necessary certificate from a Government Hospital / Medical board in support of his /her claim for being handicapped.
d. For Residents of J&K – Relaxation shall be accordance with DoP&T O.M. No. 15012/7/1991-Estt.(D)dtd. 06/12/2005 pertaining to “ Residents of State of Jammu and Kashmir (Relaxation of Upper Age limit for recruitment to Central Civil Services & Post) Rules 1997”.
f. Ex-serviceman shall be allowed age relaxation to the extent that every Ex-Servicemen who has put in not less than six months continuous service in the Armed Forces of the Union shall be allowed to deduct the period of such service from his/her actual age and if the resultant age does not exceed the maximum age limit prescribe for the post of service for which he seeks appointment by more than three years, he/she shall be deemed to satisfy the condition regarding age limit.
g. Restriction of residence and Registration with employment exchange of the concerned SSA/Telecom District in which the applicant applies is preferable and not mandatory.
h. The selected candidates, before their appointment as Telecom Technical Assistant, have to undergo the prescribed course of training.
i. The selected candidates shall have to execute a bond for a period of 2(two) years from the date of appointment as Telecom Technical Assistant in the pro-forma as specified by the Company.
j. Candidates working under Central/State Govt./Public Sector Undertakings should send their applications through proper channel.
k. The standard of paper in General Ability test will be such as may be expected of an Engineering Diploma holder. The standard of papers in other subject will approximately be that of Diploma level of an Indian Polytechnic. In the specialization Part-III, a candidate has to attempt a common set of questions from the consolidated syllabus prescribed under Specialization Part III. Answer sheet will be OMR based.
l. As per the scheme and syllabus for the examination, there will be three parts of General Ability Test, Basic Engineering & specialization consisting of maximum marks of 20, 90 and 90 respectively. The minimum qualifying marks in each of the above three parts of the question paper will be 30% for candidates belonging to OC category and 20% for candidates belonging to OBC/SC/ST category, i.e. the minimum passing marks in each of the 3 parts in respect of OC will be 6, 27 and 27 respectively whereas in respect of OBC/SC/ST, it will be 4, 18, and 18 respectively.
m. Based on the marks obtained by candidates two types of lists will be prepared for each SSA (1) Merit list (for selected candidates) and (2) Waiting list consisting of all those candidates who have qualified the examination but do not find a place in the merit list of successful candidates.
n. Waiting list shall remain valid for a period of one year from the date of declaration of result or the date of notifying the DR Examination for the next recruitment year, whichever is earlier .
o. The applicants would be admitted to the examination on the basis of the information furnished by them in their application form. They are, therefore, advised to ensure that they fulfill all eligibility conditions before applying. In case it is found at a later stage that the information furnished by an applicant is false or an applicant does not fulfill any of the eligibility conditions the candidature of such applicants would be cancelled even if they qualify and no correspondence in this regard would be entertained. Issuance of an Admit card for the examination will NOT confer any right for appointment.

Tentative Last Date :30-10-2011

About the organization:
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. formed on 1 st October ‘2000, is one of the largest & leading public sector units providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India. BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country & now focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages & winning customer’s confidence. Today, it has about 43.74 million line basic telephone capacity, 8.83 million WLL capacity, 72.60 million GSM capacity, 37,885 fixed exchanges, 68,162 GSM BTSs, 12,071 CDMA Towers, 197 Satellite Stations, 6,86,644 RKm. of OFC, 50,430 RKm. of microwave network connecting 623 districts, 7330 cities/towns & 5.8 lakhs villages . BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts & planned initiatives to bridge the rural-urban digital divide in ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in the country to beat its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook & corner of the country & operates across India except New Delhi & Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier or North-Eastern regions of the country, BSNL serves its customers with a wide bouquet of telecom services namely Wireline, CDMA mobile, GSM mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service, MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP, IN Services, FTTH, etc. BSNL is numero uno of India in all services in its license area. The company offers wide ranging & most transparent tariff schemes designed to suit every customer. BSNL has 90.09 million cellular & 5.06 million WLL customers as on 31.07.2011. 3G Facility has been given to all 2G connections of BSNL. In basic services, BSNL is miles ahead of its rivals, with 24.58 million wireline phone subscribers i.e. 71.93% share of the wireline subscriber base. BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure that provides convergent services like voice, data & video through the same Backbone & Broadband Access Network. At present there are 8.09 million broadband customers. The company has vast experience in planning, installation, network integration & maintenance of switching & transmission networks & also has a world class ISO 9000 certified Telecom Training Institute. During the 2010-11, turnover of BSNL is around Rs. 29,700 Crores.Be the leading telecom service provider in India with global presence. Create a customer focused organization with excellence in customer care, sales and marketing.To be the Leading Telecom Services provider by achieving higher rate of growth so as to become a profitable enterprise. To provide quality and reliable fixed telecom service to our customer and thereby increase customers confidence. To provide customer friendly mobile telephone service of high quality and play a leading role as GSM operator in its area of operation. The trust of over 117 million customers is a testimony to an organization’s credibility and market position. BSNL enjoys this unique privilege, thanks to our loyal customers. BSNL owes a deep sense of gratitude to them for their patronage, which has always been a great source of strength and inspiration for us. Telecommunications is no longer a plain vanilla voice service. It has now become the key to economic progress and prosperity in the country. Keeping pace with this transformation, BSNL has consistently up-graded its operations to state-of-the-art service offerings. A slew of technological game changers like high-speed broadband and 3G mobile services have well and truly established BSNL as a strong market force. With 3G, our customers can have high speed data, video calls and many more Value Added Services.

Address :
BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED
(A Government of India Enterprise)
O/o Chief General Manager Telecom,
Bihar Circle, Patna

Courtesy: GovtJobs.co.in

History
Jehanabad District has own history from Mugal time. As per book “aine-e-akbari”, place was affected by famine in the 17th century and people were dying of hunger. The Mugal Emperor Aurangzeb, in whose time the book was re-written, established a Market(Mandi) for relief of the people and named the “Mandi” as “JAHANARA”( Aurangzeb’s Sister). The Mandi was managed under and supervised by Jahanara. She took a good interest in this. After some time the place came to be known as “JAHANARABAD” and later as “JEHANABAD”

Demographics
As of 2001 India census, Jehanabad had a population of 81,723. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Jehanabad has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 54%. In Jehanabad, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.now jehanabad is divided in to two parts, one is jehanabad other is arwal.

Natural Resources
The rivers- Falgu, Dardha, Jamuna and Morhar flow by crossing the district’s plan topography. The river Falgu has got religious importance where ‘PIND DAN’ is offered to their forefather’s by the Hindus. All these rivers are mainly rainfed, have a meagre discharge in the other parts of the year and go dry in the summers.

As far as minerals are concerned, the district has only minor ones. The sand available with the river beds in the major part of the year is collected and transported to other parts of the district besides to the adjoining districts and is useful in construction work. The hills of Barabar are being quarried for stones, which are utilised by 36 Crusher units, spread mainly across the Makhdumpur block.Barabar is a great tourist place of india. It has also a great history from the time of great samrat Ashok. Other religious places are the Mahavir Mandir, Babhana (2 km west from Jehanabad town) and Shri RamBag, Shahpur (5 km south-west from Jehanabad town). It is one of the most popular religious place of India. The soil is alluvial- textured brown gray which cracks open in the dry season and gets very sticky in the rains and the mud tracks become unmotorable during that period. The fertility is reasonably good. The forest cover of the district is small- 10.3 square kilometres, which is mainly concentrated near the Barabar Hills. They belong to the category of reserve forests.

Human resources
There are about 111,000 cultivators including 92138 small and marginal farmers, 178,000 agricultural labourers, 7969 skilled labours, 5075 house hold entrepreneurs and 95755 are engaged in allied agro business. The total population in the working age group is 358723 out of which there are 236199 males and 122534 females.

Infrastructure
The district is linked to the bigger cities of Patna & Gaya both by road and rail route. The recently electrified Patna-Gaya branch railway line (P.G. line) traverses through the district and links the Grand Chord with Patna. There are four railway stations- Jehanabad, Court, Tehta and Makhdumpur in the 31 km long stretch of the railways. National Highway No. 83 comes from Patna via Masaurhi, goes directly to Gaya through Makhdumpur and runs almost parallel to the railway line. There is a network of PWD roads and REO roads across the district, albeit in a bad shape. The total length of surfaced roads is 541.65 km and mud tracks is 450.90 km. The condition of the roads in the rural parts is good.

The district has wide network of markets dealing mainly with grains and vegetables. Major centers of trade and commerce are located in Jehanabad, Ghosi, Kako and Makhdumpur. Besides in rural areas hats function usually once in the week. The trade consists mainly of export of oil seeds, rice, gur, stone chips and vegetables. The principal imports are coal, cement and other construction materials, clothes, K. oil, tea, tobacco, fresh fruits and other perishable/ non perishable consumer goods.

The telecommunication network in the district is good. The whole of the district is either covered by basic or mobile/WLL phones. There are two WLL towers at Kako and Makhdumpur with 1500 line capacity, two mobile phone towers at Jehanabad and Ghoshi having capacity of 3100 lines and 14 exchanges for basic phone lines. The details have been provided in the annexures.

Jehanabad had a population of 81,723. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Jehanabad has an average literacy rate of 63%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 54%. In Jehanabad, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.now jehanabad is divided in to two parts, one is jehanabad other is arwal.

Education

• Swami Sahjanand College,Jehanabad
• Krishna Mahila College, Jehanabad
• Anugrah Narayan College,Jehanabad
• S N Sinha College,Jehanabad
• R L S Y College,Jehanabad
• Jehanabad College, Jehanabad

Gaya was a part of the ancient state Magadha.

Importance to Hindu Mythology

Gayasisa or Brahmayoni hill, where Buddha taught the Fire Sutta

Gaya derives its name from the mythological demon Gayasur (which literally means Gaya the holy demon), demon (asur, a Sanskrit word) and Gaya. Over its history dating millennia, the word asur got deleted and the name Gaya remained in currency. Lord Vishnu killed Gayasur, the holy demon by using the pressure of his foot over him. This incident transformed Gayasur into the series of rocky hills that make up the landscape of the Gaya city. Gaya was so holy that he had the power to absolve the sins of those who touched him or looked at him; after his death many people have flocked to Gaya to perform shraddha sacrifices on his body to absolve the sins of their ancestors. Gods and goddesses had promised to live on Gayasur’s body after he died, and the hilltop protuberances of Gaya are surmounted by temples to various gods and goddesses. These hilltop temples at Rama Shila, Mangla Gauri, Shringa Sthan and Brahmayoni are part of the pilgrimage circuit, and grand staircases have been built up to most of them.

Women performing Chhat Puja in the Falgu River in Gaya.

Holy Sites in Gaya

Sacred places in Gaya correspond to physical features, most of which occur naturally. Ghats and temples line the banks of the sacred Falgu River. Trees such as pipal trees and Akshayavat, the undying banyan, are especially sacred. The Mangla Gauri shrine is marked by two rounded stones that symbolize the breasts of the mythological Sati, the first wife of Lord Shiva. The most popular temple today is Vishnupad Temple, a place along the Falgu River, marked by a footprint of Vishnu incised into a block of basalt, that marks the act of Lord Vishnu subduing Gayasur by placing his foot on Gayasur’s chest. The present day temple was rebuilt by Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, the ruler of Indore, in the 18th century. Buddhist tradition regards the footstep in the Vishnupad Temple as a footstep of Buddha (who is regarded as an avatar of Vishnu by Hindus).

Vishnupadh Temple
Gaya is significant to Hindus from the point of view of salvation to the souls of ancestors (a ritual called pinda daan). According to Ramayana, when Lord Rama came to Gaya along with Sita for pitripaksha (or to perform pindadanam), Sita cursed the Falgu River following some disobedience on the part of the river. The mythology states that on account of this curse, Falgu River lost its water, and the river is simply a vast stretch of sand dunes.

Same time Sita blessed a banyan tree to be immortal. This tree is known as Akshyavat. Akshyavat is combination of two words Akshya (which never decay) and Vat (Banyan tree). Once in year every banyan tree releases all its leaves, but this Akshyavat tree does not release its leaves at all and remain green always even in draught too.
For Buddhists, Gaya is an important pilgrimage place because it was at Brahmayoni hill that Buddha preached the Fire Sermon (Adittapariyaya Sutta) to one thousand former fire-worshipping ascetics, who all became enlightened while listening to this discourse. At that time, the hill was called Gayasisa.

Bitho Sharif

Bitho Sharif (10 km from main city) situated on Gaya-Patna route, is one of the notable pilgrimage place. The great Sufi of Chishtia-Ashrafi order Hazrat Makhdoom Syed Shah Durwesh Ashraf (R.A) setteled here in around Ninth Century Hijri and established Khanqah-e-Ashrafia. A large number of Muslims and people from other faith, from all over the Globe visit the Dargah of this great Sufi Saint. Urs of Hz.Mk. Durwesh Ashraf (R.A.) is celebrated every year from 10th-12th of Islamic month of Shabaan.

History

Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya. The site where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment.

The 300 ft. tall Vishal Buddha Mandir, Bodh Gaya.

Ancient history

Documented history of Gaya dates back to the enlightment of Gautam Buddha. About 15 km from Gaya town is Bodh Gaya, the place where Gautam Buddha got enlightenment. Since then the places around Gaya (Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Patliputra) had been the citadel of knowledge for the ancient world. These centers of knowledge further flourished under the rule of dynasties like the Mauryans who ruled from Patliputra (modern Patna) and covered the area beyond the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent. During this period, Gaya was a part of the Magadh region.

Modern History

Gaya has also immensely contributed in the Indian Independence Movement. It has also been a place of the Gandhian leader Bihar Bibhuti[1]Dr.Anugrah Narayan Sinha. During the independence movement,the All india session of the Congress was held under the presidency of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das in 1922, which was attended by great illumanaries and prominent leaders of the Indian Independence Movement, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad,[2]Anugrah Narayan Sinha , Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Nehru and Sri Krishna Sinha. jai parkash narayan spend months in patluka village in barachatti when he flew from hazaribagh jail in 1942

Geography

Gaya is located at 24°47′N 85°00′E24.78°N 85.0°E[3]. It has an average elevation of 111 metres (364 ft).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census[4], Gaya(district) had a population of 3,473,428. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Gaya has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74%, and female literacy is 60%. In Gaya, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Transportation

Gaya is well connected to the rest of India and the world by roadways, railways and airways.

Roadways

The Grand Trunk Road (NH-2, which is undergoing a revival under The Golden Quadrilateral project) is about 30 km. from Gaya city . Thus, Gaya is well connected to Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Hazaribag,Kolkata, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Delhi, Amritsar, and to the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Peshawar. The highway connecting Gaya to Patna,Gaya to Nawada,Rajgir and Bihar Sharif is now in a good condition.

Railways

Gaya is the second most important station in Bihar after Patna. It is a junction and is connected to the all the four metropolis New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai through Important Broad Gauge Routes (direct trains). Now it is also directly connected to Guwahati(N-E India) including the Grand Chord line. There is a direct non-stop train, the Mahabodhi Express from New Delhi to Gaya daily. It takes around 16 hours to reach Gaya from New Delhi through train.
There are direct trains from Gaya to other important stations in India like Ranchi, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Agra, Mathura, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Indore, Nagpur, Puri,Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Dehradun, Kalka, Jammu, etc. There are also two broad gauge train lines from Gaya, one to Patna and the other to Kiul.

Airways

Gaya Airport is the only international airport in Bihar and Jharkhand taken together. It is an international airport connected to Colombo, Sri Lanka through two airline operators; Bangkok, Thailand; Singapore, and Paro, Bhutan. It is said to be being developed as a stand-by to the Calcutta airport. Gaya Airport is served by Indian Airlines for domestic flights and Sri Lankan Airlines, Mihin Lanka, Drukair and Indian Airlines for international flights. Thai Airways is planning a non stop flight to Gaya from Bangkok. The distance of gaya airport to National Heritage sites “Bodh-Gaya” about 5 Kilometers.

Hotels

There are several good hotels in Gaya. Hotel Heritage In, Hotel Gharana, Hotel Royal Surya and Ajat Satru (Opp Railway Station),Hotel Pankaj are good hotels to stay.

Cuisine

The staple food of Gaya is common to the rest of Bihar and Jharkhand. The other special preparations found in Gaya are typically traditional Bihari. The most popular of them include sattu, litti, pittha, pua, marua-ka-roti, bari-dal, sattu-ka-roti, baigan-bharta, sukhaota, etc.

Sweets

Gaya has been the origin of several sweet delicacies popular in the whole of Bihar, Jharkhand and the rest of India. Tilkut, Kesaria Peda, Lai, Anarsa of Ramana road and tekari road are the most popular sweets that bear the trademark of Gaya.

Tilkut being the most popular of them is prepared using til or sesame seeds (Sesamum Indicum) and jaggery or sugar. It is a seasonal (winter) sweet and only the karigars (workers) from Gaya are believed to impart the real taste of Tilkut. One can find Tilkuts carrying the label “Ramna, Gaya” even in far flung places like Kolkata and Delhi. Ramna and Tekari Road are the areas in the city where every other house is a Tilkut factory.

Kesaria peda is yet another delicious sweet prepared from khoya (solid milk cream) and kesar (saffron). The Chowk area of the city specializes in Kesaria Peda production.

There are several varieties of Lai available in Bihar, including Lai from Gaya. The main component of this Lai is Ram dana seeds. These ram danas are processed and mixed with koya and sugar to give rise to a disk shaped sweet.

Anarsa is also based on khoya, but is deep fried and processed with sugar. Anarsa comes in two shapes ‘thin disk’ and ‘spherical’. The sweet is finally embedded with til(sesame) toppings.

These sweets are dry and hence easily packagable, preserved, and transported, unlike the bengali sweets which are soaked in sugar syrups. There is a tradition among the residents to gift the visitors with these sweets when they depart, as a token of love.

Beside this in Gaya one should must try roadside eateries like Aloo ka Chaloo & Chaat. Aloo ka Chaloo is made up of boiled potatoes sprinkled with red chilly powder and jeera powder, salt and tamarind water. One can easily find such joints outside schools and colleges as it is favourite of kids and teenagers.

Snacks

The people of Gaya are fond of spicy-soury traditional snacks. There are certain snacks that are found only in Gaya. The most popular among them are Samosa Chat, Alu-Kachalu and Sabudana-Badam Bhoonja.

Alu-Kachalu is a wet and sour snack prepared from aloo (potato) and imli (tamarind) mixed with black salt, chilly powder, jeera (cumin seeds), etc. This snack is popular among the students returning from schools in the day time. One can find herds of thelas (vendor’s vehicle) standing outside the schools during the closing hours.

Sabudana-Badam Bhoonja is a dry snack that is unique to the Gaya city. It is a mixture of fried sabudana (sago) and fried badam (groundnut or moongfali is called badam or sometime chiniya-badam in Bihar) along with salt (both white and black), chilly powder and jeera (cumin seeds) powder. The mobile bhoonja vendors shouting humorous slogans can be found in every bylane of the Gaya city during the twilight hours.
Bakarkhani near jama(sarai) masjid is very famous across india and chai wala biscuit(bara biscuit) of chatta masjid area is very popular
Chienese Foods are also very popular here now.

Education

Map of Gaya.

Most of the government-run schools in Gaya (notably Zila School, Haridas Seminary – also known as Town School, Theosophical Model School, Gaya High School,Anugrah Kanya Vidayalaya, Mahaveer School,Qasmi High School and Hadi Hashmi School, Government Girls High School) are affiliated to Bihar School Examination Board. There are two Central Schools (Kendriya Vidyalaya) affiliated with the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, New Delhi. Most of the private schools are affiliated to ICSE and CBSE boards. The major ones being Creane Memorial High School, Nazareth Academy,D.A.V Public School Medical Road, Gyan Bharti Public school, D.A.V Public School Cantonment Area, Greenfield Public School,Sir Syed Memorial School Bhadeya,Elegent Public School and many more. Nazareth Academy is one of the oldest schools, which is managed by a US based congregation called ‘Sisters of Charity of Nazareth’. The government-run public schools lack many facilities, but are the only options for the poor who cannot afford the fees in private schools.

The only university at Gaya is Magadh University established by eminent educationist and then Education Minister. Late Satyendra Narayan Sinha in 1962,located near Bodhgaya.Gaya has several colleges with graduate and post-graduate courses offered in sciences, arts, commerce, management and Computer Application. The well known ones include Gaya College, Anugrah Memorial College, Jagjivan College, Mirza Ghalib College. Gautam Buddha Mahila College (GBM College) is exclusively meant for women.
Anugraha Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) is the medical college in Gaya.

Gaya has an Industrial Training Institute for vocational education located on Bodhgaya Road.

The district occupies an area of 2,474 km² and has a population of 1,792,771 (as of 2001).

History
This district played a major role in India’s struggle for independence. Veer Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur was the leader of the mutineers during the first war of independence in 1857, called the Sepoy Mutiny by the British. The fighting was so severe that two of the five Victoria Crosses ever awarded to civilians by the British were awarded during this battle. A third VC was awarded to an army officer. Prior to 1972 the district of Rohtas and Bhojpur were part of Shahabad District. In 2001 Buxar became a district which was earlier a part of Bhojpur District. Ara is headquarter and a big town of Bhojpur District. Veer Kunwar Singh University was established in Ara.

It is said that Ara, the present headquarters of the district derives its name from the Sanskrit word ‘ARANYA’, which means forest. It suggests that the entire area around modern Ara was heavily forested in old days. According to mythology, sage Vishwamitra, the Guru of RAMA , had his ‘Ashram’ somewhere in this region.
The 1961 Census report also describes the early period of the old Shahabad district which includes the present district of Bhojpur as :

“In the old days, Shahabad formed part of the ancient kingdom of Magadh which also contained portions of the present Patna & Gaya district. Though included in the kingdom of Emperor ASHOKA , the general absence of Buddhists’ monuments from a greater part of the district suggests that it remained almost immune from the Buddhist influence of the time”

“The famous Chinese pilgrim, Huen Tsang, who journeyed through the country in the seventh century A.D., paid a visit to Mo-Ho-Solo in Shahabad. This place has been identified with the present village Masarh, 10 k.m. west of Ara on Ara-Buxar road. The Chinese pilgrim found that the inhabitants were all Brahmins who did not respect the law of Buddha. He, therefore, felt disappointed and did not proceed to any other place in the district.”

“Not much is known about the history of the district after the fall of Guptas. In all probability it relapsed into the hands of the aboriginal tribes and came under control of petty chieftains. The most dominant people during this period were Cheros. They ruled over the greater portion of the district. Then came the Rajputs from Ujjain in the province of Malwa . Raja Bhoj was their king and the term ‘Bhojpur’ now applicable to the area is derived from him.”

The Medieval period history of this district has been described in the following words :

“While encamping at Ara in 1529 after his victory over the Afghan rulers, Babar proclaimed his sovereignty over Bihar . In commemoration of this event, the place was called Shahabad, which literally means ‘the city of Emperor ‘. This name was later applied to the Sarkar within which Ara was included and eventually toe entire district.”

Akbar, after his accession, includes the district of Shahabad in his empire, though the control was not very tight. Akbar’s General Man Singh, made efforts to organize the revenue administration of the district on a sound footing. But the local chiefs continued to resist. The Rajas of Jagdishpur and Bhojpur defied the Mughals. The Raja of Bhojpur rebelled against Jahangir. His successor Raja Pratap, was done to death by Shahjahan and the Queen was forced to many a muslim courtier. This finally quietened the Bhojpur family but stray troubles continued till the last days of Mughals.

After this the District had a very uneventful history till 1857 when Kunwar Singh revolted against the Britishers in line with the Mutineers.

THE REVOLT OF 1857
About the fight of independence of 1857, by the Raja of Jagdishpur, the famous historian Pundit Sunder Lal writes in his history named “Bart Mein Angereji Raj” as follows :

“On July 25th 1857 , the Indian army of “British Fauz” declared the Independence at Danapur and proceeded to , Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district, Kunwar Singh was the Raja of Jagdishpur at that time, Kunwar Singh was very popular in surrounding areas. At that time he was at the age of 80 years.

“When the revolutionary army reached Jagdishpur, the old King Kunwar Singh immediately took the command of that army. He reached Ara with this army and captured the English Treasury, released the prisoners from Ara Jail and destroyed English Offices totally.

“On July 29.1857, Captain Danwar proceeded to Ara with 300 English and 100 Sikh armies. When he reached near Ara, he was attacked by Gorilla fighters of Kunwar Singh in Mango Garden (kayamnagar) at night. Only 50 persons of British army were survived out of 415 till the morning of 30 July. Captain Danwar was also killed at the same place (Kayamnagar).

“A big British army led by Major Ayar with cannons proceeded to Ara from the west to help the surrounded British army on August 2, 1857. A big battle took place at Bibiganj (about 5 km, west of Ara). The English army became successful in this battle and Kunwar Singh was forced to retreat. After 8 days, the captured Ara town and the castle of Ara (Ara house) were freed. Kunwar Singh came back to Jagdishpur and Major Ayer followed him with the victorious army. After the fight of many days on Aug,14, the Kilo of Jagdishpur fell in the hands of Major Ayer.”

“After 8 months fighting with British armies at different places in Eastern U.P. . Kunwar Singh decided to come back to Jagdishpur via Gazipur. He reached his capital Jagdishpur and again took-over his thrown with the help of another small army collected by his younger brother Amar Singh on April 22, 1858 . Kunwar Singh was forced to fight again within 24 hours of his arrival at Jagdishpur. A fierce battle again took place between Kunwar Singh and Britishers at a distance of one and half miles away from Jagdishpur. This battle had taken place between the night of 22 and 23 April, 1853 and was again won by the injured Kunwar Singh”

“Kunwar Singh regained his thrown of Jagdishpur on 23rd April, 1958 and ruled again till the death. The 23rd April is celebrated at Ara, Jagdishpur and all over the state of Bihar as “Kunwar Singh Vijayotsav Diwas” every year. The old and injured Lion Kunwar Singh died on 26the April 1958 as an independent ruler but before his death he freed his state and the people from the slavery of British rule”.

“After his death, his younger brother Amar Singh took the thrown of Jagdishpur. He also fought with British army at Behia, Hetampur and Dalipur and British army were defeated everywhere. Frustrated with regular defeat General Legend resigned from his post. General Dugles took the charge of British army announced awards to the persons who could bring the head of Amar singh but was not successful in getting Amar Singh in his custody. On 17th Oct. 1958 , the British army surrounded Jagdishpur and attacked from seven points but Amar singh came out of Jagdishpur fighting with his courageous army. The Britishers captured Jagdishpur. Amar Singh surrounded by the British army at “Nounadi” 300 armies of Amar Singh was killed but he again fled with 100 army persons. The Britishers could not catch him but followed long. Once the British army was about to catch the elephant on which Amar Singh was riding but he jumped from the elephant and fled away/ He entered the forests of Kaimur hills. He never accepted the defeat. After entering Kaimur hills, there was no trace of him.”

In this way, the history of 1857, Specially of Jagdishpur and Ara of Bhojpur district is glorious and the people of the district owe their glorious past.

THE QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT
The history of “Quit India Movement” in 1942 is also written by the blood of the virtuous revolutionaries of this district. Two incidents are very important in the month of September 1942 for this district. Village Lasarhi, 32 km south of the district headquarters, Ara was the centre of the underground revolutionaries of Shahabad district. On 15th Sep. 1942 , the British police surrounded the Lasarhi village. The people of not only Lasarhi but of the near-by villages like Dhakani and Chasi bravely faced the bullets of Sten gun and LMGs. In this course 7 men and 1 woman were killed.

After passing of the Quit India Resolution on 9th Aug, 1942, the district of Shahabad had seen many protest movements. To accelerate the movement, the revolutionaries of the district decided to hoist the tri-color at Ara collectorate. Sep 28th, 1942 was decided the date by the district administration to deposit the “Role-Cess”. On this very day a group of “Satyagrahi started Satyagrah at collectorate from the village Jagwalia. The group was led by a brave soldier of independence Kavi Kailash of the village Ghoradei. Hiding from the eyes of police, the group reached somehow at Ara collectorate and hoisted the tri-color in the campus of Ara collectorate. The Satyagrahi were brutally beaten-up there. Kavi Kailash was lifted and thrashed on a big stone near Ara collectorate tank. He was also tied with horse and brutally dragged on the roads. Then boiled water was poured over him.

At last chanting the slogans of “Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, the brave son of Bhojpur led his life to the rest and became one important martyr of this district.

Facts
Bhojpur district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Arrah town is the administrative headquarters of this district. The land is very fertile, being on the Ganges Plain. This area is known for its rich language – Bhojpuri.

Population: Total: 1,792,771 Rural: 1,557,287 Urban: 235,484

Sub Divisions: Ara Sadar, Jagdishpur, Piro

Blocks: Ara Sadar,Udwantnagar, Jagdishpur, Koilwar, Sahar, Barhara, Sandesh, Shahpur, Charpokhari, Piro, Tarari, Bihia, Agiawon, Garhani

Agriculture: Rich Paddy Fields, Wheat, Maize, Bengal Gram, Grain

Industry: Rice, Automobiles, Clothes and Oil Mills.

Rivers: Ganges, Sone.

Hotel

Shivam rest House,Park View Hotel,regal.

Universities

• Veer Kunwar Singh University

Colleges

• Maharaja College
• Jagjivan College
• Jain College
• Sahjanand Brahamarshi College
• Sanjay Gandhi College
• Mahant mahadevanand mahila mahavidyalay, Ara
• Dr. k k mandal(jagdishpur)
• Saint barahna mahila college(jagdishpur)

Schools

• H.N.K High school
• H.P.D Jain school
• DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL
• St. PAUL HIGH SCHOOL

Mosques

• Badi Masjid, Ara

Temple

• “Maa Mahthin Mai Mandir”
• Bihiya,”Aaranya Devi Temple”, Arrah
• Surya mandir,Belaur

Historical Places

Krishan Garh, beside the river Ganga in the Ara District, is the location of a five hundred year old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

“Maa Kali Temple” at Bakhorapur about 15 km. far from Ara. This is one of the oldest temples in india.

“Baba Dineshwar nath Dham” at Koilwar, it’s that 16 km. far from Ara.It is dedicated to Lord Shiva. This Temple is situated at the bank of river “Sone”, Jagdishwar Madir at milki(khutaha) village about 40 km from ara. There is an old shiva temple in village Bartiar under sandesh police station,some 20 km from district hq.

Famous Politicians

Jugjeevan Ram(EX-Dy Prime minister), Meera Kumar (cabinet minister UPA govt.)

Ram subhag Singh, Was cabinet minister and First leader of opposition in Parliament of India.

Famous Personalities

Dr. Pashupati Nath Mishra was born in village Sonbarasa of this district. He is a famous Neurosurgeon and has contributed to medical literature extensively.

Vashishtha Narayan Singh is a famous Mathematician.

Justice Bhubneshwary Prasad Sinha..was born in village Gaziapur on the bank of holy river Ganga. He was the chief justice of India. His grand son justice B P Singh is a serving Judge in Supreme court.

“Coming from a Chief Minister who has been the flagbearer of change and progress in my home state, that’s the biggest endorsement I could have asked for,” says the director. “The last film Nitishji admitted to having watched was Raju Hirani’s 3 Idiots and he compared its positive energy to ours.”

The film’s mouthful of a title was what drew Nitish Kumar to the film, admits Praveen Kumar, saying that they had started with a more conventional Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai. The shooting title was Keshu The Truck Driver that changed to Na Woh Mili Na Ya Mila during the editing. “Jo Dooba So Paar — It’s Love In Bihar came much later from a Amir Khusrau couplet and seemed apt because the film is about learning to love fearlessly. Interestingly, when I went to IMPAA, I was told that a year ago, I had already registered,” reminisces the filmmaker.

The film’s financier and music composer, Manish J Tipu, are from Bihar, along with the director and lead actor Vinay Pathak. Yet, Praveen Kumar admits he was wary of shooting there, and a major chunk was filmed in Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai.

“But we needed to shoot the climax in Bodh Gaya and hence applied for the necessary permission. But since no one had heard of Praveen Kumar, security cover wasn’t provided for,” admits Praveen Kumar. “We shot in the middle of Gaya without a single policeman escorting us and without a single untoward incident. Full credit to Nitishji for this. He’s given us a New Bihar where love and not violence reigns. And our film reflects that Bihar.”

Courtesy: Hindustan Times