Courtesy: PTI

The conservation plan comes in the wake of the Bihar government’s move to develop Vikramshila’s ruins as a tourist destination like Nalanda, situated around 90 km from the state capital.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has roped in the National Culture Fund (NCF) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to conserve its excavated ruins with an initial investment of Rs.2 crore.

Vikramshila University was set up by the Pala dynasty (750-1174 A.D) king Dharmapala in the late 8th or early 9th century. The site is located near Antichak village in Kahalgaon sub-division of Bhagalpur district, about 150 km from Patna.

“The conservation work would begin from February in a phase-wise manner,” ASI Patna circle’s Superintending Archaeologist Sanjay K. Manjul told IANS in Patna.

He said the initial investment will be Rs.2 crore, though the total cost of the mega conservation and development plan is yet to be worked out.

“NTPC has agreed to fund the conservation work through NCF. A memorandum of understanding has been finalised for it,” he said.

NTPC, under its corporate social responsibility scheme, decided to fund the conservation work. Officials of the three agencies visited the site last December.

Last year, the ASI decided to launch a mega plan for conservation of the university ruins.

Manjul said the conservation, which has been neglected for decades, will help preserve the legacy for future generations.

According to ASI officials here, conservation of 52 shells or reading room-like structures adjoining the main stupa and a major portion of the excavated structure will be taken up.

The ancient Vikramshila University was intended to complement the existing world-class universities at Nalanda and Takshila. It lasted four centuries before being destroyed during an attack on local kingdoms by Bakhtiyar Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate.

As per the ASI, the remains at Antichak were excavated by B.P. Sinha of Patna University during 1960-69. The antiquities found at Vikramashila comprise terracotta objects, including a large number of plaques representing Buddhist and Brahmanical deities, animal and bird figurines and some symbolic representations, as also a large number of stone images of gods and goddesses.

A few small bronze statues of Buddhist deities like the Buddha, Maitreya, Vajrapani, Avalokitesvara and Manjusri too have been found. The bulk of antiquities comprise stone, iron, copper, silver and bronze objects, including a few silver and copper coins.

Members of the Vikramshila Nagarik Samiti said after more than three and a half decades of excavation by the ASI, no work has been done at the site on the pattern of Nalanda.

The Samiti has been demanding that Vikramshila be included in the state’s Buddhist tourist circuit for its development.

The ancient university at Nalanda was a seat of higher learning in the fifth century. The university was home to over 10,000 students, including from abroad, and nearly 2,000 teachers.

Courtesy: IANS

Nalanda was identified by Alexander Cunningham with the village of Baragaon.

Etymology
The name is a Sanskrit word that means giver of knowledge. The Chinese pilgrim-monk Xuanzang gives several explanations of the name Nalanda. One is that it was named after the Naga who lived in a tank in the middle of the mango grove. Another – the one he accepted – is that Shakyamuni Buddha once had his capital here and gave “alms without intermission”, hence the name.

The micro analysis of the word “Nalanda” which to be broken as ‘Na Alam Da’ suggests that it was a question among the knowledge seekers literally “not giving enough”, which seems a philosophical mark.

Sariputta passed away at the village called ‘Nalaka’, which is also identified as Nalanda by many scholars.

Nalanda in the time of the Buddha (500 BCE)
The Buddha is mentioned as having several times stayed at Nalanda. When he visited Nalanda he would usually reside in Pavarika’s mango grove, and while there he had discussions with Upali-Gahapati and Dighatapassi, with Kevatta, and also several conversations with Asibandhakaputta.

The Buddha visited Nālandā during his last tour through Magadha, and it was there that Sariputta uttered his “lion’s roar,” affirming his faith in the Buddha, shortly before his death. The road from Rajagaha to Nalanda passed through Ambalatthika, and from Nalanda it went on to Pataligama. Between Rajagaha and Nalanda was situated the Bahuputta cetiya.

According to the Kevatta Sutta, in the Buddha’s time Nalanda was already an influential and prosperous town, thickly populated, though it was not until later that it became the centre of learning for which it afterwards became famous. There is a record in the Samyutta Nikaya, of the town having been the victim of a severe famine during the Buddha’s time. Sariputta, the right hand disciple of the Buddha, was born and died in Nalanda.

Nālandā was the residence of Sonnadinna. Mahavira is several times mentioned as staying at Nalanda, which was evidently a centre of activity of the Jains. Mahavira is believed to have attained Moksha at Pavapuri, which is located in Nalanda (also according to one sect of Jainism he was born in the nearby village called Kundalpur).

King Asoka (250 BC) is said to have built a stupa in the memory of Sariputta. According to Tibetan sources, Nagarjuna taught there.

Arising and establishment of Nalanda University
Historical studies indicate that the University of Nalanda was established 450 CE under the patronage of the Gupta emperors, notably Kumaragupta.

The entrance of many of the viharas in Nalanda University ruins can be seen with a bow marked floor; bow was the royal sign of Guptas’

Description of Nalanda University
Nalanda was one of the world’s first residential universities, i.e., it had dormitories for students. It is also one of the most famous universities. In its heyday it accommodated over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers. The university was considered an architectural masterpiece, and was marked by a lofty wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight separate compounds and ten temples, along with many other meditation halls and classrooms. On the grounds were lakes and parks. The library was located in a nine storied building where meticulous copies of texts were produced. The subjects taught at Nalanda University covered every field of learning, and it attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. The Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang left detailed accounts of the university in the 7th century.

The seal of Nalanda University set in terracotta on display in the ASI Museum in Nalanda

Libraries
The library of Nalanda, known as Dharma Gunj (Mountain of Truth) or Dharmaganja (Treasury of Truth), was the most renowned repository of Buddhist knowledge in the world at the time. Its collection was said to comprise hundreds of thousands of volumes, so extensive that it burned for months when set aflame by invaders. The library had three main buildings as high as nine stories tall, Ratnasagara (Sea of Jewels), Ratnodadhi (Ocean of Jewels), and Ratnaranjaka (Delighter of Jewels)

Curriculum
In an unattributed article of the Dharma Fellowship (2005), the curriculum of Nalanda University at the time of Manjusrimitra contained …virtually the entire range of world knowledge then available. Courses were drawn from every field of learning, Buddhist and Hindu, sacred and secular, foreign and native. Students studied science, astronomy, medicine, and logic as diligently as they applied themselves to metaphysics, philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga-shastra, the Veda, and the scriptures of Buddhism. They studied foreign philosophy likewise. Berzin (2002) outlines the “four systems of Buddhist tenets” or “four doxographies” (Tibetan: grub-mtha) taught at Nalanda, the Vaibhashika (Tibetan: bye-brag smra-ba) and Sautrantika (Tibetan: mdo-sde-pa) of the Sarvastivada (Tibetan: thams-cad yod-par smra-ba); and the Chittamatra (Sanskrit: sems-tsam-pa) and Madhyamaka (Tibetan: dbu-ma-pa) of the Mahayana:

In the Indian Mahayana Buddhist monasteries, such as Nalanda, monks studied four systems of Buddhist tenets. Two Vaibhashika and Sautrantika were subdivisions of the Sarvastivada school within Hinayana. The other two Chittamatra and Madhyamaka were subdivisions within Mahayana.

Influence on Buddhism
A vast amount of what came to comprise Tibetan Buddhism, both its sutric Mahayana traditions and its (Vajrayana) traditions, stems from the late (9th–12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholar Dharmakirti (ca. 7th century), one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic, as well as and one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, taught at Nalanda.

Other forms of Buddhism, like the Mahayana followed in Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan, found their genesis within the walls of the ancient university.

Theravada Buddhism was also taught at Nalanda University, but its teachings were not developed further there, as Nalanda was not a strong center of Theravada.

The last throne-holder of Nalanda, Shakyashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1204 CE at the invitation of the Tibetan translator Tropu Lotsawa (Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal). In Tibet he started an ordination lineage of the Mulasarvastivadin lineage to complement the two existing ones.

When the Tibetan translator Chag Lotsawa (Chag Lo-tsa-ba, 1197-1264) visited the site in 1235, he found it damaged and looted, with a 90-year-old teacher, Rahula Shribhadra, instructing a class of about 70 students.

Ahir considers the destruction of the temples, monasteries, centers of learning at Nalanda and northern India to be responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in mathematics, astronomy, alchemy, and anatomy.

Ruins
A number of ruined structures survive. Nearby is the Surya Mandir, a Hindu temple. The known and excavated ruins extend over an area of about 150,000 square metres, although if Xuanzang’s account of Nalanda’s extent is correlated with present excavations, almost 90% of it remains unexcavated.

Nalanda is no longer inhabited. Today the nearest habitation is a village called Bargaon.

In 1951, a modern centre for Pali (Theravadin) Buddhist studies was founded nearby by Bhikshu Jagdish Kashyap, the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara. Presently, this institute is pursuing an ambitious program of satellite imaging of the entire region.

The Nalanda Museum contains a number of manuscripts, and shows many examples of the items that have been excavated.

India’s first Multimedia Museum was opened on 26 January 2008, which recreates the history of Nalanda using a 3D animation film narrated by Shekhar Suman. Besides this there are four more sections in the Multimedia Museum: Geographical Perspective, Historical Perspective, Hall of Nalanda and Revival of Nalanda.

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.

Overview
Bhagalpur is a divisional town of historical importance situated on the southern bank of the Ganga river. Situated 220 km east of Patna, the state capital of Bihar, and 410 km north west of Calcutta. The city was referred to as one of the biggest trade centers in eastern India by the 7th century Chinese travellers Hiuen Tsang and Fa Hien. The city had a big harbour on the Ganges River at place called Champanagar (another name for Bhagalpur), now called Champanala, which flows on the western boundary of the present city near Nathnagar. During an archaeological excavation, many boats and coins of the Middle and Far East were found at the same place. Bhagalpur is well connected by rail and road. The airport at Bhagalpur was functional until the 1980s but since that time has awaited rejuvenation.
The city is famous worldwide for its silk and mango production. The silk industry in this city is hundreds of years old and its inhabitants have been producing silk for generations. There is a Silk Institute and Agricultural college here, as well as a University, and Engineering, Medical and Homoeopathic colleges.

The gangetic plains are very fertile and the main crops include rice, wheat, maize, barley, and oilseeds. The economy of Bhagalpur is dependent mainly on agriculture and small businesses.

History
Early civilizations have flourished along the fertile banks of the Ganges river. Bhagalpur has often been referred to as Bhagaddat-Puram in ancient Sanskrit literature such as the Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Panchtantra. The religious festival of “Vish-hari Puja” or “the worship of the snake queen” traces its roots back hundreds of years and is still celebrated every year with thousands of believers and snake charmers offering milk to the Nag (the snake King) and Nageen (The snake Queen).

References to Bhagalpur can be found in Indian epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata where Bhagalpur has been described as the kingdom of Anga. Ancient cave sculptures of Emperor Ashoka’s regime (274 BC-232 BC) are found in the neighbourhood and at Sultangunj, 20 km west of Bhagalpur, a temple of the Gupta period (320-500) still exists. The tomb of Suja, brother of Moghul emperor Aurangzeb, in the heart of the town is reminiscent of the city’s association with the Mughal period.

The ruins of ancient Vikramshila University are located 44 km east of Bhagalpur. The royal university of Vikramsila, ranks next to Nalanda and owes its origin to Dharmapala (770-810 A.D.), the devout Pala king who loved to call himself Paramasaugata (chief worshipper of the Buddha) and was a great patron of Mahayana Buddhism. It was the medieval center to the conservation and propagation of Buddhist education, established by King Dharampal of Bengal (783-820) at the end of the 8th century.

Bhagalpur formed a part of the ancient Sanskrit kingdom of Anga said to be ruled by king Karna of Mahabharata who was well known for his charity. In later times it was included in the powerful Hindu kingdom of Magadha or Behar, and in the 7th century it was an independent state, with the city of Champa as its capital. It afterwards formed a part of the Mohammedan Kingdom of Gaur, and was subsequently subjugated by Akbar, who declared it to be a part of the Delhi empire. Bhagalpur passed to the East India Company by the grant of the emperor Shah Alam II in 1765.

The first railway line from Howrah was built to pass through Bhagalpur: the East Indian Railway line to Bhagalpur opened in 1861.

Mythological significance of the most influential in “Aryavarta” or India of that time and was concurrent to Patliputra or Patna. Bhagdatpuram finds its mention in the Vedas and Ramayana as well. It is supposed to be the kingdom of Daanvir Karna “the son of Kunti from God Sun” and was called Ang Pradesh. The word Bhagalpur literally means ‘City of good luck.’

Mount Mandara , situated 52 km south from Bhagalpur, is believed to have been used as churner during Samudra-Manthan by God and Danava according to Hindu mythology. Mandar Hills steeped in legend and laced with landscape of extraordinary splendour exposes the 800 feet high granite hill. Mandar is associated with Samudra-Manthan which suggests that the hill was used by the gods to churn the ocean to procure amrit. The serpent, vasuki offered to serve as the rope and has left behind an impression of the coil on the granite hill. It is believed that panchjanya, the conch shell used in Mahabharat War was discovered here in the Sank kund. The puranas refer to various sacred places on the hill which is also believed to be the abode of Vishnu under the title of Madhusudana or the destroyer of a demon called Madhu who was killed by Vishnu and then covered by the Mandar hill. Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava refers to foot marks of Vishnu on the slopes of Mandara. The hill is replete with relics of bygone ages. Besides inscriptions and statues there are numerous rock cut sculptures depicting various Brahmanical images. The hill is equally revered by the Jains who believe that their 12th Tirthankara attained nirvana here on the summit of the hill.

Demography
As of 2001 India census, Bhagalpur had a population of 340,349. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Bhagalpur has an average literacy rate of 68%, with 70% of the males and 62% of the females literate. 14% of the population is under 6 years of age. Bhagalpur is one of the leading education centers of Bihar.

Culture
Chhath Puja and Dussehra are the major festivals of Bhagalpur.

Language

The popular language spoken in Bhagalpur is Angika, a regional language which is reported to be spoken by 50 million people world wide. Hindi and English are the next most well known languages. Nearly 30% of the population speaks English, and half of these can speak with a high degree of fluency.

People from Bhagalpur

• Kadambini, daughter of Braja Kishore Bose, headmaster of Bhagalpur School, was one of the first women graduates in the British Empire and the first woman doctor in South Asia.
• Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar and Anup Kumar: These three most famous brothers of Hindi cinema, had spent most of their childhood in Adampur area in core of the city. Ashok Kumar known as the dada muni of Hindi cinema had done the entire schooling at the C.M.S. High school Bhagalpur. The city being their maternal grand parent’s home was a dear to all the three and Dada Muni was a regular to the city till his demise.
• Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya is known to have roots in the city. He had written his famous novel Devdas in Bhagalpur itself. He spent 20 years of his life in Bhagalpur and major parts of his novels were either written in Bhagalpur or based on his experience in Bhagalpur.
• Rabindra Nath Tagore occupied Tillha Kothi close to the University Campus for a considerable period. Parts of the nobel awarded Gitanjali was written in Tilla Kothi.
• Business Magnate Subroto Roy of the famous Sahara Parivar has spent part of his early life in Bhagalpur. He underwent his primary education in Bhagalpur’s C.M.S. High school.
• Suchitra Bhattacharya, acclaimed Indian novelist was born in Bhagalpur on 10 January 1950.
• Tilak Dhar Manjhi famous tribal who fought bravely against British.

Places of Interest

• Jain Temple (Champanagar)
• Kuppa Ghat (Bank of Ganga river)shabbir home
• Karna Garh (Nathnagar)
• The Old Post Office
• The Shiva Temple at Budhanath
• Rabindra Nath Bhavan(Tillha Kothi)
• The Residence of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya
• Lajpat Park
• Sandy’s Compound
• Ghuran pir baba Vikramshila Setu
• Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udhyan

Universities

• Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University

Colleges

• Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College & Hospital
• Bhagalpur College of Engineering
• Sabour Agriculture College
• T.N.B.College
• S.M.College
• Vimal Bibhuti College of Education
• Mahadev Singh College
• S.D.College
• J.V.College
• Sabour College
• Silk School Of Research & Development
• Bhagalpur Polytechnic
• Marwari College

Schools

• Mount Carmel School
• Mount Assisi School
• Saint Joseph’s School
• Saint Teresa’s School
• C.M.S High School
• Navyug Vidyalaya
• Delhi Public School
• D.A.V. Public School
• Christ Church Girls High School
• Saint Andrew’s School
• Zila School
• Saint Paul’s School
• T.N.B. Collegiate High School
• Marwari Pathshala
• Muslim High School
• Mirjanhat High School