East Champaran

East Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India. The district headquarters are located at Motihari. The district occupies an area of 3969 km² and has a population of 3,933,636 (as of 2001). East Champaran is a part of Tirhut Division.

Places of interest
Mehsi is an entry point of East Champaran if you are travelling from Patna, Muzaffarpur to Raxaul, connected both by railway and roadway. This small community has a number of places of interest at the east side of railway station. These include Mirza Halim Shah mosque, dargah, a very old library ‘Nagrik Pustakalaya’, an old High School (Tirhut Vidyalaya) of the English period, orchards of lichi and mangoes and other places of interest. There are many button factories, a small scale industry, although most of the people depend upon agriculture and commerce. Mehsi was the birthplace of the writer and intellectual, Rajkamal Chaudhary. The last sentence about the birth place of Rajkamal Chaudhary is not at Mehsi of District East Champaran, but it is at Saharsa district of Bihar.

ShrineThe mazar of Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Abdul Aziz (rh) is in the Kodaria village, Post: Kodaria, via Phenhara. He(rh) is a very powerful saint of Awaisiya silsila. His Urs is celebrated every year on 11th and 12th Fasli Vaishakha (according to the Hindu calendar). On the evening of 11th Fasli Vaishakha, there is a Miladun Nabi(SAW) after the magrib nimaz, then Salat-o-Salam and dua. And on the 12th Fasli Vaishakha at 10:30 am, the chaders are taken from his (rh) room, where he died, to his Mazar Sharief. Then there is Chader Poshi and Milad-e-Nabi. After Milad there happens Salat-o-salam and dua. After dua, a lunch for all the devotees.

Phenhara is a small town in this district. It has a very old middle school, which was established before 1930. Mahatma Gandhi once visited this places. Phenhara provides an example of Hindu and Muslim unity. Phenhara is a well educated and politically aware town. Kesariya is in the south eastern portion of the district. It is the location of the Kesariya Stupa, locally known as Deura, one of oldest stupas. Dhaka is one of the towns in the district. Sirauna is a village of East Champaran. Kasturba Gandhi once visited here to teach the people the basic educational concepts of Mahatma Gandhi.

Raxaul is a town in the district of East Champaran. It is the border town of India with Nepal. This town is the Gate way to Nepal. It is connected by NH28A and is 32 km away from Chhapawa (on NH28A), 52 km from Motihari (the District Town) and 60 km from Bettiah – the District town of West Champaran. Now this town has been made the Sub-divisional town under the District of East Chaparan. Birganj – the Second Big City of Nepal is just 3 km away from this town.

ADAPUR is a very old famous town with Police Station, Block, Prakhand and Railway Station. Mahatma Gandhi had already visited this place on April 17, 1917. It is parallel to the border of Nepal and is situated at a distance of 13 km by rail from Raxaul. It connects Kalaiya (about 9 km from Adapur) – a near-by town of Birganj, by road with Motihari (30 km from Adapur) via Gamaharia Kalan (8 km from Adapur). The train runs from Narkatiaganj to Samastipur via Raxaul, Sitamarhi and Darbhanga. This place was the hub of food grains and was developed commercially and had three big Rice Mills with so many small Rice Mills. Agriculturally also, this place was strong enough giving the produces like Paddy, Wheat, Sugarcane, etc. This place was the Assembly Constituency (Vidhan Sabha Kshetra) of Late Er. Brij Bihari Prasad who was assassinated during the regime of Laloo Prasad Yadav – the then Chief Minister of Bihar. This place could not develop (which should have been) due to the lack of proper roadways communication. Now, very recently, this Assembly Constituency Area has been re-demarcated and it has been associated with Raxaul.
Beside all, Lahsaniya is very beautiful village of East Champaran.

Lauria is a popular historical place, the site of a great Ashokan pillar. It has a reputation as the place of the world’s first democracy, which we know as Luchhawi Ganrajay.

Baikunthnath temple: This is important temple in the east Champaran district situated in Baikuntha dham. A costly idol of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesh in a single idol is attraction of this place. This temple came in existence from 2002. The idol of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesh came out automatically from the deep surface of the earth. Many efforts had been done to check the authenticity by various experts and archeological agencies, no can disturb that. The nearest important villages are Narkatia, Gamharia Kala, Bahadurpur. This place is situated 25 km. north of Motihari and 10Km south of Adapur.

Ghorasahan a town 40 km from Motihari head quarter is famous for production of green vegetables on grand scale and supply throughout whole north Bihar, Utter Pradesh and neighbouring Himalayan Kingdom Nepal.

Bherkhiya village 27 km from Motihari head quarter is famous for production of Mitha Aalu or Sweet Potato or Alua both in quality and quantity.