Bihar

Bihar is an Indian state located in the eastern part of India. When compared with other states of India, Bihar ranks 12^th in its area and 3^rd in its population. The official languages of the state are Hindi and Urdu though people speak other languages also such as Angika, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Bajjika and Maithili. In the year 2000, the new state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar. Bihar ranks last in its literacy ration among other Indian states. It also lags behind in its economic growth.

History of Bihar

The name Bihar is supposed to have derived from the Sanskrit word Vihara meaning abode. Bihar was called Magadha in ancient India and was ruled by Mauryan Empire with Pataliputra as its capital. Later it was ruled by Gupta dynasty and then came under the influence of the Mughal Empire in India. Guru Gobind Singh, the last Sikh guru was born in Bihar. Many freedom fighters including Babu Kunwar Singh from Bihar took part in the India’s First War of Independence. Champaran Satyagraha was launched by Mahatma Gandhi from Bihar. A massive earthquake hit Bihar on 15^th January 1934 and more than 30,000 people lost their lives.

Geography and Climate of Bihar

Bihar is bounded by West Bengal in the east, Uttar Pradesh in the west, Nepal in the north and Jharkhand in the south. The River Ganges flows through the state from west to east. The area of Bihar is 98,940 square kilometers and among them 6,764.14 square kilometers is covered by forests. Ganges and its tributaries Son, Budhi Gandak, Chandan, Orhani and Falgu make the region fertile. But Bihar is prone to floods in rainy season. The average temperature of Bihar is 27 degree Celsius. In summer it is 34 degree Celsius and in winter it is 10 degree Celsius. The average annual rainfall of Bihar state is 1200 mm.

Natural Resources of Bihar

The Someshwar and Dun ranges are covered with deciduous forests and receives 1600 mm rainfall annually. Some of the flora or Bihar are sal, Terminalia tomentose, Terminalia Arjuna, Pterocarpus Marsupium, Madhuca Indica, etc. The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is set up to protect the endangered Ganges River Dolphins, the national aquatic animal. Valmiki National Park has good population of tigers and has been announced as tiger reserve of India.

Districts of Bihar

Bihar is divided into nine divisions each having its own headquarters for the purpose of administration. These divisions are in turn divided into 38 districts as of June 2012. Given below is the Bihar state map with all 32 districts marked.

List of Districts of Bihar

People and Culture of Bihar

Bihar has a total population of 103,804,637 people with a density of 1102 people per square kilometer as of 2011. The sex ratio is 1000:919. The literacy ratio of people is 63.82% and among that male literacy ratio is 73.4% and female literacy ratio is 53.3%.

Bihar is famous for Madhubani painting and Patna School of painting. Dhobi Nach, Jitiya Nach, Dom-domin, Bhuiababa are some of the folk dances of the state. Bihari cuisine has such items as roti, daal, khichdi, sabji, ghee, channa, chokha, chitba, pitthow, etc. Festivals like Chhath Pooja, Deepawali, Makar Sankranti, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Alha, Saraswati Puja, Holi, Muharram, Ram Navami, Rakshabandhan, Maha Shivaratri and Buddha Purnima are celebrated here.

Education in Bihar

Patna College, Bihar School of Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Patna and Patna Medical College and Hospital and Science College at Patna are some of the old educational institutions in Bihar. All the medical and engineering colleges in the state are affiliated to the Aryabhatt Knowledge University in Patna. In 1961 the total literacy rate was very poor and was just 21.95%. With the efforts of the government it slowly climbed to 63.82% in 2011 but still ranks last among other Indian states in literacy rate.

Economy of Bihar

The economy of Bihar is primarily based on agriculture. Agriculture contributes 35%, industries contribute 9% and service sector contributes 55% to the economy of Bihar. Bihar was lagging behind other states in its economical condition but in a period of five years from 2004 to 2009, it could grow at a rate of 11.03% and it ranks second in its GDP next only to Gujarat. Bihar houses three major breweries namely United Breweries Group, Danish Brewery Company Carlsberg Group and Cobra Beer.

Bihar Transportation

Bihar has two major airports, Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport at Patna and Gaya Airport at Gaya. Patna airport serves domestic flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Bengaluru and Gaya airport is connected with international locations such as Colombo, Singapore, Bangkok, Paro, etc. Bihar is well connected by railway lines to other parts of India. Two railway lines of Nepal Railways run from Jaynagar and Raxaul in Bihar to Bijalpura and Sirisya in Nepal.

NH 57 runs through Bihar and Bihar has a good network of roads. The River Ganges that flows east west is navigable all through the year. The route from Allahabad to Haldia has been declared as national inland waterway.

Bihar Tourism

Bihar is rich in culture and heritage and has many ancient monuments. More than six million tourists visit Bihar every year. The Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The second largest river bridge in the world, Mahatma Gandhi Setu is situated in Patna.

Some of the tourist attractions are

1. Nalanda

2. Vaishali

3. Sasaram

4. Rajgir

5. Gaya

6. Sonepur

7. Vikramshila

8. Pawapuri

9. Valmiki National Park

10. Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary

11. Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary

12. Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan

13. Kakolat Waterfall

14. Telhar Waterfall

15. Karkat Waterfall