Khagaria

For the district of which Khagaria is a headquarters, see Khagaria district.
jaipur
jaipur
city
jaipur

Location in Bihar, India

Coordinates: 25°30′N 86°29′E / 25.5°N 86.48°ECoordinates: 25°30′N 86°29′E / 25.5°N 86.48°E
Country  India
State Bihar
District Khagaria
Elevation 36 m (118 ft)
Population (2001)
 • Total 45,126
Languages
 • Official Maithili, Hindi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 851204
Website http://www.khagaria.bih.nic.in/

Khagaria is a city in India, and the administrative headquarters of Khagaria district. Khagaria is a part of Munger division. The town has a major railway junction on the Barauni–Guwahati line of the Indian Railways. National Highway 31 which connects rest of the India to Northeast India passes through this town. It is connected to other parts of Bihar by another rail line to Saharsa and Samastipur. Construction of a major Munger Ganga Bridge across river Ganges is underway to connect it to south Bihar and Jharkhand directly.

Geography

Khagaria is located at 25°30′N 86°29′E / 25.5°N 86.48°E. It has an average elevation of 36 metres (118 feet).

Adjacent Boundaries

 Begusarai and Samastipur Samastipur and Saharsa Madhepura
Begusarai Bhagalpur and Madhepura
   Khagaria  
Begusarai Munger Bhagalpur

Subdivisions

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[1] Khagaria had a population of 45,126. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Khagaria has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 58%. In Khagaria, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

Also known as Farakiya in local region. There is an interesting story behind it. Five centuries ago Akbar, then the king of Mugal empire directed his revenue minister Todarmal to map his entire empire. But he could not map this region now known as Khagaria due to difficult terrain, rivers and dense forests. So, he named it Farakiya (Farak in Urdu means separate). Now there is even a weekly newspaper- Farkiyanchal Times (albeit published arbitrarily).

Transport

It is a station on the Barauni-Katihar section of Northeast Frontier Railway. NH-31 is the main Roadway of Khagaria.

People and culture

Predominantly a rural district it has a mixed population and colourful culture. Its population consists of different castes and communities. Major festivals are Chhat Puja, Holi, Durga Pooja (Dushera) and Dipawali. Marriage is intracaste and intra-religion; people here tend to marry within their region only. The majority of people in Khagaria town are of a younger age, signifying a shifting population from villages to district center. Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster has one local broadcasting center here with one local channel Awaaz.

Language and dialects

Mainly "theti" (distorted mix version of Angika & Maithili), though dialect changes every ten kilometres, like any other district of Bihar, the mix language is also known as theti.

Banks and financial institutions

Several National Banks (Public Sector Undertakings as well as private) have branches in Khagaria: PSU bank branches in Khagaria: ( Soni Jewellers & Bankers, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India) Private bank branches in Khagaria: (ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank) In addition to these, various regional and cooperative banks are located at Khagaria.

Education

Major educational centers are located in the town of Khagaria, which includes educational institutions and vocational institutions where students can learn music, dance, art and craft. Besides many government-run schools, there are some colleges for the higher education, including a women's college. One prestigious center for higher education Koshi College Khagaria, S.L D.A.V. Public School. Kendriya Vidyalaya Khagaria is educational bone and New Holy Ganges Public School (HGPS) affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi has constantly ranked among the top schools of Bihar. However among coaching Sankalp academy has got a name of national repute. Many students from here are now settled abroad. Most of the students study for Engineering, Medicine and some also go for Union Public Service Commission. Khagaria also has a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya located in Sonbarsha Ghat, nearly 35 km from the district headquarters. It was established in 1994 by the HRD Ministry of India.

Cinema

Khagaria is now left only one cinema hall Shri Lakshami and earlier there was a good cinema hall "Kamal talkies" but now it does not exist and people miss it. Now the oldest one is Sri Laxmi Cinema which was established by Late Sri Nirmal Chandra Gupta in 1954 and started its screening at the present campus in 1968. The cinema hall being amongst the few entertainment sources in the town holds a key place in the hearts of people of Khagaria. Now Lakshmi talkies is using satellite technology for broadcasting movies. Popular Religious Places

Sri Krishna Cinema is also one of the major entertainment source for movies owned by Late Parmanand Gupta. It also using Satellite technology for broadcasting movies.

Jewellery

Khagaria is well known for its speciality in designing masterpiece jewellery. Soni Jewellers in khagaria's main road is one of the decent place in Bihar to shop for jewellery.

References

  1. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.