Some Simple Facts On Bihar

Bihar is a state in North-Eastern part of India. When we look at the district map of Bihar we can see that It is bordered by the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and the country Nepal. Its surface area covers approximately 99,200 square kilometres. The state’s capital is the city of Patna which earlier was Patliputra. 

Another interesting Bihar fact is that the name Bihar comes from the antique name VIHARA which means monasteries. Undoubtedly the name stands true for the land of monasteries. Amongst all the states of India. The cultural heritage, the regional dialects and the rich history of the state make it extremely unique and beautiful.

Another interesting Bihar fact is that the state of Bihar is where the thought of Non Violence originated. About 2600 years ago the ideology of Non Violence was promoted by Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha when they resided in Bihar, hence this gave birth to the most captivating thought-provoking mankind.

Religion in Bihar

Even though Hinduism and Islam are the two most followed religions in Bihar, 

Bihar is the one that gave rise to two main religions namely Buddhism and Jainism.

 Bihar is very intimately linked with the life of Buddha. This has resulted in a trail of the Buddhist Circuit which is also known as a trail of pilgrimages. Patna, the capital of the state is where the trail starts and where a museum stores Hindu and Buddhism sculptures and is also said to contain the ashes of Lord Buddha.

Pataliputra, Champapuri and Vaishali have significant roles in the religion of Jainism. Bihar is also home to a number of pilgrimage sites for Jainism. Not just for Jainism but the state of Bihar contains ancient shrines of the religions of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhist and Muslim religion.  

Revolts In Bihar

The primary reason behind the uprising of revolts and protests at a mass level in India was the colonialism of some sectors within the Indian society. The British parliament transferred the political power from the East India Company into the hands of the British Crown for him to have the whole responsibility of the country. The British government decided to decrease the number of Indian soldiers in the army and preferred the appointment of English soldiers.

Civil rebellions began when the Britishers entered the states of Bihar and Bengal to exercise their power and dominance. The sudden changes in the rules and policies brought by the Britishers in the economic functioning of the country affected the tribals. The policy change in the land revenue system acted as the fuel to ignite the tribal people in India. 

All the tribal revolts weren’t successful but few of them forced the Britishers to modify their discriminative land revenue policies. The Bihar tribes played a major role in uplifting the determination of other tribal people in India. 

Bihar Facts

• Bihar is known as the epicentre of culture, power and knowledge as in ancient times, people used to come to the land of monasteries to attain the knowledge of religion and culture. 

• Bihar is the state which produces the second-highest number of IAS officers in the country.

   

• The temple Mundeshwari, the oldest Hindu temple to ever exist is situated in Bihar. It is a temple dedicated to the worship of Devi Durga.

   

• Bihar’s ancient history commences from the very beginning of human civilization. The state of Bihar was the centre of a powerful kingdom, learning as a cultural land.

Conclusion

 Bihar is a state extremely rich in cultural heritage and religions with varied diversity. It holds an important position in the country’s geographical location. The river Ganges naturally divides the plains from North Bihar to South Bihar.

About half the state of Bihar is under the Agricultural works, however, the state still produces the country’s second most IAS Officers. Bihar’s natural mineral deposits were depleted significantly when the state divided to give birth to the state of Jharkhand.

Even though the literacy rate of Bihar has tripled in the last decade, the state has a lot of progress to make in terms of the development of transport facilities, power outages, manufacturing and infrastructural development.