Department Of Arts And Culture Bihar

Department Of Arts And Culture Bihar

Bihar is an Indian state considered to be a part of Eastern as well as Northern India. It is the 13th-largest state of India, with an area of 94,163 km² (36,357 sq mi).

The third-largest state of India by population, it is contiguous with Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, with Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plain is split by the river Ganges which flows from west to east. Bihar is an amalgamation of three main distinct regions, these are Magadh, Mithila and Bhojpur.

On 15 November 2000, southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand. Only 11.3% of the population of Bihar lives in urban areas, which is the lowest in India after Himachal Pradesh. Additionally, almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, giving Bihar the highest proportion of young people of any Indian state.

In ancient and classical India, the area that is now Bihar was considered a centre of power, learning, and culture. From Magadha arose India’s first empire, the Maurya empire, as well as one of the world’s most widely adhered-to religions, Buddhism. Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule. Another region of Bihar is Mithila which was an early centre of Brahmanical learning and the centre of the Videha kingdom.

There is an ongoing movement in the Maithili speaking region of Bihar for a separate Indian state of Mithila. What would be the capital of the state has yet to be decided, but Darbhanga is the most likely candidate. Other potential capitals include Muzaffarpur, Purnia, Madhubani and Begusarai.

Department of Art Culture and Youth, Government of Bihar