Deoghar district

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Deoghar.

Deoghar district देवघर जिला
District of Jharkhand
Location of Deoghar district in Jharkhand
Country	India
State	Jharkhand
Administrative division	Santhal Pargana division
Headquarters	Deoghar
Government
• Lok Sabha constituencies	1.Dumka (shared with Dumka district) 2.Godda (shared with Godda district)
• Assembly seats	1.Deoghar, 2.Madhupur, 3.Saarath
Area
• Total	2,478.61 km2 (957.00 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,491,879
• Density	600/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Demographics
• Literacy	66.34 per cent
• Sex ratio	921
Website	Official website

Deoghar district (Hindi: देवघर जिला) is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state in eastern India, and Deoghar town is the administrative headquarters of this district. This district is known for the Baidyanath Jyotirlinga shrine. This district is part of Santhal Pargana division.

History

The district was formed on 1 June 1983 by separating Deoghar sub-division of the erstwhile Santhal Parganas district.

Geography

Deogarh district is located in the western portion of Santhal paraganas. It is bounded by Bhagalpur district in north, Dumka in esat and Jamtara in south and Giridhi in west. The district extends from 24 0 03' and 23 0 38' N latitude and 86 0 28' and 87 0 04' E longitude and comprises 2481 km² area. It has population 1,165,390 persons (Census of India, 2001).

The district contains several clusters of rocky hills covered with forest, but series of long ridges with intervening depressions. Most of the rolling uplands are cultivated by highland crops. The average elevation of the district is 247 m above msl, However hill ranges like Phuljari (750 m), Teror (670 m) and Degaria (575 m) break the monotony of the landscape. The general slope of the district is from north west to south east. Geologically the district is mainly covered by chhotanagpur granite gneiss of Archean age with paches of alluvium, sandstone and shale of Gondawana formations. Important rivers flowing in the district are the Ajay, the Paltro etc. These rivers gather a large number of tributaries which form the land scape full of Tanrs and Dons.

Naulakha Temple

Cities and villages

Taluk Name State Deoghar,Madhupur, Chitra, Majhiyana, Tharidulampur, Jamua, Charakmara, Palojori, Devipur, Sarwan, Sarath, Karon, Mohanpur, Rohni, babangaua,Ghorlash, Jasidih, Koridih, Raihdih,Gidhaiya,Jitjori etc.

Block/Anchal

Deoghar, Mohanpur, Sarwan, Sarath, Palojori, Madhupur, Karon, SonaraiThari, Devipur, Margo Munda,

Climate

The district experience hot summer (March to May) heavy monsoon rains (June to September) and cool dry winters (October to February). Average annual rainfall is 1239 mm, mean summer maximum temperature is 43° C and mean winter minimum temperature is 8 ° C .

Economy

In 2006 the Indian government named Deogar one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 21 districts in Jharkhand currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Divisions

The district comprises ten blocks: Deoghar, Karon, Madhupur, Mohanpur, Palojori, Sarath, Devipur, Margomunda, Sarwan and Sonaraithari.

There are 3 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district: Madhupur, Sarath and Deoghar. Madhupur and Deoghar are part of Godda Lok Sabha constituency, while Sarath is part of Dumka Lok Sabha constituency.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Deoghar district has a population of 1,491,879, roughly equal to the nation of Gabon or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 337th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 602 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,560/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 28.02%. Deoghar has a sex ratio of 921 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 66.34%.

Culture

Tourist Attractions

The holy city which claims mythological origins houses the famous Baidyanath Dham temple, which is one of the twelve jyotirlings in India, and is the primary tourist attraction.

Saawan Mela

The importance of Babadham increases during the month of Shrawan. During this period, lakhs of devotees throng the Baba Baidyanath temple. Most of them first visit Sultanganj, which is 105 km from Babadham.

In Sultanganj, the Ganges flows to the North. It is from this place that the devotees collect water in their kanwars and carry the holy Ganges water, with the kanwars on their shoulders. They walk 109 km up to Baba Baidyanath temple at Babadham reciting Bol Bam on the way.

On reaching Babadham, the kanwarias first take a dip in the Shivaganga to purify themselves, and then enter the Baba Baidyanath temple, where the Ganges water is offered to the Jyotirlingam.

This pilgrimage continues during the whole of Shravan for 30 days, during July–August. This is the longest religious fair in the world.

People from foreign lands also visit Babadham not only during Shrawan month but also during the rest of the year.

The sight on the way from Sultanganj to Babadham is of a 109 km long human chain of saffron clad pilgrims. It is estimated that within this period of one month around 50 to 5.5 million pilgrims visit Babadham.

Besides the great pilgrimage of Shrawan, almost the whole year remains under fair with Shivaratri in March, Basant Panchami in January, Bhadra Purnima in September. Also here Rikhiya ashram famous in world for its meditation camp along with the Ramniwas Ashram of Saint Balanand Brahmachari,Mohan Mandir of Mohananand Swami,Kailash Pahar Ashram-Jasidih of Swami Hansdev Avadhoot.

Temples and Holy places in and around Deoghar District

Ajgaibinath, Baiju Temple, Basukinath, Deva Sangha Math, Dolmanch, Harila Jori, Hathi Pahar or Mahadevatari, Jain Temple, Kailash Pahar Ashram, Kathikund Daninath Shiva Temple, Kundeshwari, Lila Temple, Seva Nikunj, Mansarovar, Nandan Pahar, Naulakha Temple, Pagla Baba Ashram, Rikhia Ashram, Ram Krishna Mission Vidyapeeth, Satsang Nagar & Ashram, Shitala Temple, Shivaganga, Shiv Mandir Chitra, Tapovan, Chitra coalyari (Jamua) Trikuta Parvata.

Other temples

• Taapovan.
• Naulakha Temple, Deoghar
• Trikuti Pahar, Mohanpur
• Budhai Mandir, Madhupur
• Basuki Nath Temple,
• Kinarinath Temple,Sarwan
• Pathrol, Kali Mandir
• Dubey Baba Mandir, Dakai(Sarwan)
• Nayak Dham, Ganjobari Near Joramow Railway Station.
• Dindakoli durga & shiv mandir
• Karon shiv mandir

Education

Deoghar College in Deoghar town was founded in 1951. It is one of the constituent colleges of Sido Kanhu Murmu University at Dumka.

Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Deoghar was founded in 1922 and is known for its quality education in secondary and higher secondary section. It is also known as Bangla Vidyapith among the locals. This school is run and managed by Rama Krishna Math, Belur, Kolkata. It has a residential Secondary and Senior Secondary School, a well equipped charitable medical unit with modern diagnostic facilities, a centre for academic coachings to school going children from the surrounding poor families, vocational training courses for local school drop-outs under the auspices of National Open School, and occasional activities of relief and rehabilitation work. The day scholar schools in deoghar has many dependable names to boast upon. Saint Francis School (Deoghar branch), Saint Francis School (Jashidih branch), G.D D.A.V School, Red Rose school, Modern Public School, The Ramakrishna Vivekananda Vidyamandir are some well known schools in the region.

Recently a branch of B.I.T Meshra, Ranchi opened an extension centre in Deoghar district. It admits students through the Aieee Counselling. Recently a new school Takshilla Vidyapeeth has also been built with the latest facilities. There are two branches of G.D. D.A.V. public school-
I) G.D. D.A.V. puclic school Bhandarcola
ii) G.D. D.A.V. puclic school caster town

Notable people

Late Pandit Binodanand Jha- Pandit Binodanand Jha was a historic and dynamic figure in the gallery of political leaders of then Bihar state who hailed from Deoghar/ Baidyanath Dham. Born on 17 April 1900 in the esteemed sardar panda family, he grew with a humble beginning. Later, his university education in Calcutta (1916-20) caused a stalking change. He attended the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in 1919. There, at the age of 20, in response to the clarion call of Gandhi, Pandit Jha plunged headlong into diverse phases of the freedom struggle, prominently led the Non Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India Movements in the Santal Pargana region and was sent to the British jails five times during 1922-42. During the days of freedom struggle, his great effort for freedom was synergised by the efforts of many other young revolutionaries in the region of that time, the prominent ones were Shashi Bhushan Rai, Pt.Shivram Jha, Gauri Shankar Dalmia, R.L.Sharoff, Buddhinath Jha ‘Kairav’, Maheshwar Prasad Jha and many others. As he frontally led the freedom struggle in this region, he was often been treated as Gandhi of Santal Pargana. Pandit Binodanand Jha commenced his parliamentary career as a parliamentary Secretary in Sri Krishna Sinha’s ministry in 1937. Later, he graced the Ministerial offices of Health, Revenue, Local Self Government in the various Congress ministries headed by Dr. Sri Krishna Sinha. After the sad demise of Dr. Sinha in Jan.1961, Pandit Binodanand Jha was made the Chief Minister of Bihar. He ruled over Bihar as its Chief Minister till Oct, 1963, when the Kamraj Plan propounded by Pandit Nehru was announced and in consequence he relinquished his seat of Chief Minister. Pt. Jha was also a member of the Constituent Assembly and later he once joined the parliament as Member of Parliament from Darbhanga in1971. As a political administrator, he is remembered for his contribution of Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 1947, which realised the dream of Gram Swaraj of Gandhi by commencing three tier Panchayati Raj system for the first time in Bihar which was later extended to the whole of India by the recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta Report. He was also responsible for Santal Pargana Tenancy Act, owing which the rackless transfer of tribal land ownership was made non transferable and the people of this area (Santal Pargana) were saved from segregated exploitation. He was an educationist from his core. He facilitated for the opening of many educational institutions in Bihar which included Sainik School Tillaiya, Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit College Darbhanga, Hindi Vidyapith, Deoghar, Deoghar College, Deoghar and many other such institutions. For the welfare of Santals and Paharias, he along with Gaui Shankar Dalmiya founded Santal Paharia Seva Mandal. As an icon of Modern Bihar, he initiated/mooted for building Heavy Machine Tool Plant at Hatia (Ranchi). Under his leadership, preliminary steps were taken for the construction of Bokaro Steel Plant at Bokaro. In the international realm, Pandit Jha attended International Congress against Imperialism in 1927 at Brussels and pleaded for complete Swaraj for India. In 1940, he went to Paris as part of Indian delegation for the International Labour Organisation meet and later he visited Geneva as the Leader of Indian Delegation for the ILO meet in the year 1950. Pandit Binodanand Jha, popularly known as Binoda Babu was a thorough nationalist. During the Chinese incursion of 1962, he made gigantic efforts to garner resources for the nation in crisis at the behest of Pandit Nehru. His better half (Late Pramila Jha), maintaining the same spirit readily donated her own belongings, ear rings, bangles etc at the call of the nation. Eminent nationalists like Bidhan Chandra Roy, Tushar Kanti Ghosh, P.C.Sen and many others of his time were quite close to Pandit Jha. Binoda Babu had his last laugh on 9 August 1971, when he succumbed to his illness and died in Kerala while undergoing his treatment. In his obituary reference at Lok Sabha on 9 August 1971, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India condoled and stated:

  "I rise with deep sorrow and a sense of shock. Death has snatched away from us a great patriot and scholar, a veteran colleague, whom we held in high respect for his integrity and dedication…Sri Binodanand Jha was a father figure in Bihar. His record of service to that State as legislator and Chief Minister and to the entire country as a statesman of vision is well known…His wisdom and stratified loyalty to high principles guided his own life and action and he left a deep impression on all those who worked with him. His loss will be greatly felt by our party not only in Bihar but all over the country."

Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Leader of Opposition in the Lower House expressed and condoled in the House as:

  "Vinoda Babu Ko Maine Anek Sthanon Par Dekha. Unka Sneh, Snigdh Vyavhaar, Unka Madhur Vyaktitva, Sabhi Ko Saath Lekar Chalne Ka Prayas, Jahan Baithte The, Ek Aatmiyata Ka Maano Mandal Kayam Kar Dete The… Rajnitik Matbhed Hote Hue Bhi Kabhi Pratipaksha Ki Pramanikta Par Unhone Sandeh Nahin Kiya… Ham Unke Prati Sacchi Shradhanjali Arpit Karte Hain Aur Sachhi Shrandhajali To Yahi Ho Sakti Hai Ki Bhagwaan Humko Bhi Jeevan Ke Aakhiri Kshna Tak Unki Tarah Se Karmarat Rahne Ka Bal De." 

The best to remember him is to recall his various political ideals and progressive schemes which he set afloat and to act upon his glorious guidelines, so richly left by him as his priceless contribution for his dear province.

Pandit Shivram Jha Late Pandit Shivram Jha was the person who has founded lots of educational institutions in Deoghar and changed the fate of Deoghar. His milestone was Hindi Vidyapith to spread Hindi Education and uplift the society. For his intent for education in the region, he was treated as 'Malviya of Santhal Pargana'. He was a true social worker. His epic milestone was Mantri Mandir School for the education of the Girls of Santhal Pargana which was revolutionary idea at that point of time. His contribution was not limited to Educational field but also to the reform of the Society of Deoghar. He was also a freedom fighter. Pandit Shivram Jha was also the founder President of the Panda Dharmarakshini Sabha. He was also famous for his Shivrami Dhoti in Santhal Pargana. 

Late Anantanad Jha was the first Graduate of the town who was appointed as the headmaster/teacher of Shiksha Sabha School by Pandit Shivram Jha. Pandit ShivRam Jha and Maheshwar Prasad Jha ' founded Shiksha Sabha Middle Schhol Anantanand Jha was the founder principal of The school. Pandit Maheshwar Prasad Jha-A social worker and a freedom fighter. Pandit Maheshwar Prasad Jha was one who had got RAI BAHADUR'S post from the then British Govt. By profession he was prominent Advocate in the District court. Late Pandit Ram Raj Jejware was also one of the renowned political figure of this region. He was the only member of Deoghar who represented the region in the Parliament in the first Lok Sabha. He also assisted Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar in making the Constitution of India. Late Pandit Surnatath Jha was also a renowned personality of the Town. He was great English teacher of that time and his English speaking and command over English was nonparallel at that time. He was the only Teacher, of the then Santhal Pargana District of Bihar State, to receive the prestigious President's Award by the hand of the Great philosopher and the then President of India, Dr. Sarwpalli Radha Krishnan' in the year 1962. He founded R.L.Shroff School for Deoghar in the year of 1951. Kashinath Shroff and the then Nagar Seth also famous as Gillu Seth of Deoghar had assisted him financially for opening the school. Presently, this school is a recognised Government school of the city. The renowned and famous fibre exporter in the British India days, Mr. Jeevan Sarkar also hailed from this area. After several years of his death, the Jhosagarhi-Kalirakha road in the city was renamed as Jeevan Sarkar Path in his honour by Government of Bihar in year 1968.Tilok Chand Bajla, Kashinath Shroff, Gobardhan Das are also notable personality. The Great Freedom Fighter and Reputed Journalist Mr. Anil Sarkar of Anandbazar Patrika and Searchlight Magazine (A Bangla daily and English magazine respectively) hailed from Deoghar city. The Former Foreign Secretary of India, Mr. Muchkund Dubey and Veteran TV Journalist Kishore Kumar Malviya also come from Deoghar. Kavi Guru Rabindrnath Tagore and veteran Poet Sharat Chandra had once made this place as their karmbhumi.

Mr Ram Rudra Prasad Deo, who served as District Judge in many of the districts of Jharkhand is from Deoghar. He retired from this position on October 2012, after serving the Indian judiciary for 30 years. Judge Deo holds respect by virtue of his hard work and honesty.

Dr. Shaileshwar Nath was a notable educationist and one of the founder professors of Deoghar Collge, Deoghar. He retired from the same as the Principal in 1992. He authored many a books on the subject theme of political science and on India’s freedom movement.

External links

• Babadham Official Website
• [1] List of places in Deoghar

{[Nearest Railway Station is Baidyanath Dham (Near of Manoj Kumar's House) and New Railway Station is Deoghar]}