Chhapra is a city and headquarters of the

Saran district Saran district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Indian state of Bihar. The district, part of Saran Division, is also known as Chhapra district after the headquarters of the district, Chhapra. It is considered as one of the richest Zamindar ...

in the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. It is situated near the junction of the

Ghaghara River Ghaghara, also called Karnali, is a perennial trans-boundary river originating on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Manasarovar. The Karnali cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sharda River at Brahmaghat in India. Together they fo ...

and the Ganges River. Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based market in the 18th century when the Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English established

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate Salt (chemistry), salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ...

refineries in the area. It was recognized as a municipality in 1864. The major railway station is Chhapra junction. There is a well known shakti peeth temple in Chhapra named Ambika Bhavani.

Geography

Chhapra is located at . It has an average elevation of . India's biggest double-decker flyover is being constructed in Chhapra. This 3.5 km long double-decker flyover from Bhikhari Chowk to Bus Stand, is being constructed at the cost of 411.31 crore from the central road fund (CRF) under engineering procurement construction (EPC) mode by Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL). It is longer than 1.8 km double-decker flyover in Santa Cruz–Chembur Link Road. Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...

laid the foundation stone of this double-decker flyover in July 2018, which is set to be completed by June 2022.

Climate

Demographics

As per 2022 census, Chapra Urban Agglomeration had a population of 1123456. Chapra Urban Agglomeration includes Chapra (Nagar Panchayat) and Sandha (Census Town). Chapra Nagar Panchayat had a total population of 567123, out of which 676890 were males and 556790 were females. It had a sex ratio of 900 females to 1000 males. The population in the age range of 0–6 years was 27,668. The effective literacy rate of those aged 7 years and older in Chhapra was 81.30% as of 2011.

Religion

Hinduism is largest religion in Chhapra city with 164,811 Hindus (81.45%). Islam is second largest religion in Chhapra city with 36,639 Muslims (18.11%). Other religions includes 219 Christians (0.11%), 100 Jains (0.05%), 55 Sikhs (0.03%), 14 Buddhists (0.01%), 514 did not answer (0.25%).

Notable people

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...

* Adbhutananda, Hindu monk, disciple of Ramakrishna *

Anand–Milind Anand and Milind Srivastava are a duo of Indian film music composers. Born to composer Chitragupt, they have composed music for over 200 Bollywood films. The brothers debuted in 1984 with ''Ab Ayega Mazaa'' and had their major breakthrough with ' ...

, music director *

Bhikhari Thakur Bhikari Thakur (18 December 1887 – 10 July 1971) was an Indian Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest writer in Bhojpuri language and ...

, Bhojpuri language poet and singer * Brajkishore Prasad, National activist *

Chitragupta (composer) Chitragupt Shrivastava (16 November 1917 – 14 January 1991), better known as Chitragupt, was an Indian film music director in Hindi cinema and Bhojpuri cinema. Personal life He was born in Sawreji, a village located in Saran district in the ...

, music director * Daroga Prasad Rai, 10th Chief Minister of Bihar * Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh 1842–1908, Indian lawyer, Judge, Historian and founder of Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library,

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

* Mahendar Misir, Bhojpuri Poet *

Raghuveer Narayan Raghuveer Narayan (31 October 1884 – 1 January 1955) or Raghubir Narayan was a Bhojpuri and English poet and a freedom fighter. His Bhojpuri poem ''Batohiya'' gained popularity equivalent to Vande Mataram and is considered as National Song o ...

, Bhojpuri Poet *

Rajiv Pratap Rudy Rajiv Pratap Rudy (born 30 March 1962) is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and a Member of Parliament representing Saran (Lok Sabha constituency) in Bihar, India. In 2014. Rudy became the Minister of State (Independent C ...

, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Skill Development and Entrepreneurship *

Ramchandra Manjhi Ramchandra Manjhi (IAST: Rāmcaṃdra māṃjhī; Bhojpuri: 𑂩𑂰𑂧𑂒𑂢𑂹६ 𑂧𑂰𑂖𑂹𑂕𑂲, 1925 – 7 September 2022) was an Indian Bhojpuri folk dancer and theatre artist who is famous as a Launda Naach performer. He was ...

, Bhojpuri Folk Dancer * Surur Hoda, Socialist leader and Order of British Empire ( OBE) recipient *

Akhilendra Mishra Akhilendra Mishra is an Indian film and television character actor best known for his role as ''Kroor Singh'' in the 1990s Doordarshan fantasy television series '' Chandrakanta''. His other notable works include the character of ''Mirchi'' Se ...

, Bollywood Actor

References

External links

chapra.in
{{Railways in Bihar Cities and towns in Saran district