Jamalpur is a city in the Indian

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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 8 km from the

Munger Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern ...

city centre. Jamalpur is a part of Munger-Jamalpur

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

.It is main railhead for reaching Munger city. The name Jamalpur means ''Jamal'' (beautiful) ''pur'' (town). Jamalpur is best known for the

Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop was established on 8 February 1862 as the first fully-fledged railway workshop facility in India. It was started by the East Indian Railway Company (EIR) as a result of the so-called "Railway Age" in India, which ...

, which employs more than 25,000 people at its training institution, The Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Annual turnover is Rs. 10.56 billion with 111,485 employees. This is Asia's largest and oldest locomotive railway workshop. The city was established in 1862 during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, with the Railways Institute forming its cultural hub.

Etymology

Jamalpur is named after 16th century Sufi saint Jamal Baba, whose ''dargah'' (shrine) is still present at East Colony Hospital Road, Jamalpur.

History

The city was established in 1862 during the

, with the Railways Institute forming its cultural hub. The paleolithic site of "Kali Pahar," atop Jamalpur Hill, was the location of an important find of Early and Middle Stone Age quartzite implements.

Geography

Jamalpur is located at with an average elevation of . The suburb is a part of the

city. The city centre of

is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northwest of the Jamalpur area of Munger city. There is a road as well as a rail link,

Munger Ganga Bridge Shri Krishna Setu (Munger Ganga Bridge) is a rail-cum-road bridge across the Ganges, at Munger in the Indian state of Bihar and named after first Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Krishna Singh. The bridge connects the Munger-Jamalpur twin cities in ...

, which was completed recently. Jamalpur is an overnight rail or road journey from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. The nearest airport is Munger Airport near the Safiyabad area of Munger city. The nearest commercial, domestic airport is

Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport Jayprakash Narayan International Airport is an international airport serving Patna, the capital of Bihar, India. It is named after the independence activist and political leader, Jayprakash Narayan. It is the 14th busiest airport in India. ...

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. ...

, away. The nearest international airport is

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is an international airport located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, serving the Kolkata Metropolitan Area and is the aviation hub for eastern and northeastern India. It is located approximatel ...

, from Jamalpur on NH 33.

Demographics

, Jamalpur had a population of 399,697, with a ratio of 880 females for every 1,000 males. The average literacy rate is 87.38%; for men it is 92.58%, and for women it is 81.40%. There are 15,543 children in Jamalpur aged 0 to 6, with a ratio of 876 girls for every 1,000 boys.

Industry and culture

Locomotive workshop

The

was the first full-fledged railway workshop facility in India, founded on by the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

. The Jamalpur site was chosen for its proximity both to the

Sahibganj Sahebganj (also known as Sahibganj) is a scenic town and a port city with the serene Ganga and sturdy hills in the Sahibganj subdivision of the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand state, India. It serves as headquarters for Sahibganj District, Sah ...

loop, which was the main trunk route at the time and to the communities of gunsmiths and other mechanical craftsmen in

. The workshop was initially for repairing locomotives and assembling new ones from salvaged parts. By the early 20th century, however, it had progressed to producing its own locomotives. It produced the first one, ''CA 764 "Lady Curzon"'', in 1899. In 1893, it became the site of the first railway

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

in India. It also had a workshop for repairing and building boilers. Today it has foundry,

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

lab facilities, and machine tool facilities. Its

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...

and

nut Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

and bolt (hardware), bolt shop ceased operation in 1984. The school attached to the workshop eventually became the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE).

Ananda Marga

The Ananda Marga movement was founded in Jamalpur by native Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar in 1955.

Places of interest

*JSA Stadium, a football stadium *The Jamalpur Gymkhana, the hostel and club used by the Special Class Railway Apprentices *The Jamalpur Golf Course, the site of the annual ITC Golf Tournament *Kali Pahadi, a mountain and picnic spot featuring a temple to the Hinduism, Hindu goddess Kali *Panchmukhi hanuman mandir, badidariyapur jamalpur *Jogi asthan durga mandir, rampur basti jamalpur *Tunnel near nayagaon, jamalpur *Baptist Church, albert road, nayagaon, jamalpur *St. Joseph Catholic church, east colony, jamalpur *St. Mary's church, golf road, jamalpur *Gandhi library, Daulatpur, munger road *Yog maya badi durga devi mandir, Shani Dev Mandir, Sadar Bazar, Jamalpur *Historical Jamalpur workshop *Jamalpur filter water works at the top of kali pahadi

Education

Colleges

* J. R. S. College * Jamalpur College * Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering * Bihar Institute of Management & technology * Eastern railway inter College, Jamalpur * Manju Srijan Private ITI * Techno India NJR Institute of technology

Schools

* Eastern Railway Mixed Primary School: used to called as "European & Anglo Indian Day School" established more than a century before in 1915 * Notre Dame Academy, Jamalpur: The first Notre Dame school in India, founded in 1950. Notre Dame Academy is a Catholic Institution managed by the Patna Notre Dame Sisters' Society. * D.A.V. Public School, Jamalpur is located in Nayatola Keshopur Jamalpur. One of the Top School in Bihar State. This is to +2 Level. It is Arya Samaj society and managing committee of DAV CMC New Delhi. Affiliated to CBSE board. * Eastern Railway Inter College: A high school for railway employees' children, and one of the oldest high schools in the city. * Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jamalpur: a Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE-affiliated Kendriya Vidyalaya set up in 1973 with the sponsorship of the Eastern Railway (India), Eastern Railway. * Parvati Devi High School, Daulatpur, Jamalpur * St Michael school jamalpur * Holy family English medium School, Jamalpur, Munger * St. Roberts School, Jamalpur * St. Michael High School, Jamalpur * Collins International School, Jamalpur * Primary School Jagdishpur, Jamalpur * Path Bhawan, Jamalpur * Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Jamalpur * NC Ghosh Girl's high School, Jamalpur * St. Columbus high School, Jamalpur * Shri Shastri High School, Jamalpur * St. Mary School, Jamalpur * Railway Pilot School, Jamalpur * ATP School, Jamalpur * Vidya Jyoti Public School, Jamalpur * Daulatpur School, Jamalpur * Rampur Primary School, Jamalpur * Arya Samaj Girls School, Jamalpur * Central School, Jamalpur * Potential Kids primary School, Jamalpur * Achchu Ram School, Jamalpur * National Glory Academy, Jamalpur * Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Jamalpur * Sai Academy, Jamalpur * St. Xavier School, Jamalpur * little Genius Kids School, Jamalpur * Nirmala Residential School, Jamalpur

References

External links

History of Jamalpur Locomotive Works

Jamalpur Municipality

Blog on Jamalpur
{{Munger Division Cities and towns in Munger district Jamalpur, Bihar,