Chhapra (

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

: ''Chaparā'') is a city and headquarters of the

Saran District Saran district is one of the 38 Districts of Bihar, districts of Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. The district, part of Saran Division, is also known as Chhapra district after the headquarters of the district, Chhapra. It is ...

in the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. It is situated near the junction of the

Ghaghara River The Ghaghara River, also known as the Karnali River in Nepal, Mapcha Tsangpo in Tibet, and as the Sarayu River in the lower Ghaghara of India's Awadh, is a perennial trans-boundary river that originates in the northern slopes of the Himalaya ...

and the

Ganges River The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

. 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 a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate ...

refineries in the area. It was recognised as a municipality in 1864. The major railway station is Chhapra Junction. There is a well known Shaktipeeth 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 the 1.8 km double-decker flyover in

Santa Cruz–Chembur Link Road Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring gifts during the ...

. Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

laid the foundation stone of in July 2018. It is estimated to be completed before 2026.

Climate

Demographics

As per 2011 census, Chapra Urban Agglomeration had a population of 212,955. Chapra Urban Agglomeration includes Chapra (Nagar Panchayat) and Sandha (Census Town). Chapra Nagar Panchayat had a total population of 201,597, out of which 106,250 were males and 95,347 were females. It had a sex ratio of 897 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 the largest religion in Chhapra city with 1,64,811 Hindus (81.45%). Islam is the 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

File:Swami Adbhutananda.jpg,

Adbhutananda Adbhutananda (died 1920), born Rakhturam, was a direct monastic disciple of Ramakrishna, a Yogi of nineteenth century Bengal. He is familiarly known as Latu Maharaj among the followers of Ramakrishna. Adbhutananda was the first monastic d ...

File:Akhilendra Mishra.jpg,

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 ...

File:Bhikhari Thakur.jpg,

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 writers in the Bhojpuri language ...

File:Anand milind 20988 hnsmhard Igjnldia howcroed.jpg,

Anand–Milind Anand–Milind is an Indian music composer duo consisting of brothers Anand Srivastava and Milind Srivastava. Born to composer Chitragupt, they have composed music for over 200 Bollywood films. The brothers debuted in 1984 with '' Ab Ayega Mazaa ...

File:Jayaprakash Narayan (cropped2).jpg,

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

File:Khan Bahadur Moulvi Khuda Bakhsh.png,

Khuda Bakhsh Sir Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh Order of the Indian Empire, OIE Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, FRAS (2 August 1842 – 3 August 1908) was an Indian people, Indian advocate, judge, philosopher, Resistance movement, revolutiona ...

File:Ramchandra Manjhi.jpg,

Ramchandra Manjhi Ramchandra Manjhi (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Rāmcaṃdra māṃjhī, Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri: 𑂩𑂰𑂧𑂒𑂢𑂹६ 𑂧𑂰𑂖𑂹𑂕𑂲; 1925 – 7 September 2022) was an Indian Bhojpuri folk dance ...

File:Rajiv Pratap Rudy PIB (cropped).jpg,

Rajiv Pratap Rudy Rajiv Pratap Rudy (born 30 March 1962) is an Indian politician from Bihar. He is a four-time Member of Parliament representing Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2023, he won from Saran (Lok Sabha constituency) in Bihar. Earlier, he won three times in ...

, Hindu monk, disciple of

Ramakrishna Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...

, Bollywood actor *

, music director *

Bhojpuri language Bhojpuri (IPA: ; Devanagari: , Kaithi: ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpuri region, Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal.:ethnologue:bho, Bhojpuri Ethnologue World Languages (2009) It is chiefly spok ...

poet and singer *

Brajkishore Prasad Brajkishore Prasad (1877–1946) was a lawyer inspired by Mohandas Gandhi during the Indian Independence Movement. Early life and education Born in a Kayastha family in Srinagar, Siwan district, Prasad gained his early education in Chha ...

, 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 Gopalganj district i ...

, music director * Daroga Prasad Rai, 10th Chief Minister of Bihar *

, Indian independence activist *

1842–1908, Indian lawyer, judge, historian and founder of

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library is one of the national libraries of India, located in Patna, Bihar. It was opened to public on 29 October 1891 by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh with 4,000 manuscripts, of which he inherited 1,400 from his father Maulvi ...

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

* Mahendar Misir, Bhojpuri poet *

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

, Bhojpuri poet *

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

, Bhojpuri folk dancer *

Surur Hoda Surur Hoda (1928-2003), also known as M. S. Hoda, was a socialist politician and trade unionist who believed in the ideals promoted by Mahatma Gandhi. Life Hoda was born in Chhapra in India, on 5 May 1928 into a Muslim family. He obtained an en ...

, Socialist leader and Order of British Empire (

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

) recipient

References

External links

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