East Champaran or Purvi Champaran is an administrative district in the Tirhut division of the 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 ...

in India. The district headquarter is located at Motihari. Prior to 1971, there was a single Champaran District. On 1 December 1971, it was divided into East and

West Champaran West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km2(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division. The district headquart ...

(Purvi and Paschimi Champaran). In early days the land of East Chamapran was ruled by different kingdoms as Videha, Sunga, Kanvas. It is also believed that Champaran used to be a major part of King Janak's empire. Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Satyagraha movement from here.

About district

East Champaran District is functioning from 2 November 1972. The headquarter of the district is at Motihari. It is situated at 26° 16′ to 27° 1′ North latitude and 84° 30′ to 85° 16′ East longitudes.

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

makes its northern boundary,

Sitamarhi Sitamarhi is the headquarters of the Sitamarhi district in Tirhut Division, Bihar. The city was named in honour of Sītā, wife of Rāma, who was born in Sitamarhi according to Hindu legends. In 1875, a subdivision for Sitamarhi was create ...

and Sheohar eastern while Mehsi, Muzaffarpur South and with part of Gopalganj and

bounds it in western side. The district occupies an area of and has a population of 5,099,371 (). East Champaran is a part of Tirhut Division. It was earlier part of the

Red Corridor Red corridor designates the districts of India which has the presence and influence of Naxalites. As of March 2025, the corridor encompasses 18 districts across seven states, predominantly in Central and East India. History The Naxalite� ...

. As of 2011, it is the second most populous district of Bihar (out of 38), after

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, ...

. East Champaran is the second most crowded district of Bihar. The district gets its name from the union of two words, champa and aranya. Champa alludes to scented blossom trees and Aranya alludes to the home or an encased spot. The name began back in when the district was encircled by a backwoods of magnolia (champa) trees.

The Literary History of Champaran

Freedom Fighter and author Ramesh Chandra Jha was the first person who penned down the rich literary history of Champaran. His research based books including ''Champaran Ki Sahitya Sadhana'' (चम्पारन की साहित्य साधना) (1958), ''Champaran:Literature & Literary Writers'' (चम्पारन: साहित्य और साहित्यकार) (1967) and ''Apne Aur Sapne:A Literary Journey Of Champaran'' (अपने और सपने: चम्पारन की साहित्य यात्रा) (1988) meticulously document the rich literary heritage and history of

Champaran Champaran is a region in Bihar, India. It is now divided into two districts: East Champaran and West Champaran. History Champaran is identified with the ''Champāraṇya'' mentioned in the Bheraghat inscription as a place "devastated" b ...

. These seminal books continue to serve as foundational reference points for researchers, scholars, Ph.D. students, and journalists alike. Jha's insightful exploration and preservation of Champaran's historical and literary legacy have solidified his place as a cornerstone in the field of literary research.

Tourist Places

Someshwar Nath Mandir, Areraj

Someshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir is a well established temple situated in Areraj. The significant divinity of the heavenly temple is of Lord Shiva. Explorers and pilgrims of Lord Shiva go to the holy place from India as well as from Nepal. The merriments on the event of an occasional reasonable known as Shrawani Mela, during July and August, are really pleasant. There are numerous different temples nearby around and thus just, Areraj is known as the holy place of East Champaran.

Ashokan Pillar

Side view of Lauriya Nandangarh Ashoka Pillar

Ashokan Pillar is situated in Lauria Nandangarh, or Lauriya Navandgarh which is a city or town around 14 km from Narkatiaganj and 28 km from Bettiah in West Champaran district of Bihar state in northern India. It is found near the banks of the Budhi Gandak River. Lauriya Nandangarh is a chronicled place which goes under West Champaran district of Bihar.

Kesariya

Kesariya is arranged on the eastern banks of the River Gandak and views the enormous 104-feet-tall stupa, which is viewed as the tallest Buddhist stupa. In like manner, Kesariya orders conspicuous situations in East Champaran the travel industry just as history of Buddhism. The stupa was found in the year 1998.

Raxaul

Raxaul is one of the most significant towns of the East Champaran district. By excellence of its topographical area, it is known as the Gateway to Nepal.

Moti Jheel

Situated in the core of the Motihari city, Moti Jheel is the most excellent fascination of the city that isolates Motihari into two parts.

NREGA Park

A lovely and beguiling spot to appreciate with loved ones.

Champaran in Gallary

File:Motihari station, India, ca. 1906 (IMP-CSCNWW33-OS14-6).jpg, Motihari Railway Station, 1906 File:Henry Bazaar, Motihari, India, ca. 1906 (IMP-CSCNWW33-OS14-10).jpg, Henry Bazaar(1906), Motihari File:Birth-Place-George-Orwell-Motihari.jpg, Birth palace of George Orwell, Motihari File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paying homage at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, at Motihari, in Bihar (1).jpg, The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paying homage at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, at Motihari. File:StonePillar GandhiMuseum.jpg, Stone Pillar Gandhi Museum File:Lauriya Araraj pillar of Ashoka, Champaran District.jpg, Lauriya Ashoka Pillar, Areraj

Gandhi Memorial

Gandhi Memorial is situated in Chandrahiya town, On his visit to Champaran Gandji jee was stopped in this town. Chandrahiya is a town in Bihar's East Champaran district which is around 8 KM away from district headquarter Motihari.

Champaran Satyagrah Park

The Champaran Satyagraha Shatabdi Park located at the district headquarter of East Champaran.The Park has been built by the Urban Development and Housing office. Neighborhood individuals appreciate the freshness of this park with family, relatives, friends on weekend and holidays.

George Orwell Monument

The origin of perhaps the most commended scholars of the 20th century and the writer of a few acclaimed books, George Orwell.

Sitakund

Found 16 Kms from Pipra Railway Station, Sitakund is acclaimed as where Goddess Sita took a heavenly plunge.

Geography

The East Champaran district occupies an area of , comparatively equivalent to

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...

. Gandak, Burhi Gandak and Baghmati are important rivers flowing through this region. StonePillar_GandhiMuseum

Demographics

According to the 2011 census East Champaran district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 5,099,371, roughly equal to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

or the US state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. This gives it a ranking of 21st in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 29.01%. East Champaran has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 901

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 55.79%. 7.87% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 12.74% and 0.24% of the population respectively.

Languages

According to the 2011 census, 82.67% of the population spoke

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri may refer to: * Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal * Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language * Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language * Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language * Bhojpuri region ...

, 7.33%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and 7.06%

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

as their first language. 2.58% of the population spoke 'Others' under Hindi.

Administrative divisions

The East Champaran district is divided into 6

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

(sub-division): # Areraj # Chakia # Motihari # Pakaridayal #

Raxaul Raxaul is a sub-divisional town in the East Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated at the India-Nepal border with Birgunj city (Nepal). Raxaul is a major railway junction. The other part of Raxaul is Mehsi where litchi ...

# Sikarahana

Politics

References

External links

East Champaran district website

Official Website of Tirhut Division

Motihari (East Champaran)

East Champaran District Info
{{Coord, 26.6500, N, 84.9167, E, source:wikidata, display=title Tirhut division Districts of Bihar