Langat Singh College, commonly known as L.S.College,previously known as Bhumihar Brahmin college, is a college in

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...

, 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 was established on 3 July 1899, and is one of the city's oldest colleges. It is named after its founder Langat Singh. It is affiliated to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in science and arts. On 10 December 2014, NAAC accredited college by A grade. The college has a huge and magnificent building incorporating the feature of Indo-Sarcenic architectural style. It was modelled after

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

of Oxford.

History

Langat Singh initially participated in the Bhumihar Brahmin Mahasabha in 1895. His donation of one lakh rupees to the Mahasabha led to the establishment of a college in Muzaffarpur. The Bhumihar Brahmin Collegiate School and Bhumihar Brahmin College's foundation was laid on July 3, 1899, and it is presently known as LS College.The College was founded in 1899 in the backdrop of emerging Indian nationalism by broader community support. Babu Langat Singh played the most prominent part in its establishment. In 1900, the college was affiliated to

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. It was declared a Government College in 1915 and subsequently affiliated to Patna University in 1917. In 1952, Bihar University was bifurcated from Patna University and L.S. College was affiliated to it. Subsequently, in 1960, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University was established with headquarters at Muzaffarpur, and the college was then affiliated to it. The post-graduate Departments of Bihar University split from this institution in 1979. In 1984 post-graduate studies of various streams were restored. Notable faculty members include

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...

, J.B. Kripalani and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

Astronomical observatory

The

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

, the first of its kind in eastern India, was established in the Langat Singh College in 1916 to impart astronomical knowledge to the students in detail. The initiative for the establishment of this observatory was taken by Romesh Chandra Sen of the college. Later, a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

, probably the first in India, was also set up in the college in 1946. Both the observatory as well as the planetarium functioned satisfactorily up to the early 1970s but started declining gradually over time. The observatory interacted with the Astronomical Observatory of the Presidency University, Kolkata. In August 2022, several Indian media house reported that the astronomical observatory of Langat Singh College was included on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

list of endangered heritage observatories of the world. UNESCO later clarified that the astronomical observatory at the college has not been inscribed on its list of endangered heritage. although it is listed as a heritage observatory on portal to the heritage of astronomy managed by

in partnership with

World Heritage Centre UNESCO Headquarters, or Maison de l'UNESCO, is a building inaugurated on 3 November 1958 at number 7 Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France, to serve as the headquarters for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ...

and

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

Notable alumni

* Ajit Anjum * Dhanush Chandra Gautam * Rama Kishore Singh * Kameshwar Paswan * Achyutanand Singh *

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (6 June 1946 – 13 September 2020) was an Indian socialist politician. In the Lok Sabha, he represented the Vaishali Lok Sabha constituency, Vaishali constituency of Bihar and was the national vice president of the Ras ...

* Sanjeev K Jha

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Bihar Colleges affiliated to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University Education in Muzaffarpur Universities and colleges in Bihar 1899 establishments in British India Universities and colleges established in 1899 Universities and colleges in Muzaffarpur