Darbhanga

Darbhanga is a city and Municipal Corporation in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the 6th largest city of Bihar, only after Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Purnea. It is the headquarters of Darbhanga district and Darbhanga division and was the seat of the Raj Darbhanga and capital of the Mithila region.

History
Darbhanga is made up of two words Dar and Banga which means to Gateway of Bengal.

Excavation at Balirajgarh revealed brick fortifications dating back to 2nd century BC.

Demographics
The 2011 Census of India recorded Darbhanga as a municipal corporation with its population of 267,348 comprising 142,377 males and 124,971 females while the district as a whole has a population of 3 million. It is the 6th largest city in Bihar in terms of urban population. Males constitute 52.6% of the population and females 47.4%. Darbhanga has an average literacy rate of 79.40%, while the male literacy rate is 85.08% with women at 73.08%.

Climate
Darbhanga has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa).

Geography
Darbhanga is located in the northern part of Bihar.

Railways
Darbhanga Junction lies on the East Central Railway. It is connected directly to all the major cities of India.

Of the beginning of railway in Darbhanga and its neighbouring areas, The Imperial Gazetteer of India noted:

"The famine of 1874 gave a great impetus to the construction of railways, and the District is on the whole well off in the matter of communications. Its south-west corner is traversed for 29 miles by the main line of the Bengal and North-Western Railway, and also by 25 miles of the new chord-line from Hajipur to Bachwara, which runs parallel to the Ganges embankment from east to west. From Samastipur a line runs to Darbhanga town and there branches off in two directions, the first north-west to Sitamarhi through Kamtaul and Jogiara, and the other due east to Khanwa Ghat on the Kosi (Old streem) near Pratapganj. The total length of the line within the District is 146 miles. Most of the earthwork for a line from Sakri to Jainagar on the Nepal frontier was completed as a relief work during the famine of 1897 ; and the line, which has now been opened, should tap a large grain supply from Nepal."

Darbhanga Junction connects a large part of North Bihar and the Terai of Nepal with the rest of India as it serves as a major railhead. It is the main station of Darbhanga and the district of Madhubani.

Darbhanga Airport
Darbhanga Airport (IATA: DBR, ICAO: VE89) is a civil enclave at the Darbhanga Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force, 6 kilometres from Darbhanga, Bihar, India, near the NH-105 and NH-57 East-West Corridor Expressway which passes through Darbhanga. The civil enclave is operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The foundation stone for the project was laid by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and then Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu in the presence of state Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha on 24 December 2018. Commercial flights started from 8th November 2020. Direct flights are currently available to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

Roadways
Darbhanga is connected to other parts of India by National Highway 27, National Highway 527B and Bihar State highways 50, 56, 88 and 75. Darbhanga is also connected to Madhubani and Sitamarhi.

The East-West Corridor expressway, which connects Porbandar in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam, passes through Darbhanga.

Public transport
For local transport, the commuters have the options of buses operated by BSRTC and auto-rickshaw. There is a bus stand and a new interstate bus stand is under construction. Bus services are available from Darbhanga to all the major cities of India and Bihar viz. Delhi, Ludhiana, Patna, Gaya, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur.

Nearby Airports
Rajbiraj Airport is the second nearest operational airport roughly 121 km away. Shree Airlines operates daily flights between Rajbiraj and Kathmandu. The nearest domestic airport to Darbhanga is Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport in Patna, approximately 139 kilometres (86 mi) away.

Media and communications
All India Radio has a 20 kW medium-wave radio station in Darbhanga which transmits various programmes of mass interest and covers a part of North Bihar as well as the Terai of Nepal.

Doordarshan has one DD National and one DD News LPT relay transmitters.

Education
Among the educational institutions are:

Medical colleges

 * Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital
 * Shyama Surgical Sansthan Hospital
 * AIIMS, Darbhanga (Under Construction)

University

 * IGNOU Regional Centre
 * MANUU Regional Centre
 * Lalit Narayan Mithila University darbhanga.jpg Narayan Mithila University
 * Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University

Engineering and technology colleges

 * Women's Institute of Technology
 * Darbhanga College of Engineering (JMIT)

Colleges

 * M.L.S.M. College
 * Millat College
 * C. M. Science College, Darbhanga
 * C. M. College
 * Marwari College
 * Kunwar Singh College

Schools

 * Holy Cross School
 * Jesus & Mary Academy
 * Madonna English School
 * Rose Public School
 * D.A.V. Public School
 * Darbhanga Public School
 * Delhi Public School

Tourism
There are many tourist places in Darbhanga like Maharajadhiraja Lakshmishwar Singh Museum, Chandradhari Museum, Darbhanga Fort, Shyama Mai Temple, Anand Bag Palace, Nargona Palace

Notable people

 * Kameshwar Singh Maharaja
 * Lakshmeshwar Singh Maharaja
 * Rameshwar Singh Maharaja
 * Sanjay Mishra Bollywood actor
 * Veena Devi, Indian politician, Member of 17th Lok Sabha
 * Abdul Bari Siddiqui Current MLA from Alinagar Darbhanga
 * Badri Narain Sinha IPS
 * Bhawana Kanth First female Fighter pilot of India
 * Binod Bihari Verma Writer
 * Binodanand Jha Former MP from Darbhanga
 * Gangesha Upadhyaya an Indian mathematician and philosopher from Darbhanga
 * Gonu Jha Pratyutpannamati (ready-witted)
 * Gopal Jee Thakur Former MLA and Present MP
 * Gul Mohammad Khan A Bangladeshi musician hails From Darbhanga
 * H. C. Verma Known as Concepts of Physics
 * Hukmdev Narayan Yadav Former MP hails From Darbhanga
 * Imtiaz Ali (director) Bollywood Director
 * Kirti Azad Former MP From Darbhanga and Former Indian cricketer
 * M J Warsi An Indian linguist
 * Nagarjun Poet, Writer, Essayist and Novelist hails from Darbhanga
 * Narayan Das (politician)
 * Nigamananda Saraswati A Hindu monk
 * Prabhat Jha (politician)
 * Parmanand Jha First Vice President of Nepal
 * Ram Chatur Mallick An Indian classical musician
 * Ramnandan Mishra An Indian nationalist who fought for India's freedom from British rule
 * Sanjay Paswan MP hails From Darbhanga
 * Sanjay Saraogi MLA from Darbhanga vidhan sabha constituency
 * Satya Narayan Sinha (Politician)
 * Surendra Jha 'Suman' Poet, Freedom Fighter, Politician Essayist, Literary critic, journalist, publisher and Academician
 * Sanjay Mishra (actor) Bollywood Actor
 * Tariq-ur-Rehman An Indian Cricketer
 * Tochi Raina An Indian singer, Composer and Philosopher
 * Yamuna Karjee An Indian independence activist.
 * Betty von Fürer-Haimendorf, ethnologist, born in Darbhanga
 * Ritviz ,famous electronic singer,born in Darbhanga.
 * Ritviz ,famous electronic singer,born in Darbhanga.