Muzaffarpur (
pronunciation (help·info)) is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth most populous city in Bihar.
Muzaffarpur is famous for Shahi lychees and is known as the Lychee Kingdom. Shahi litchi is set to become the fourth product from Bihar, after jardalu mango, katarni rice and Magahi paan (betel leaf) to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. It is situated on the banks of the perennial Burhi Gandak River, which flows from the Someshwar Hills of the Himalayas.
History
Muzaffarpur’s significance in Indian civilisation is due to its position between cultural and spiritual influences, and is a melting pot of Hindu and Islamic culture. Muzaffarpur has had prominent Indian political leaders, such as Rajendra Prasad, George Fernandes and J. B. Kripalani. The vernacular languages of the region are Maithili and Bajjika, as per the linguist George Grierson;, derived from the language of the Vedic Vrijji confederation.
Etymology
The current city was established in 1875 during the British Raj for administrative convenience, by dividing the Tirhut district and was named after an aumil, Muzaffar Khan; thus the city came to be known as Muzaffarpur.
After Independence
In 1972, the Sitamarhi and Vaishali districts were split off from Muzaffarpur.
Geography
Muzaffarpur is located at 26°07′N 85°24′E. The city lies in a highly active seismic zone of India. In the disastrous earthquake on 15 January 1934, much of the town suffered severe damage and many lives were lost. It has an average elevation of 47 meters (154 feet). This saucer shaped, low-centered town lies on the great Indo-Gangetic plains of Bihar, over Himalayan silt and sand brought by the glacier-fed and rain-fed meandering rivers of the Himalayas.
Climate
Muzaffarpur has humid subtropical climate (Cwa) under Köppen climate classification. The summer, between April and June, is extremely hot and humid (28/40 °C, 90% max.) and winter is pleasantly cool, around 06/20 °C. Rainfall in Muzaffarpur Town is comparatively less to the other parts of Bihar.
| hideClimate data for Muzaffarpur (1981–2010, extremes 1901–2009) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.8 (87.4) |
34.6 (94.3) |
39.4 (102.9) |
42.2 (108.0) |
44.5 (112.1) |
43.4 (110.1) |
43.5 (110.3) |
40.6 (105.1) |
38.2 (100.8) |
35.9 (96.6) |
33.2 (91.8) |
29.6 (85.3) |
44.5 (112.1) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 21.9 (71.4) |
25.7 (78.3) |
31.0 (87.8) |
35.3 (95.5) |
35.2 (95.4) |
34.9 (94.8) |
32.6 (90.7) |
33.0 (91.4) |
32.3 (90.1) |
31.6 (88.9) |
28.7 (83.7) |
24.3 (75.7) |
30.5 (86.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 10.2 (50.4) |
13.1 (55.6) |
17.2 (63.0) |
22.0 (71.6) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.6 (79.9) |
26.8 (80.2) |
25.8 (78.4) |
22.4 (72.3) |
16.3 (61.3) |
11.8 (53.2) |
20.3 (68.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) |
2.2 (36.0) |
7.2 (45.0) |
12.6 (54.7) |
18.3 (64.9) |
19.4 (66.9) |
20.9 (69.6) |
20.6 (69.1) |
19.6 (67.3) |
14.4 (57.9) |
7.7 (45.9) |
4.0 (39.2) |
2.2 (36.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 10.4 (0.41) |
11.5 (0.45) |
8.4 (0.33) |
20.2 (0.80) |
71.5 (2.81) |
160.1 (6.30) |
294.5 (11.59) |
287.6 (11.32) |
208.5 (8.21) |
65.4 (2.57) |
4.3 (0.17) |
4.6 (0.18) |
1,147.1 (45.16) |
| Average rainy days | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 4.3 | 6.8 | 12.7 | 11.5 | 8.8 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 51.0 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 77 | 66 | 54 | 49 | 60 | 72 | 82 | 82 | 82 | 77 | 74 | 78 | 71 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department | |||||||||||||
Demographics
As of the 2011 India census, Muzaffarpur had a population of 393,724. Males constituted 52.96% (208,509) of the population and females 47.04% (185,215). Muzaffarpur had a literacy rate of 74.74%. Male literacy was 77.99%, and female literacy was 71.08%.
As per 2011 census data, there are total 275,233 Hindus whereas 74,680 Muslims and 1,352 Christians along with other small minorities.
Religion in Muzaffarpur (2011)
Economy
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Muzaffarpur one of the country’s 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
Lychee
Lychee garden in Muzaffarpur
The lychee crop, which is available from May to June, is mainly cultivated in the districts of Muzaffarpur and surrounding districts. Cultivation of litchi covers approximately an area of about 25,800 hectares producing about 300,000 tonnes every year. Litchi are exported to big cities of India like Mumbai, Kolkata, and even to other countries. India’s share in the world litchi market amounts to less than 1%. The names of the litchi produced in Muzaffarpur are Shahi and China. The fruits are known for excellent aroma and quality.
Bihar’s contribution in the production of lychee in about 40 percent of lychee produced in India.
Bihar has emerged as a brewery hub with major domestic and foreign firms setting up production units in the state. Vijay Mallya’s group, United Breweries Group, is setting up a production unit to make litchi-flavoured wine, in Muzaffarpur in 2012. The company has leased litchi gardens.
Muzaffarpur based Prabhat Zarda Factory is one of the leading tobacco manufacturers of India.
Transport
Railways
Aerial view of Muzaffarpur Junction with sunset view
Muzaffarpur Junction railway station is a main railway junction, with three suburban stations, Ram Dayalu Nagar , Narayanpur Anant (Sherpur) and Jubba Sahni . It is well connected to major cities of Bihar like Patna, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Chakia, Begusarai, Motihari and Darbhanga. It also connects Muzaffarpur to many metropolitan cities in India like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Roads
Road connecting New Zero Mile with NH-57
National Highway 57 (India) comes via Gorakhpur, Motihari, Chakia and crosses Muzaffarpur and National Highway 57 (India) goes to Darbhanga, Purnia. The East–West Corridor crosses Muzaffarpur thus connecting it to all the major towns and cities in India. National Highway 77 (India) starting from Hajipur passes through Muzaffarpur and connects Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi. National Highway 28 (India) connects Muzaffarpur to Barauni, all 6 National Highways having junction there.
Airport
Darbhanga Airport is the nearest domestic airport roughly 64km away by road. Spicejet is currently working from Darbhanga Airport to different metropolitan cities. Patna Airport is the nearest customs airport roughly 70km from the city.
Education
Muzaffarpur has several educational institutions of repute. Some of the prominent ones are:
Colleges
- Langat Singh College
- Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology
- Mahant Darshan Das Mahila College
- S.K.J. Law College
Schools
- Kendriya Vidyalaya Muzaffarpur
Notable people
- Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi, political activist
- Rambriksh Benipuri Indian freedom movement activist, eminent writer of Hindi literature
- Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, sports spectator and fan of the Indian Cricket Team
- Veena Devi, Indian politician, Member of 17th Lok Sabha
- Devaki Nandan Khatri, the author of Chandrakanta (in Hindi)
- Arunabh Kumar, founder and ex-CEO of TVF
- Shahbaz Nadeem, Indian cricketer
- Shreya Narayan, Bollywood actress
- Aishwarya Nigam, a Bollywood playback singer
- Rajendra Prasad, India’s first president, worked as a professor of English in Langat Singh College
- Jubba Sahni, freedom fighter
- Subrat Saurabh, a writer
- Uday Shankar media executive and former journalist, president of FICCI, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, and chairman of Star India and The Walt Disney Company India
- Janki Ballabh Shastri, Hindi poet, writer and critic
- Baikunth Shukla revolutionary hanged by the British in 1934
- Yogendra Shukla revolutionary, Indian freedom movement activist, served time at Kalapani
- Basawon Singh revolutionary, Indian freedom movement activist
- Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh, diplomat and freedom fighter
- Dinesh Prasad Singh, Indian politician
- Kishori Sinha Indian politician and educationalist
- Mridula Sinha, former Governor of Goa (2014–2019)
- Richa Soni, TV actress