Kahalgaon

KAHALGAON कहलगाँव COLGONG
town
KAHALGAON Location in Bihar, India
Coordinates: 25°16′N 87°13′E / 25.27°N 87.22°ECoordinates: 25°16′N 87°13′E / 25.27°N 87.22°E
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	Bhagalpur
Elevation	16 m (52 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	154,679
Languages
• Official	Angika, Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	BR 10
Last edited by Devesh on Jan 15, 2013

Kahalgaon (formerly known as Colgong during British rule) is a town and a municipality in Bhagalpur district in the state of Bihar, India. It is located close to the Vikramashila, that was once a famous centre of Buddhist learning across the world, along with Nalanda during the Pala dynasty. The Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Plant (KhSTPP) is located near the town(3 km).

How to reach Kahalgaon

By Air

The nearest airport is Patna airport which is 260 km away. From Patna regular flights are available for major Indian cities Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore.

By Train

Kahalgaon railway station, one of the oldest station of Bihar, serves the Howrah-Kiul loop line. The city is situated on the broad-gauge Loop Line of Eastern Railway. Kahalgaon is well connected to all cities by train.

By Road

Kahalgaon is connected by an excellent network of national and state highways, along with district and rural roads. National Highway 80 (NH 80) runs from the Mokama-Farakka via Bhagalpur, Kahalgaon. It links directly with Patna, via Begusarai and Khagaria.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,^[1] Colgong had a population of 22,110. Male constitute 53% of the population and female 47%. Colgong has an average literacy rate of 57%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 63% and, female literacy is 50%. In Colgong, 17% of the population is under 6 years of age. Angika is the local dialect and is spoken by majority. Hindi, Urdu, and English are also spoken by different section of the population.

History

Vikramashila: Close to Kahalgaon are the remains of the great Vikramashila Mahavihara, that was famous as a centre of advanced learning across the world in the ancient times. Mahmud Shah's Tomb: Kahalgaon also houses the Tomb of Mahmud Shah, the last independent king of erstwhile Bengal, who died here a few days after his army was defeated by Sher Shah. The SSV college, which is a degree college, was the main stock center of business of indigo(Nil, used for white cloth) at the time of The British rule in India.

Premedieval Era: Kahalgaon is named after Kahol Rishi, the father of the saint named Ashtavakra (popularly known in the Mahabharata). Ashtavakra was one of the greatest saints who got his body Vakara from eight places so was named as Ashtavakra. He set free his father from jail of the king by winning the a contest on Shastra.

Medieval Era: Kahalgaon was the education hub in the Middle Ages. Vikramashila was one of the two most important centers of Buddhist learning in India, along with Nalanda during the Pala dynasty. Vikramashila was established by King Dharmapala (rule: 770 – 810 CE) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nālandā. Atisha, the renowned pandita, is sometimes listed as a notable abbot.

Modern Era: In the vicinity of the town, now stands afirm the thermal power project from NTPC, known as KhSTPP. The project has an installed capacity of 2340 MW developed in two stages. The first stage had 4 units of 210 MW capacity each and the second expansion had 3 units of 500 MW.

Arrival of NTPC in the town, marked the arrival of world-class infrastructure, healthcare and education, which would have taken years to reach to people otherwise. Kahalgaon now enjoys the luxury of the best. Education has taken a front-runner in the normal routine and the setup has also created enough jobs and businesses around itself. The townships of NTPC are wonderfully-planned, with lush greenery. It has parks, shopping complexes, clubhouses, stadium and transit-camps apart from housing for employees. The peace that Kahalgaon has is remarkable.

NTPC Kahalgaon

The National Thermal Power Corporation, popularly known as NTPC is also set up in Kahalgaon, also named KhSTPP since early 80s. The total capacity of the plant was 2340 megawatts, Stage-I: 840 MW and Stage-II: 1500 MW.

NTPC power plant uses Rajmahal Coal Fields of Eastern Coalfields Limited(Lalmatiya) as the coal source for producing electricity. Ganga river serves as a major source of water. Normally PLF is about 70% here because lack of coal. It has 4x210 MW units of Russian make and 3x500 MW units of German make supplied by BHEL. This power plant serves as a beneficiary for West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim states. ^[2]

Education

School/college name	Education Board/University	Class	Location
Kendriya Vidyalaya	CBSE	I to XII	P.T.S. , NTPC Deepti Nagar
DAV Public School	CBSE	L.K.G to XII	P.T.S. , NTPC Deepti Nagar
St. Joseph's School	CBSE	L.K.G to XII	T.T.S. , NTPC Deepti Nagar
Little Flower	CBSE	KG	P.T.S. , NTPC Deepti Nagar
SK Academy	CBSE	Nursery to X	Chethariyapeer, NTPC Road , Kahalgaon	|CBSE	Nursery to X	-	Heritage Public School	CBSE	Nursery to X	Main Road , Colgong
St. Joseph's School	ICSE	L.K.G to X	Pakartalla, Kahalgaon-Bhagalpur National Highway
Ganpat Singh High School	Bihar Board	VI to X	Main Road , Near Electricity Board office
Sharda Pathshala	Bihar Board	VI to X	Main Road, Kahalgaon
Saharsaya Balika Uccha Vidyalaya (Girls High School)	Bihar Board	VI to X	L.C.T (Raj Ghat) Road, Kahalgaon
Shankar Sah Vikramshila College	TM Bhagalpur University	10+2 to Graduation	Opp. Kahalgaon Post Office, Kahalgaon.

Brajesh verma college||bihar board|| Intermediate||near sharbaddipur banra bagicha|

Holy Angel Public School||CBSE||LKG To IV||Anadipur

Tourism

Vikramashila Mahavihara

Vikramashila (vill-Antichak) is located 13 km from Kahalgaon. It is famous for ancient Vikramashila, founded by Dharmapala, a Pala King, in the 8th century, the educational institution served as a learning center of Tantric Buddhism. At the center of the building was a huge Buddhist temple, surrounded by 108 smaller temples. The remains excavated from this university made Vikramashila one of the most important historic places near Kahalgaon. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture and religion. The most distinguished and eminent among all was Atisa Dipankara, the founder of Lamaism in Tibet. Subjects like theology, philosophy, grammar, metaphysics, and logic were taught here but the most important branch of learning was tantrism.

Tapas Dham temple/Shantibaba Temple

It is situated amid of Ganga River, 500 m away from the bank of the river. shiva shiv temple/NTPC camps tapas dham

Mahmud Shah's tomb

Mahmud Shah was the last independent King of Bengal who died at Kahalgaon in 1539 A.D. After his defeat at the hands of Sher Shah, the mighty Pathan ruler, he took refuge with the Mughal Emperor Humayun at Chunar. In his absence from Bengal his capital was stormed and sacked and his two sons were murdered by the Afghans. Mahmud Shah, after joining hands with the Mughal emperor Humayun, advanced as far as Kahalgaon to attack Sher Shah. But, after hearing the news of the death of his two sons and the plunder of his capital, he was so shocked that only after a few days' illness he died at Kahalgaon in 1539 A.D., where his tomb was built later. The tomb of Mahmud Shah is, therefore, of great historical significance.

Bhagalpur

Bhagalpur is famous for high quality silk products, the industry is more than 100 years old with traditional clans of silk producers and weavers living here.

References

1. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
2. http://www.ntpc.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=302&Itemid=83

Shram awards Our Bureau NEW DELHI, Feb. 13 THE Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee will give away Shram Awards, 1998 on February 14. Seventeen Shram Awards are being shared by 31 workers in recognition of their contribution in production and innovative abilities of high order. The highest Shram Ratna, carrying a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakhs, has been jointly awarded to Mr. Pradeep Yadav, Mr. Jeevan Kumar Sharma, Mr. Pratul Das and Mr. Dhamendra Kumar Patel working at the Bhilai Steel plant, Bhilai. Of the two Shram Bhushan awards, carrying a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each, one has been given to Mr. A. Antony of Seamless Steel Tubes plant of BHEL at Tiruchi for his innovations of exceptional order. Mr. Balmiki Shah, Birendra Prasad Shah, Mr. Bijay Kumar Singh and Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Singh of NTPC share the other award. Among the recipients of six Shram Vir awards, conferred for continuous record of dedicated service, are Mr. Dolu Patra, Mr. Mohammad Jallaudin, Mr. P.N.B. Pratap and Mr. Suprokask Majumdar. One of the remaining two awards, each has been jointly given to Mr. K. Krishna Murthy, Mr. A. Ayyavu, Mr. M. Murugan, Mr. S. Balasubramanian, Mr. P.K. Gunasekran and Mr. Rajesh Kumar Chouhan, Mr. Laurence Kerketta, Mr. Rattan Lal Shakya, Subhakaran. The Shram Vir award carries a cash prize of Rs. 60,000. Two Shram Devi awards have been conferred on three women workers for showing exceptional zeal and enthusiasm at work. Six workers have been honoured with Shram Shri award. Each of these awards carries a cash prize of Rs. 40,000. The awardees would also r eceive a `Sanad' from the Prime Minister, an official release said.