Nawada district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. Nawada is its administrative headquarters. The district is the easternmost district of the Magadh division, one of the nine administrative divisions of Bihar. The area of the modern district was historically part of the Magadha, Shunga and Gupta empires. Koderma and Giridih districts of the state of Jharkhand lie on the southern border of the district; it also shares borders with the Gaya, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, and Jamui districts of Bihar.
History
In 1845, Nawada was made a subdivision of Gaya district. Nawada district was separated from Gaya district on January 26, 1973.
Kakolat Falls are mentioned in Hindu Pauranik History as the abode of a king turned into a python by a Rishi's curse.[2]
Geography
Nawada district occupies an area of 2,494 square kilometres (963 sq mi),[3] comparatively equivalent to Chile's Navarino Island.[4] Most parts of the district are plain but some areas are hilly. The main rivers are the Sakri, Khuri, Panchane, Bhusri by Kakolat and Tilaiya.[5]
Administrative divisions
Nawada District is divided into two Sub-divisions and then into 14 blocks.[1] These blocks in their respective sub-divisions are as follows :[6]
The main crops harvested in the district are paddy, wheat, pulses, and vegetables. Industrial facilities in the district include bidi factories and silk handlooms.[5] Formerly, sugar cane farming and processing also took place; the district's single sugar mill, located in Warisaliganj, is currently non-functional.[7] Kadirganj, located 6 km from Nawada, has a small scale (Handloom Silk) Industry where more than 100 weavers families involved in weaving handloom silk clothes.[8]
Rajauli Hisua and Warsaliganj are emerging as significant market hubs for the hinterland regions bordering Jharkhandstate, and have also produced many professionals including physicians, surgeons, engineers who are working in many parts of India.[8] The Nuclear Power Corporation of India identified Rajauli as the possible site for creating an additional 2,800 MW of nuclear power capacity in the state.[9]
National Highway 20 runs roughly north–south through the western side of district, serving many villages and towns, including the administrative center of Nawada.[12]National Highway 120 follows a 30 km route in the far northwestern corner of the district, passing through the town of Hisua.[13] Including state highways and other routes connecting villages, the district has approximately 420 km of paved roads.[14] Deluxe buses are available from Nawada to cities like Patna, Bihar Shariff, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Koderma and major cities Patna, Kolkata, Ranchi, Bokaro,Jamshedpur etc.[15]
The district lies in the East Central Railway of Indian Railways; the Gaya–Kiul line crosses the district roughly east–west, and connects with the Bakhtiyarpur–Tilaiya line at Tilaiya Junction. Two express trains and several local trains run on the Gaya-Kiul line via Nawada railway station.[16] Though electrification is complete, doubling of railway line is under process. This would provide alternative route for Kolkata and North-East bound trains and would enhance passenger services and freight trains. Currently a Delhi bound train is already scheduled and running from Godda to New Delhi and vice versa has halt at Nawada railway station.[17]
According to the 2011 census Nawada district has a population of 2,219,146,[20] roughly equal to the nation of Latvia[21] or the US state of New Mexico.[22][why?] This gives it a ranking of 205th in India (out of a total of 640).[20] The district has a population density of 889 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,300/sq mi).[20] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 22.49%.[20] Nawada had a sex ratio of 936 females for every 1000 males,[20] and a literacy rate of 61.63%. 9.71% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 25.47% and 0.09% of the population respectively.[20]
Nawada district has its own tourism splendour and has the potential to develop as a tourist destination. In the town's immediate surroundings, there are various points of interest. The Kakolat Waterfall (24 km from town) and the Sekho Devra Ashram are among them (Sarvodaya Ashram was established here in Kowakole block by Jaiprakash Narayan and inaugurated by Dr. Rajendra Prasad), Baba Majaar and Hanuman Temple (located on NH 31, a shrine of Hazrat Saiyyad Shah Jalaluddin Bukhari and a Hanuman temple), Jarra Baba (found in Sirdalla), Hanuman Mandir (located in Kendua village), and Maa Bageshwari Mandir (located in Kendua village) (located in Jamuawa, in 3 km of Jamui road of Nawada in side of Sakri River).[24]
India
