Deoghar

This article is about the municipality in India. For its namesake district, see Deoghar district.

Deoghar देवघर Devghar
city
Deoghar
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Jharkhand
District	Deoghar
Area
• Total	337 km2 (130 sq mi)
Elevation	254 m (833 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	203,116
• Rank	5th in Jharkhand
• Density	602/km2 (1,560/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	814112
Telephone code	00916432
Vehicle registration	JH-15
Sex ratio	921 ♂/♀

Deoghar is the main city of the Deoghar District in the Santhal Parganas division of the state of Jharkhand, India.

Geography

Deoghar is located at . It has an average elevation of 254 metres (833 feet).

Education

Major educational institutes in Deoghar include:

• Indira Gandhi National Open University Regional Centre, Deoghar
• Deovalley High School
• The Ramakrishna Vivekananda Vidyamandir
• Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith
• Deoghar Utkarsh College

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Deoghar has a population of 203,116 and 17.62% of the population is under 6 years of age.

See also: List of cities in Jharkhand

Transport

Roadways: Deoghar is connected to Ranchi, Patna, Calcutta, Bhagalpur, Munger and all nearby major cities by road.

Deoghar Town has two railway stations, Baidyanathdham (BDME) and Deoghar (DGHR). Deoghar is linked to Dumka while Baidyanathdham is linked only to Jasidih, though several trains originate from here to cities like Ranchi, Varanasi, Asansol.

Airways: Deoghar International Airport is under construction. Reaching Deoghar via flight is limited to Patna (PAT), Kolkata (CCU) or Ranchi (IXR). The nearest airport is Patna from where you can take a train journey or hire a taxi. Deoghar signed an MoU with Airports Authority of India in 2013 to develop an International Airport at Deoghar to encourage tourism. This is a Rs. 350 crore project which was supposed to be completed within 2 years. But for some reasons the project got delayed.[1]

Places of interest in and around Deoghar

Naulakha Temple in Deoghar

• Rikhia Ashram: It is an extension of Bihar School of Yoga (Sri Sri Panch Dashanam Paramhansa Alakhbarah) and was established by Paramahamsa Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Thousand of devotees from different corners of the world participate in an annual festival which is held in late November to early December. Foreigner visitors are often seen in the town, especially between November and February. This ashram is considered a sacred place. The ashram has been working on the yoga of Serve,Love and Give to uplift the lives of the once deprived people of the several villages of Rikhia neighbourhood.
• Nandan Pahar: It is a small hill located on the eastern side of Deoghar. It is a medium-sized beautiful Hill Park and one of the major hangout places in Deoghar. It has several temples apart from a ghost house, a boot house, a mirror house and a restaurant.

• Basukinath (in Dumka District): It is situated 43 km from Deoghar near the village of Jarmundi and connected by road. It is an indigenous temple decorated with local art.

• Naulakha Mandir: It is situated 1.5 km away from the Baba Baidyanath Temple. This temple is similar in appearance to the temple of Ramakrishna in Belur. Inside there are idols of Radha-Krishna. It is 146 feet high and its construction cost around Rs. 900,000 (9 lakhs) and hence it became known as the Naulakha Temple. It was constructed by Queen Charushila of Pathuria Ghat King’s family from Kolkata.

• Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith: It is residential English-medium senior secondary school for boys run by Ramakrishna Mission Kolkata. It was established in 1922. It is the oldest educational institution of Ramakrishna Mission. The school also has a tribal museum, a dairy, a permanent exhibition on the life of Sri Ramakrishna, a gymnasium and a cultural complex.

• Tapovana: It is situated 10 km from Deoghar and has a temple of Shiva, called Taponath Mahadeva, which attracts pilgrims. A number of caves are found in this hill. In one of the caves, a Shiva lingam is installed. It is said that Sage Valmiki came here for penance and Sri Sri Balananda Brahmachari obtained Siddhi (success through penance) here.

Deoghar talab known as Shivganga

• Shivganga: It is a pool of water situated just 200 meters away from the Baidyanath Temple. It is claimed that when Ravana was taking the lingam to Lanka, he needed to urinate. Afterwards, wanting to wash his hands before holding the lingam but unable to find a water source nearby, he struck the earth with his fist. Water came out and formed a pond. This pond is now known as Shivaganga.

• Trikut Pahar: It is a hill situated 13 km away from Deoghar, on the way to Dumka, with three main peaks from which it gets its name, Trikutachal. The hill is 1,350 feet (400 m) high. There is also a temple of Shiva here, known as the Trikutachal Mahadeva Temple, and an altar of the goddess of Trishuli. It is the site of Jharkhand's first ropeway, built by Damodar Ropeway and Construction Company, Kolkata, which is the only vertical ropeway in the state of Jharkhand. The ride from the base camp to the summit takes about seven minutes. Today the place has a large population of gray langur monkeys.

• Ram Nivas Ashram: It is where Sri Sri Balananda Brahmachari Maharaj, a great yogi and guru, used to stay and meditate. His disciple, and the 2nd Mohanta (Head) of the ashram, Mohanananda Brahmachari, also stayed here. The ashram is surrounded by trees and gardens, and has the temples of Tripura Sundari, Radha-Krishna, and Bhagbati Devi. A memorial temple marks the place where the ashes of Sri Mohanananda Brahmachari were put to rest.

• Maa Kali Shaktipeeth is in the Karnibagh area and is also known as Maa Kali Nagar. The deity, Maa, is in the form of pindi (a vertical mass) and is popular in the area.

External links

• Babadham Deoghar
• Bihar Government Tourism
• Deoghar travel guide from Wikivoyage