ASI Patna circle’s Superintending Archaeologist Sanjay K. Manjul said that conservation work of the remains of the ancient university would begin next month.

“ASI has decided to take up excavation over 116 acres of land not excavated earlier,” he said.

He said all this would help the Bihar government’s move to develop Vikramshila’s ruins as a tourist destination like Nalanda, situated around 90 km from the state capital.

The ASI has roped in the National Culture Fund (NCF) and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to conserve its excavated ruins with an initial investment of Rs.2 crore.

“The conservation of 208 shells or reading room-like structures adjoining the main stupa and a major portion of the excavated structure will be taken up,” another official said.

Vikramshila University was set up by the Pala dynasty (750-1174 A.D) king Dharmapala in the late 8th or early 9th century.

The site is located near Antichak village in Bhagalpur district. It was among the most important centres of Buddhist learning in ancient India.

But the remains of Vikramshila University have been neglected for years.

Government is also spending over Rs 100 crores for the setting up of 75 Bed Hospitals in 21 subdivisions of the state, of which hospitals had been constructed in 13 subdivisions.

The construction of hospital building has been completed in ten districts – Buxar, Kaimur, Banka, Kishanganj, Jamui, Sheikhpura, Supaul, Araria, Lakhisarai and Khagaria. In Khagaria, a new 100-bed hospital has already been inaugurated.

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey recently said that it had been decided in 2010-11 to upgrade 15 referral hospitals into subdivisional hospitals, of which 10 hospitals in Kaimur, Munger, Saran, Katihar, East Champaran, Nalanda, Gaya, Purnia and Madhepura districts had already been completed.

Mission Sunehra Kal, aims to ensure substantial increase in farm output and resultant income, livestock improvement, watershed management and development of dairy as alternative livelihood. “The mission is also to empower rural women and improve access to education for local populace,” an ITC official said.

The social development initiatives of ITC have so far benefited 65,000 families of farmers. Besides, according to ITC statistics, 3465 women benefited from the schemes meant for women. Improved agriculture practices on 300 acres of land in four blocks of Munger have borne fruits as the yield has gone up, the ITC official said and added the watershed development programme was going on in 21 villages whereas primary education scheme covers 57,000 students.

Considering that livestock is an important source of regular income for farmers, ITC has been working for productivity increase through an integrated package of animal husbandry services comprising genetic improvement to ensure disease-free and resistant animals. In partnership with NGOs, ITC is running 33 cattle development centres that provide animal husbandry services across 430 villages.

Patna 
Kamaldah (Patna City) : In the area called Kamaldah (Gulzarbagh, Patna) is a high mound of brick ruins on which two Jain temples stand. There is mausoleum of Jain saint Sthoolhdbhadra and the temple of Sudarshan Swami.

Muzaffarpur 
Kund Gram : As per Jain tradition Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar, was born at Kundagrama and Vaniyagrama was his residence. Both the places was either part of or near to Vaishali. While the modern village of Bania can be taken as representing the site of ancient Vaniagrama. The location of Kundagrama is identified with the modern village of Vasokund, about 2 kms northeast of the gadh mound.

Nalanda 
Kundalpur : A beautiful Jaisalmer stone temple is situated close to the ruins of ancient Nalanda University at Kundalpur. This houses statues of Lord Mahavira, Adinath Swami and Gautam Gandharva. This place is believed to be the birthplace of Gautam Gandharva, the first disciple of Lord Mahavira. An ancient Jain temple could also be here.

Jalmandir : Pawapuri,which is also known as Apapapuri, the sinless town, is a very sacred Jain pilgrimage. As per Jain Mythology and belief, Lord Mahavira, the greatest propounder of Jainism, attained Nirvana at Pawapuri. Hundred of thousands of his disciples and devotees took away the ashes after his cremation here. The rush was so great that even the soils of the area were taken away and it became a tank. Later on, a beautiful temple of white marble was constructed in the center of the tank to commemorate the Lord’s Nirvana. This temple is known as the Jalmandir.

Samosaran  : A beautiful temple honor the place where Lord Mahavira sat to teach his disciples. The temple is constructed of white marble, rising by low steps into several concentric terraces with a beehive shaped shrine on the top containing the footprints of Lord Mahavira.

Maniyar Math  : This monument occupies a prominent position inside the valley, situated on the way to the Son Bhandar Caves, almost in the center of the ancient inner city enclosure. Legend is that Srenika or Bimbisara had 32 wives to each of which he daily gave new ornaments, and threw the old ones into a well, which is still shown. This covers a modern small Jain temple as well.

Sone Bhandar : There are two rock-cut caves, adjacent to each other, excavated on the southern face of the Vaibhara hill, facing the western portion of the valley. Of them the western one is locally called as Son-Bhandar (Gold Treasury). As per Local belief, the piece of rock within this space is an ancient wedge blocking up the passage to the treasury of gold in the body of the hill. It consists of a rock-cut chamber and its front part has been fallen. Inside the southern wall of the cave there are six small figures of Jaina Tirthankaras carved in relief and representing Padmaprabha, Parshvanatha and Mahavira.

Nawada 
Gonava Jee : Gonava village is situated at around one kilometer north of Nawada on Patna-Ranchi road. This is a pilgrimage site for the Jains of both sects. The Digambar Jain temple is just by the side of main road while the Shwetambar Jain temple is behind it. . The temple is famous and known as place of Nirvana of Lord Mahavira’s 1st disciple, Gautam Gandharva.

Bhojpur 
Bisram : This place is in town called “Arrah” where there are another 45 Jain temples. Lord Mahavira, the 24th Jain Tirthankara, took rest here for some time during his wanderings, hence this place is called Bisram (rest). Jains from every part of the country visit Bisram throughout the year. There is a Jain temple here containing an idol of Lord Mahavira.

Masadh : This village is located at around 9-kms southwest of “Arrah” town. An ancient Jain temple dedicated to Parshwanath is situated here and contains eight images, some of them dates back to ancient time. The temple was completed in the year 1819 A.D. while some of the eight images date back to 1386 A.D. as per archaeological records.

Banka 
Mandar Hill : It is about around 48-kms south of the Bhagalpur town. The hill is about 700-ft high that consists of a huge mass of granite overgrown near the summit with low jungle. This hill is believed to be extremely sacred as per the Hindu mythology. The Skand Purana associates Mandar or Sumeru with the famous epic or Puranic story of the Amrita-Manthana or the churning of the ocean. The story goes that the Gods and the Demons (Devas and Asuras) with a view to secure amrita (the divine liquor), which is believed to confer immortality, used this Mandara or Sumeru Mountain as the churning stick or rod. The great mythical serpent, Vasuki, was used as the rope. Due to this mythical association, the hill had assumed considerable religious significance and had been a place of pilgrimage ever since. Two Jain temples are situated on the summit of the hill. Large number of Jain pilgrims comes here to worship Lord Vasupujyanatha.

Bhagalpur 
Champanagar : A western suburb of the Bhagalpur town is at present known as Champanagar. In the Kalpa-Sutra this is mentioned as one of the places where the last Tirthankara Mahavira stayed for three rainy seasons in the course of his religious wanderings. According to the prevalent Jain tradition it is believed that Jain Tirthankara Vasupujya was born at Champanagar or Champapuri. There are two Jain temples of considerable size, both entirely built at the expense of the family of Jagat Seth, a supporter. At the nearby hamlet of Kabirpur there is another Jain temple with the footprints or padukas (footwear) of the 24 Jain Tirthankaras with an inscription dated V.S. 1694 or 1637 A.D.

Jamui

Lachhaur : This is one of jain pilgrimage sites, situated about 8-kms west of Simaria and 7-kms south of Sikandra. It has s a large number of Jain temples and dharmshala built in 1874 by Rai Dhanpat Singh Bahadur of Murshidabad, for the benefit of Jain pilgrims, who visit some places in the adjacent hills. The nearest are about 5-kms of Lachhaur and are marked Muth Boodhroop and Muth Purusnath. These are two small shrines picturesquely situated in the valley between two parallel ranges of hills. In each of these shrines one can find a small statue of Mahavira, one of them dates back to Sambat 1505, and the other appears to be the older one. The temples themselves, however, are of recent date. Some Jains hold Lachhaur to be the birthplace of Mahavir Swami.

Kundghat : It is around 6-kms from Lachhaur. There is a temple of Kundeshwari Devi, which is considered sacred by the Jains

Helpline Numbers

Railways have released Helplines numbers for getting updates on the train accident at various places.

Patna 0612-2213234

Bhagalpur  0641-2303410

Rangia: 03621- 244353 

New Bongaigaon: 09957554456

Location of Accident

Karanpura railway station  which is about 25 km from Sahibganj in Jharkhand. It comes under Malda Railway Division.

Reason of Accident

The accident occurred at 5.50 AM when the train was on its way to New Delhi from Dibrugarh. Brahmaputra Mail was passing through Karonpuroto when a stationary goods train parked on the main line started rolling back. So while it was rolling back, it hit the Brahmaputra Mail.One Sleeper bogie of the Brahmaputra Mail got derailed

Relief Operations

Relief train has reached the accident site and a special train from Howrah station has also left for the accident site. All the injured have been shifted to the hospital

Compensation to Victims

Railways has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each for those killed and Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured. Passengers, who have received simple injuries, will get a compensation of Rs 10,000.

In the second stage of the project, search promotion and protection of Vikramshila heritage would be materialized. This would also facilitate the research and development activities.
Out of 208 dorm rooms of the Vikramshila known only 62 have been discovered yet. The task is to explore the rest of the rooms.

Founded in the eighth century by Pal dynasty rulers Vikramshila was an international center of learning grammar, logic, pharmacy, human anatomy, metallurgy, painting, etc. It was one of the two most important centers of Buddhist learning in India during the Pala dynasty, along with Nālandā University. Bakhtiyar Khilji destroyed the Mahavihara after attacking in the 12th century

As per a report published in a leading Hindi Daily from Bihar, these cities would be provided with
1. Smooth Road Connectivity
2. 24 hours Power
3. Multi- Speciality Hospitals
4. Shopping Complexes
5. Industrial Areas
6. Integrated Office Spaces.
7. Proper Sewarage System

Presently Patna is the only city in Bihar where all these facilities are fully available. Incidentally, Bihar is the only state in Eastern region where no city other than the capital city is fully developed.
The Government has planned to make Patna a metropolitan/mega city while other cities would be semi-metropolies. Patna has been granted metropolitan status 2 years back. In June 2009, the World Bank ranked Patna as second place in India, after Delhi, in terms of the ease of starting a business. It has also been ranked 21st fastest growing city in the World and 5th in India

“We a request the people to be cautious and report anything suspicious to the nearest police station immediately,” Patna DIG, Vineet Vinayak said.

Government has also made a dedicated team of Women Police Personnel to deal with eve-teasing and other such women-harassing activities.
Any incidents of Eve-Teasing can be reported to 9470001390 .

Three companies of plain clothed force, with each company having 200 personnel, will keep an eye on eve-teasers. Another helpline number 9470001389 can also be used for the purpose.

Additionally, steps have also been taken to prevent chain snatching. Patna police will deploy 50 police bikers.

The Patna police have also requisitioned Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel for deployment at sensitive places. “There are quite a few sensitive areas in the city. We will deploy RAF personnel at all such places,” the senior cop said. Apart from security, all Organizing Committees have been issues guidelines under which No loudspeaker should be played after 10pm.

Ambulances on demand has been made at all prominent pandals and strategic locations and hospitals, mainly PMCH, have been kept on alert.Firefighters have also been asked to remain ready to control any cuch incident. Anti-riot vehicle, Vajra, will also be kept ready.

Bhagalpur and its surroundings have the potential for maximum tourism and could easily be developed into a tourist spot. According per them, the excavated site of Vikramshila Mahavihar should be attached with Buddha circuit. Champapuri and Mandar, which have religious significance with Jainism, should be attached with the Jain circuit
If Bhagalpur is developed as a tourist hub, the ancient silk city would definitely get a facelift.

Additionally, several small land units at Purnia, Bhagalpur,Katihar and Forbesganj shall be allotted to setup units related to food processing, print media, poultry feed, textile, detergent powder etc.A total of 10.82 acres of land shall be allotted .

These industrial units would invest Rs 41.35 crore, which would create job opportunities for hundreds of people.