Itkhori is a village and gram panchayat in the Itkhori

CD block In India, a Community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of Tehsil, administratively earmarked for planning and development. The area is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), supported by several technic ...

in the Chatra subdivision of the Chatra district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.

Geography

Location

Itkhori is located at . It is 35 km from Chatra and 16 km from Chauparan on National Highway 19 (old number NH2/ Grand Trunk Road).

Area overview

The map alongside shows that the forests (mark the light shading), covering around 60% of Chatra district, are evenly spread across the district. It is a plateau area with an elevation of about above mean sea level. Efforts are on to get the first unit of the NTPC Limited’s North Karanpura Thermal Power Station (3x660 MW), ready in 2021. North Karanpura Coalfield of Central Coalfields Limited, spread over in the southern part of the district, with spill over to neighbouring districts, and having coal reserves of 14 billion tonnes is among the biggest in India. The map provides links to three CCL operational areas. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the district. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics

According to the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Itkhori (location code 349000) had a total population of 7,121, of which 3,568 (50%) were males and 3,553 (50%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 1,141. The total number of literate persons in Itkhori was 4,742 (79.30% of the population over 6 years).

Civic administration

Police station

Itkhori police station serves Itkhori CD block.

CD block HQ

Headquarters of Itkhori CD block is at Itkhori village.

Education

Bhadrakali College was established at Itkhori in 1979. Affiliated with the Vinoba Bhave University it offers courses in arts, science and commerce streams.

Culture

Gautama Buddha once stayed here for some time. His maternal aunt failed to disturb him in his meditation. She left the place with the comment "Iti khoi" which in Pali means "I lost him here". Later, the place came to be known as Itkhori. There are various Buddhist relics at Itkhori dating from 200 BC to 1200 AD. There is a ‘stupa’ like structure with 104 Bodhisattvas and four principal Buddhas sculpted on each side. Buddhist and Jain monks from different countries visit Itkhori round the year. Itkhori has the footprint of the 10th Jain tirthankara, Shitalanatha. Plans are afoot for a Jain temple at Itkhori. The Ma Bhadrakali temple, built in the 9th century, has several ancient deities that includes the Hindu deity Bhadrakali and the Buddhist deity Tara. Itkhori Mahotsav is organised annually in February. It is believed that Gautama Sidhartha travelled from Itkhori to

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, ...

where he attained enlightenment. Numerous Buddhist and Hindu sculptures have been unearthed at a village called Bihari, near Itkhori. It is also near Kauleshwari Temple. Many other sculptures have been found while digging wells etc. in the region. There are some valuable sculptures in the Bhadrakali Mandir Museum.

References

{{Chatra District Villages in Chatra district