Kursela is a village situated in the bank of Trimohini Sangam, which is the confluence of the river

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and Kosi . It is the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

financial centre of

Katihar district Katihar district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in India, and Katihar city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of Purnia Division. It is prominently known for its Katihar Junction Rail ...

. As per the Indian government population census of 2011, Kursela was reported to have

city proper A city proper is the geographical area contained within city limits. The term ''proper'' is not exclusive to cities; it can describe the geographical area within the boundaries of any given locality. The United Nations defines the term as "the si ...

population of 63,928. Being a major wheat and maize producing village, around 40% of its production is transported to neighbouring districts. Kursela is also famous for its grand

Chhath Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, more specifically, the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal, Jharkhand, and the Nepalese provinces of Madhesh and Lumbini. Prayers during Chhath ...

celebration at the bank of river Kosi and

. Kursela consist of majorly 10 villages: Gobrahi Diara, Balthi, Basuhar, Debipur Kathi, Dhobinia Milik Dakhinwari, Gobrahi Diara, Tingharia, Shahpur Dharmi Milik, Muradpur, Madhaili and Jarlahi. 45.99% population of Kursela subdivision is literate, out of which 52.83% males and 38.44% females are literate. There are about 12,533 houses in the sub-district.

Geography

It is located at an elevation of 25 m above MSL. http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/34/Kursela.html Map and weather of Kursela Located at the north-east part of Bihar, it is surrounded by river

and

Kosi River The Kosi or Koshi ( ne, कोशी, , hi, कोसी, ) is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal and India. It drains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal. From a major confluence o ...

. Kursela consist of three major region - Ayodhyaganj Bazar (located between Kursela Railway Station and NH 31), Teenghariya (at the bank of

and Kursela Basti (at the bank of

). The total area of Kursela is 156 km². Population density is 410/km².

Location

Kursela is 4 miles (6 km) north of the Bateshwar hills. National Highway 31 passes through Kursela. It is a station on the Barauni-Katihar section of

East central Railway The East Central Railway (abbreviated ECR) is one of the 19 Zones and divisions of Indian Railways, railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Hajipur and comprises Sonpur railway division, Sonpur, Samastipur railway division, Samastipur, ...

Origin of name and Mythological History

Kursela is a variant of ''Kuru-Shila'', which translates as the hilly part of the region which once belonged to the king Kuru, the descendants of whom were called

Kaurava ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his wif ...

s and, in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

, waged a war with the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...

, their cousins.

History

Kursela was a

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

i under

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. R. B. Raghubansh Prasad Singh. He was a great philanthropist, and administrator. The Singhs were the largest land donor in

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...

Bhoodan movement The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

, wherein he donated of land. He sponsored the opening of two schools and a hospital in Kursela. He also donated many houses and land to the congress party including the "Kala Bhavan" in Purnea. Kursela is famous for it integrity among various religion

References

External links

About Kursela

Satellite map of Kursela
ategory:Cities and towns in Katihar district

{{Bihar-geo-stub