The Lilājan River (also known by its Sanskrit name: Nirañjanā) is a river that flows through the
Chatra and
Gaya district
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Gaya district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the Indian state of Bihar. It was officially established on 3 October 1865. The district has a common boundary with the state of Jharkhand to the south. Gaya city is both the district hea ...
s in the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
n
states of
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...
and
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
. It is also referred to as the Nilanjan, Niranjana or Falgu River.
Course
The Lilājan begins its journey north of
Simaria in
Chatra district on the
Hazaribagh plateau, the western portion of which constitutes a broad watershed
between the
Damodar drainage on the south and the Lilājan and
Mohana
Mohana is a town and community development block in the Gajapati district of Odisha state in India. The town comes under the administrative control of Mohana Police station.
The town had a population of 5,197 in 2011 census and 4,759 in the ...
rivers on the north. It flows through a deep and rocky channel until it reaches the neighbourhood of Jori. There the hills begin to recede and the stream flows sluggishly over a wide sandy bed. From this point to the
Gaya border beyond
Hunterganj
Hunterganj (''Shaligram Ramnarayapur''), is a historic town in the Chatra subdivision of the Chatra district, Jharkhand, India.
Etymology
The town is now named after Shaligram Singh and Ram Narayan Singh, two eminent freedom fighters of Chatra ...
the river becomes sandy. It is dry in summer but disastrous during the rains. About south of
Gaya it unites with the
Mohana River to form the
Falgu River.
Bichkiliya waterfalls
The water falls into a ''dah'' or natural reservoir in the Lilājan River. It is west of
Chatra – about half the distance is motorable, while the rest is only able to be traversed on foot.
Buddhism
Before attaining Enlightenment, the prince
Siddhārtha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
practiced asceticism for six years (ten or twelve years according to some accounts) on the banks of the river, residing in a forest near the village of
Uruvilvā. After realizing that strict asceticism would not lead to Enlightenment, he recuperated after bathing in the river and receiving a bowl of
milk-rice from the milkmaid
Sujātā.
He sat under the nearby
pippala tree
''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree, ...
, where he finally achieved Enlightenment. This tree became known as the
Bodhi Tree, and the site became known as
Bodh Gayā.
References
External links
View of the river
{{Rivers in Bihar
Rivers of Jharkhand
Rivers of Bihar
Rivers in Buddhism
Rivers of India