Jamalpur is a city in the Indian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. It is situated 9 km from the Munger city centre. Jamalpur is a part of Munger-Jamalpur

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

. It is main railhead for reaching Munger city. Jamalpur is best known for the Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop, which employs more than 25,000 people at its training institution, The Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Annual turnover is Rs. 10.56 billion with 111,485 employees. This is Asia's largest and oldest

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

railway workshop. The city was established in 1862 during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, with the Railways Institute forming its cultural hub.

Etymology

Jamalpur is named after 16th century

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

saint Jamal Baba, whose ''dargah'' (shrine) is still present at East Colony Hospital Road, Jamalpur.

History

The city was established in 1862 during the

, with the Railways Institute forming its cultural hub. The

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

site of "Kali Pahar," atop Jamalpur Hill, was the location of an important find of Early and Middle Stone Age quartzite implements.

Geography

Jamalpur is located at with an average elevation of . The suburb is a part of the Munger city. The city centre of Munger is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northwest of the Jamalpur area of Munger city. There is a road as well as a rail link, Munger Ganga Bridge, which was completed recently. Jamalpur is an overnight rail or road journey from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. The nearest airport is Munger Airport near the Safiyabad area of Munger city. The nearest commercial, domestic airport is Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

, away. The nearest international airport is Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in

, from Jamalpur on NH 33.

Demographics

, Jamalpur had a population of 399,697, with a ratio of 880 females for every 1,000 males. The average literacy rate is 87.38%; for men it is 92.58%, and for women it is 81.40%. There are 15,543 children in Jamalpur aged 0 to 6, with a ratio of 876 girls for every 1,000 boys.

Industry and culture

Locomotive workshop

The Jamalpur Locomotive Workshop was the first full-fledged railway workshop facility in India, founded on by the

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

. The Jamalpur site was chosen for its proximity both to the Sahibganj loop, which was the main trunk route at the time and to the communities of gunsmiths and other mechanical craftsmen in

. The workshop was initially for repairing locomotives and assembling new ones from salvaged parts. By the early 20th century, however, it had progressed to producing its own locomotives. It produced the first one, ''CA 764 "Lady Curzon"'', in 1899. In 1893, it became the site of the first railway

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

in India. It also had a workshop for repairing and building boilers. Today it has foundry,

metallurgical Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

lab facilities, and machine tool facilities. Its rolling mill and nut and bolt shop ceased operation in 1984. The school attached to the workshop eventually became the Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE).

Ananda Marga

The

Ananda Marga Ānanda Mārga (, Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages, also spelled Anand Marg and Ananda Marg), or officially Ānanda Mārga Pracāraka Saṃgha (organization for the propagation of the path of bliss), is a world-wide socio-spiritual orga ...

movement was founded in Jamalpur by native

Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (21 May 1921 – 21 October 1990), also known by his spiritual name Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (Ánanda Múrti meaning "Bliss Embodiment"), and known as Bábá ("Father") to his disciples, was a spiritual guru, philos ...

in 1955.

Places of interest

*JSA Stadium, a football stadium *The Jamalpur Gymkhana, the hostel and club used by the Special Class Railway Apprentices *The Jamalpur Golf Course, the site of the annual ITC Golf Tournament *Kali Pahadi, a mountain and picnic spot featuring a temple to the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

goddess

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

*Panchmukhi hanuman mandir, badidariyapur jamalpur *Jogi asthan durga mandir, rampur basti jamalpur *Tunnel near nayagaon, jamalpur *Baptist Church, albert road, nayagaon, jamalpur *St. Joseph Catholic church, east colony, jamalpur *St. Mary's church, golf road, jamalpur *Gandhi library, Daulatpur, munger road *Yog maya badi durga devi mandir, Shani Dev Mandir, Sadar Bazar, Jamalpur *Historical Jamalpur workshop *Jamalpur filter water works at the top of kali pahadi

Education

Colleges

* J. R. S. College * Jamalpur College * Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering * Bihar Institute of Management & technology * Eastern railway inter College, Jamalpur * Manju Srijan Private ITI * Techno India NJR Institute of technology

Schools

* Eastern Railway Mixed Primary School: used to be called "European & Anglo Indian Day School" established more than a century before in 1915. * Notre Dame Academy, Jamalpur: The first Notre Dame school in India, founded in 1950. Notre Dame Academy is a type of International Catholic Institution managed by the Patna Notre Dame Sisters' Society. * D.A.V. Public School, Jamalpur is located in Nayatola Keshopur Jamalpur. One of the Top School in Bihar State. This is to +2 Level. It is Arya Samaj society and managing committee of DAV CMC New Delhi. Affiliated to CBSE board. * Eastern Railway Inter College: A high school for railway employees' children, and one of the oldest high schools in the city. *

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of Government of India, central government schools in India. Governed by the Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,257 schools in India, ...

, Jamalpur: a CBSE-affiliated

set up in 1973 with the sponsorship of the Eastern Railway. * Parvati Devi High School, Daulatpur, Jamalpur * St Michael school jamalpur * Holy family English medium School, Jamalpur, Munger * St. Roberts School, Jamalpur * St. Michael High School, Jamalpur * Collins International School, Jamalpur * Primary School Jagdishpur, Jamalpur * Path Bhawan, Jamalpur * Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Jamalpur * NC Ghosh Girl's high School, Jamalpur * St. Columbus high School, Jamalpur * Shri Shastri School, JAMALPUR is located in mungroura chowk Jamalpur. One of the Top school in munger set up in 1974 (CBSE CURRICULUM) * St. Mary School, Jamalpur * Railway Pilot School, Jamalpur * ATP School, Jamalpur * Vidya Jyoti Public School, Jamalpur * Daulatpur School, Jamalpur * Rampur Primary School, Jamalpur * Arya Samaj Girls School, Jamalpur * Central School, Jamalpur * Potential Kids primary School, Jamalpur * Achchu Ram School, Jamalpur * National Glory Academy, Jamalpur * Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Jamalpur * Sai Academy, Jamalpur * St. Xavier School, Jamalpur * Little Genius Kids School, Jamalpur * Nirmala Residential School, Jamalpur * Goodluck Kid's Play School, Jamalpur

References

External links

History of Jamalpur Locomotive Works

Jamalpur Municipality

Blog on Jamalpur
{{Munger Division Cities and towns in Munger district