Godda
Godda is a town with a municipality in the Godda subdivision of the Godda district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the headquarter of the Godda district. History. As a consequence of the Santhal rebellion of 1845-55 the district of Santhal Paragna was created from portions of Bhagalpur and Birbhum. Godda was a part of undivided Santhal Pargana district until 1981 census. Later, the old Godda sub-division of Santhal Pargana was separated and formed as a new district. The district of Godda was created on 17 May 1983 out of old Santhal Pargana district which  was upgraded to the level of division. Godda(M), the only one town of the district, is the headquarters of Godda district, Godda subdivision and Godda block. Geography. Location. Godda is located at . It has an average elevation of 77 metres (252 feet). Godda came into existence as the 55th district of undivided Bihar on 25 May 1983. After the bifurcation of Bihar into Jharkhand state on 15 November 2000, it was one of 18 districts of Jharkhand. National Highway 133 (NH-133) passes through the city of Godda. Overview. The map shows a hilly area with the Rajmahal hills running from  the bank of the Ganges in the extreme north to south, beyond the area covered by the map into Dumka district. ‘Farakka’ is marked on the map and that is where Farakka Barrage is, just inside West Bengal. Rajmahal coalfield is shown in the map. The entire area is overwhelmingly rural with only small pockets of urbanisation. Demographics. Population. According to the 2011 Census of India, Godda had a total population of 48,480, of which 25,707 (53%) were males and 22,773 (47%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 6,745. The total number of literate persons in  Godda was 4,1735 (84.30% of the population over 6 years). Infrastructure. According to the "District Census Handbook 2011, Godda", Godda covered an area of 8.59 km. Panjwara Road railway station on the Dumka-Bhagalpur line is 20 km away. Among the civic amenities, it had 17.1 km roads with open drains, the protected water supply involved hand pump, uncovered well. It had 7,319 domestic electric connections, 350 road light points. Among the medical facilities, it had 4 hospitals, 3 dispensaries, 3 health centres, 1 family welfare centre, 1 maternity and child welfare centre, 1 maternity home, 1 TB hospital/ clinic , 1 nursing home, 4 charitable hospital/ nursing homes, 1 veterinary hospital, 12 medicine shops. Among the educational facilities it had 34 primary schools, 25 middle schools, 6 secondary schools, 5 senior secondary schools, 2 general degree colleges, 1 non-formal education centre (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan). Among the social, cultural and recreational facilities, it had 1 orphanage home, 1 stadium, 1 cinema/ theatre, 1 auditorium/ community hall, 1 public library, 1 reading room. Two important commodities it produced were pattal (leaf plates), furniture. It had the branch offices of 12 nationalised banks, 2 private commercial banks, 1 cooperative bank. Economy. Agriculture  is predominant in the region and rice, wheat and maize are the main crops grown here, along with vegetables, linseeds and sugarcane. Fruits like mango, banana, jack fruit, plum grown in the region. Some small & middle scale industries are also present in Godda. Godda saw industrialization in recent times and many major industrial projects came here. Jindal Steel & Powers at Tesubathan (Sunderpahari) came here with 1320 MW capacity of thermal power plant. Adani Power or Adani Godda is establishing its 1600 MW thermal power plant at Godda and it will become India's first power sector Special Economic Zone. Rajmahal  Coal Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Groups operates the mine of Eastern Coalfields at Mahagama. Lalmatia Colliery of ECL is one of the oldest and biggest mining projects in India. Easten Coalfields also operates mines at Sunderpahari and Boarijore blocks of Godda. Connectivity. Godda is well connected with road and rail link. The Godda railway station is situated around 4km from city center. Humsafar express was the first train depart from the Godda railway station on 8 April 2021. This weekly train will connect Godda to New Delhi via Bhagalpur and Gaya. The national highway NH-133 pass  through Godda. Places of Interest.  Yogani Shaktipeeth at Pathargama is one of the Shakti Peetha of Shaktism tradition in India. Here the thighs of Sati fallen when she died and Shiva carried her body while tandava. Basantrai, the place was named after Raja Basant Rai, the ruler of the region and there a big tank was built by him. It is known for miraculous powers and according to legend, no one has ever been able to cross the tank from one end to another. Fairs are always organised at its bank for 15 days beginning from Chaita Sankranti festival i.e.  14 April. Sunder Dam is the biggest irrigation project constructed on Sundar river near Rajabhitha village (Pathargama) and this is a beautiful picnic spot for the tourist. Biodiversity Park Godda is a newly built park here and consists of various herbs and trees. It is a new point of attraction among local peoples and shooting for Santhali songs.