Darbhanga is thefifth largest city andmunicipal corporation in theIndian state ofBihar inIndia, and is considered an important city inNorth Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of theDarbhanga district and theDarbhanga division. Darbhanga is also referred to as thegateway to Bengal, because it is held that the name Darbhanga has been derived fromDwār Banga orDari – Banga, meaning the 'door ofBengal'.[7]
Darbhanga was the seat of the erstwhileKhandwala zamidaar dynasty under theMughals andBritish India. It is considered an important medical centre of North Bihar as it is the location of theDarbhanga Medical College and Hospital, and the secondAIIMS of Bihar i.eAIIMS Darbhanga is to be constructed here.[8][9][10][11] Darbhanga is the second city in the state of Bihar, whereSoftware Technology Park of India (STPI) has been established.[12] Similarly by the end of year 2029, it is expected that the city will be equipped with modern infrastructure of metro railway services called asDarbhanga Metro having 18.8 kilometres long metro line with 18 metro stations on it.[13][14] On 29 October 2025, theunion home ministerAmit Shah announced to build a grandMithila Cultural Museum in the city to preserve the legacy of cultural heritage of the Mithila region.[15]
Darbhanga is one of the oldest cities in India. Musical, folk art, and literary traditions inMaithili, Sanskrit,Urdu, and Hindi have passed down generations in Darbhanga and constitute the city's strong cultural background. It is popularly known as the "Cultural Capital of Bihar" and the "Heart ofMithila".[16]
The city was the capital of theDarbhanga Raj, anestate established in the16th century, containing theAnandbagh Palace. It was constituted as a municipality in 1864. Darbhanga is home to theKameshwara Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (established 1961), which is located on the grounds of the palace, and theLalit Narayan Mithila University (established 1972). Darbhanga has a museum housing archaeological materials, as well as historical and handicrafts exhibits.
Darbhanga has been a centre for music since the late 18th century and has produced multiple well-knowndhrupad (an ancient form of Indian classical music) musicians. A major rail and road junction, Darbhanga trades in agricultural produce, mangoes, and fish. In addition to food processing, the city has a light manufacturing industry.
Darbhanga is situated on a vast alluvial plain, with low-lying areas containing marshes and lakes. Grains, oilseeds, tobacco, sugarcane, and mangoes are important crops in the region.[17]
Under theBritish Raj, Darbhanga was a part of Sarkar Tirhut until 1875, when it was constituted into a separate district. Its subdivisions had been constituted earlier – Darbhanga Sadar in 1845, Madhubani in 1866, and Samastipur (then known as Tajpur) in 1867.The city of Darbhanga is said to have been founded by one Darbhangi Khan, about whom practically nothing is known. It is also held that the name Darbhanga is derived fromDwar Banga orDar-e-Banga, meaning the 'door of Bengal'. This etymology does not appear to be accurate as the division between Bengal and Bihar has always been held to be further to the east. Nonetheless, the region has a linguistic and cultural affinity with Bengal.[18]
Excavation atBalirajgarh revealed brick fortifications dating back to the 2nd century BC.[19]
Darbhanga is located in the northern part ofBihar. It lies between 25.53 degrees - 26.27 degrees N and 85.45 degrees - 86.25 degrees E at an average elevation of 171 feet (52 m). Darbhanga district covers an area of 2,279 sq km. Darbhanga is bounded byMadhubani district in the north,Samastipur district in the south,Saharsa district in the east, andSitamarhi district andMuzaffarpur district in the west. Being located in Mithilanchal, Darbhanga district has a vast fertile alluvial plain devoid of any hills. It has a gentle slope from north to south direction having a depression in the centre. Darbhanga experiences a humid subtropical climate. It experiences three main seasons which are winter, summer, and rainy seasons. May is the hottest month when the temperature reaches up to 43 °C. Darbhanga district receives an average of 1142.3 mm rainfall and almost 92% of the annual rainfall is received duringmonsoon.
Places adjacent to Darbhanga | |
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Darbhanga has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCwa).
| Climate data for Darbhanga (1991–2020, extremes 1901–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.6 (90.7) | 34.1 (93.4) | 40.6 (105.1) | 43.9 (111.0) | 44.1 (111.4) | 43.6 (110.5) | 39.3 (102.7) | 38.6 (101.5) | 38.6 (101.5) | 39.4 (102.9) | 34.6 (94.3) | 31.1 (88.0) | 44.1 (111.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23.5 (74.3) | 26.4 (79.5) | 30.7 (87.3) | 36.3 (97.3) | 37.6 (99.7) | 35.7 (96.3) | 33.9 (93.0) | 33.9 (93.0) | 33.1 (91.6) | 32.9 (91.2) | 30.3 (86.5) | 26.1 (79.0) | 31.7 (89.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.3 (45.1) | 10.2 (50.4) | 13.4 (56.1) | 17.2 (63.0) | 20.3 (68.5) | 22.7 (72.9) | 23.5 (74.3) | 22.8 (73.0) | 21.3 (70.3) | 18.9 (66.0) | 13.1 (55.6) | 8.2 (46.8) | 16.4 (61.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 0.0 (32.0) | 0.0 (32.0) | 4.1 (39.4) | 9.4 (48.9) | 10.6 (51.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.5 (56.3) | 14.0 (57.2) | 13.5 (56.3) | 10.0 (50.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 2.6 (36.7) | 0.0 (32.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 12.0 (0.47) | 12.5 (0.49) | 10.2 (0.40) | 25.2 (0.99) | 45.2 (1.78) | 164.6 (6.48) | 280.7 (11.05) | 247.5 (9.74) | 197.4 (7.77) | 25.4 (1.00) | 2.5 (0.10) | 3.3 (0.13) | 1,026.5 (40.41) |
| Average rainy days | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 6.8 | 11.0 | 10.4 | 8.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 45.3 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 68 | 63 | 49 | 56 | 60 | 70 | 78 | 79 | 79 | 73 | 66 | 67 | 67 |
| Source 1:India Meteorological Department[20][21] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (humidity 1971–1990)[22] | |||||||||||||
| Religion | Percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | 71.76% | |||
| Islam | 27.76% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.48% | |||
The2011 Census of India recorded Darbhanga as an Urban agglomeration with a population of 296,039 while the surrounding district has 3 million people.[24] It is the 5th largest city in Bihar in terms of the urban population.[25] The city has 196,573 males (52.6%) and 183,552 females (47.4%). Darbhanga has an average literacy rate of 79.40%, with male literacy at 85.08% and female literacy at 73.08%.[26] However, as per the document published on 6 March 2021 by the office of District Magistrate Darbhanga, the urban population of Darbhanga stands 380,125.[25]
Darbhanga Junction lies on theEast Central Railway. It is connected directly to all the major cities of India.Laheriasarai Railway Station is the second major station of Darbhanga and works as an important railway station for people living in south Darbhanga.
There are daily and weekly trains available forNew Delhi,Patna,Secunderabad,Kolkata,Varanasi,Ahmedabad,Lokmanya Tilak Terminus,Howrah,Amritsar,Pune and other major cities.
Darbhanga also has its own commercial airport which is connected with all the major cities of India.
Darbhanga Airport (IATA:DBR,ICAO:VE89) is acivil enclave at the Darbhanga Air Force Station of theIndian Air Force, 6 kilometres from Darbhanga City near the
NH 527B and
NH 27 East-West Corridor Expressway which passes through Darbhanga. The civil enclave is operated by theAirports Authority of India (AAI). The foundation stone for the project was laid by Chief MinisterNitish Kumar and then Civil Aviation MinisterSuresh Prabhu in the presence of state Civil Aviation MinisterJayant Sinha on 24 December 2018. After efforts taken by theMP of Darbhanga,Gopal Jee Thakur,[28][29] and the then Civil Aviation Minister,Hardeep Singh Puri. Commercial flights started on 8 November 2020.[30]
NH 27 which is part of India'sEast–West highway corridor passes through Darbhanga. Darbhanga is connected to other parts of India byNH 27,NH 527B andBihar State highways 50, 56, 88 and 75. Darbhanga is also connected toMuzaffarpur,Samastipur,Madhubani andSitamarhi.
TheEast-West Corridor expressway, which connectsPorbandar inGujarat toSilchar inAssam, passes through Darbhanga.
The Amas–Darbhanga Expressway
NH 119D is an approved 4/6-lane wide access-controlled expressway in India. Once completed, it will be the first expressway in the state of Bihar.NH 119D connects Amas village in Gaya district to Bela Nawada village in Darbhanga district.
Notable educational institutions include:
Darbhanga has various tourist attractions and is among the oldest cities ofBihar.
Tourist attractions include:
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