Purnia Knowledge Guide
History
Purnia is part of the Mithila region. Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Mithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas). During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Videha became one of the major political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Videha Kingdom were called Janakas. The Videha Kingdom was later incorporated into the Vajji confederacy, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.
Transportation
Air
Purnea Airport, also known as Chunapur Airport (Airforce Station), is located within the cantonment area but is restricted to army usage only. Proposals for the airport to operate scheduled flights are being widely discussed at the level of the state government. Recently Spirit Air has tried to start flights from Purnia to Patna. The nearest commercial airport, Bagdogra Airport, is about 150 km away at Bagdogra in Darjeeling district. Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport (Patna Airport) is located in Patna, capital of Bihar, at a distance of 310 km from Purnia. Plans exist for a new civilian airport located in Purnia.
Rail
Purnia is served by two railway stations separated by 5 km, Purnia Junction (Station Code: PRNA) and Purnia Court (Station Code: PRNC). Purnia Junction is closer to the residents of Khuskibagh, Gulabbagh, and Eastern Purnia, while Purnia Court Railway Station is in the western part of the city and caters to the residents of Madhubani, Janta Chowk, and Central and Western Purnia. Purnia Junction is situated on Barauni-Katihar, Saharsa and Purnia sections of the North East Frontier Railway (NFR) and East Central Railway zone that connects Purnia to Katihar, Jogbani, Saharsa and Barauni. There are daily and weekly trains to Kolkata, Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Muzaffarpur, Motihari, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur , Gaya and other nearby cities.
Road
National Highways namely NH 31, NH 27, NH 231, NH 131A make Purnia accessible to the people from nearby cities & states while state highways connect the other neighbouring cities and villages to the main city area.The newly constructed NH 27 directly connects Purnia to some important towns and cities of North Bihar namely Darbhanga & Muzaffarpur. It takes nearly 5 hours to reach Muzaffarpur through this Expressway. This expressway which also traverses through the newly built Kosi Mahasetu bridge ends at Muzaffarpur to continue further for Patna. It has turned out to be an alternate route for Patna & has helped in decongesting the ever busy and traffic-prone NH31. NH 31 traverse the main city and terminate Gulab bagh at NH 27 in the east and Patna to the west via Mokama, Khagaria & Begusarai. The east-west corridor connecting Silchar, Assam to Gujarat passes through Purnia in the form of NH 27. It is a modern four-lane highway constructed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). State Highways 60, 62, 65, 77 & 90 also pass through Purnia. NH 31 and NH 27 are four-lane expressways and are a strength to the intercity transportation services. There are numerous buses which run for Patna, Bhagalpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Muzaffarpur, Katihar & Siliguri on a daily basis. There is also a daily scheduled bus for Kolkata and New Delhi. Several transportation companies which in collaboration with the state government's BSRTC in the year 2011 launched luxurious Mercedes-Benz and Volvo buses connecting Purnia to Patna on a daily basis.
Intra-city transport
A large number of cycle-rickshaws, Nearly 40,000 auto-rickshaws and city buses serve the city.