Begusarai

Begusarai is a city in the Indian state of Bihar and the administrative headquarters of Begusarai district, which lies on the northern bank of the Ganges in the Mithila region. The English Wikipedia article describes the Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary, a wetland of about 63 square kilometres that became a sanctuary in 1989, shelters migrating birds and has been declared a Ramsar Site. It calls the city the cultural capital of Mithila, known for its folk culture and local festivals, and gives two theories for the name, either Begu, a caretaker of the old marketplace or sarai, or a Begum and her inn. The 2011 census counted 251,136 residents in the Begusarai Municipal Corporation, of whom 89 percent were Hindu, and the average elevation is 41 metres.