Chhapra - Bhojpuri Heritage

Bhojpuri Heritage

Bhojpuri is a common language in states of Maharaja Bhoj, especially in Bhojpur District (headquartered in Arrah) and the surrounding area. It has its own script known as Kaithi because Kayastha were responsible for literacy. Today, this Kaithi script is limited to older Kayastha people or their relatives. These days, Bhojpuri is a common language in 26 districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, spoken by 30,000,000 people worldwide.

Bhojpuri singers have been very famous, such as Santraj Singh "Ragesh", Sriniwas Sinha "Bhushan", Sharda Sinha, Bireshwar Singh, Janardan Dubey, Baidh Nath Prasad, Bairister Giri, Sant Kumar Singh and Tripathi Prashuram Shashtri. Mahendra Misir, the pioneer of "Purvi" (a style of Bhojpuri folk song), was also from Saran.

Bollywood actors make Bhojpuri films, including Prakash Jha, Vijay Khare and Ashutosh Khare.

Bhojpuri magazine publishers include Dr. Anil Kumar Pandey (former I.G. Railway) and Dr. Lal Babu Tiwari. Amiya Bhushan is a Bhojpuri poet and scholar. The famous Bhojpuri poet Bhikhari Thakur (often referred to as the "Shakespeare of Bhojpuri") came from Saran.

Chapra Ara and Ballia are often colloquially referred to as the "ABC" region of Bhojpuri. Indentured laborers of this region have taken Bhojpuri across the Indian border to Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad & Tobago, Surinam and Guyana. Bhojpuri is the only language from India spoken in Fiji, Surinam, Mauritius, Guyana and Trinidad.