A college campus in the heart of Ara town, Bhojpur district, Bihar, whose grounds hold Ara House, a national monument of the 1857 rising.
Maharaja Bahadur Ram Ran Vijay Prasad Singh College, known as Maharaja College, was established on 13 September 1954 to meet the growing need for higher education in what was then Shahabad district. It is one of the oldest co-educational institutions in south west Bihar and stands in the heart of Ara town, south of Ramna Maidan, in Bhojpur district. The college was named after the philanthropist and Maharaja of Dumraon Estate, Maharaja Bahadur Ram Ran Vijay Prasad Singh, and founded by his son, Maharaja Shri Kamal Singh Ji, on 25 bighas of land historically known as Judge Saheb Ki Kothi. It became a constituent unit of Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, on 1 February 1976, and passed to Veer Kunwar Singh University when Magadh University was bifurcated in October 1992 with headquarters at Ara.
The premises are an important historical site in their own right. Ara House, inside the campus, is a national monument linked to the bravery of the first war of Indian independence, and has long served as the Veer Kunwar Singh Museum, reshaped under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India. A tunnel is believed to have linked Ara House with the Jagdishpur fort of Babu Kunwar Singh Ji, and another between Ara House and Judge Saheb Ki Kothi. The historical well that formed the tunnel entry point can still be seen. It was the bravery and sacrifice of Veer Kunwar Singh that saw this janpad declared independent of British rule on 23 April 1858, and the Bihar government marks 23 April each year as Vijayotsav, Victory Day. Discovery Channel has made a short documentary film on the site.
A national monument within the campus, tied to the first war of Indian independence. It has long served as the Veer Kunwar Singh Museum and was given new shape under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India. It is the main reason non students visit the grounds.
The well in the grounds is the entry point of a tunnel believed to run to the Jagdishpur fort of Babu Kunwar Singh. A second tunnel is believed to connect Ara House with Judge Saheb Ki Kothi. The well can still be observed today.
Ara is a town of historical and cultural importance; General Cunningham considered it Aramnagar, a name preserved in a modern Jain inscription at Masar and meaning the city of repose, or monastery city. Jains now have as many as 50 shrines in the town, the highest number in any single city in India.
This is a functioning college, not a ticketed attraction, so a visit needs a little courtesy and some advance checking.
Term time gives the campus its character but also its crowds and restrictions, so a weekday morning outside examination periods is usually the easiest. If the commemoration matters to you, 23 April is marked every year across Bihar as Vijayotsav for the declaration of this janpad's independence in 1858.
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