Tourist Palces in Darbhanga

                                                                   
Palaces are the most important attractions in Darbhanga.Just a kilometre from the bus and train terminals,most of the palaces are located inside a walled campus.There are plenty of temples dedicated to Kali and Durga, built by erstwhile kings of Darbhanga. Major temples include Shyama Kali temple and Kankali temple, the latter being the family deity of the Khandavala dynasty.

Several temples were constructed by Raj Darbhanga at the site where the Maharajas of Darbhanga were cremated. An interesting fact of these temples was that till the decade of 1980s, jackals use to come to the complex every evening and were offered food by the priests of the temples. However, due to rapid urbanisation of Darbhanga town, especially in areas around these temples, the jackals do not come to the complex any longer.

The Madheshwar temple and laxmeshwari Tara Mandir are among the compulsory pilgrim stops in the city, as also the Ram Sita Mandir, built by Maharaja Chhatra Singh Bahadur in 1817, at Ahiari village outside Darbhanga.

Darbhanga has several palaces built during the Darbhanga Raj. Darbhanga town was reconstructed on modern lines in 1881 with wide, tree-lined roads with spacious bungalows alongside. The town ship was rebuilt after the devastation of the 1934 earthquake.

Laxmeshwar Vilas Palace

Also known as Anandbag Palace, this palace was severely damaged in 1934 earthquake. It was rebuilt. The interiors of its elegant durbar hall is modelled on the interiors of Louis XVI's Palace in Versailles. This palace was donated to Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit University. The durbar hall is now the Senate hall of Sanskrit University.

Nargauna Palace

Nargauna Palace, the residential quarters of the last Maharaja,was constructed after the earthquake of 1934. The building was built using the best technology for prevention of damages resulting from earthquakes. It now houses L N Mithila University.

Rambag Palace

It is situated inside Darbhanga's own 'Red fort' and is the oldest palace in Darbhanga. A modern hotel has now come up on the fort premises.

Bela Palace

Built for Raja Bisheshwar Singh (Raja Bahadur), younger brother of Maharaja Kameshwar Singh, it is the best preserved palace. It was taken over by the Government of India and now a Postal Training College is situated in the palace.

Dilkhush Bag

It is situated inside the Darbhanga Fort. It is one of the two palaces inside the fort. It is almost in ruins now.

Moti Mahal

Moti Mahal was destroyed in the earthquake of 1934. It was not rebuilt. Only one room of Moti Mahal exists today

The European Guest House

A palatial structure on the Raj campus, it now houses the Makhana Research Institute. Mahatma Gandhi stayed here during his visits to Darbhanga.

The Raj secretariat, another impressive building on the campus, now houses the office of L N Mithila University. The ruins of the palace complex at Rajnagar in Madhubani district is another place worth a visit. On way to Rajnagar, one can also view the palace at Bhouara on the outskirts of Madhubani.

Darbhanga Bihar

 The history of Darbhanga dates back to the Ramayana and Mahabharata periods. According to the Vedic sources, the Videhas of Aryan stock first migrated to the area from the banks of Saraswati in Punjab. They were guided to the east of Sadanira (Gandak river) by Agni, the God of Fire. Settlements were established and, thus, flourished the kingdom of Videhas-the Selfless. In course of time Videhas came to be ruled by a line of kings called Janaks. In this line of kings there was a very famous king named Mithi. To commemorate his greatness the territory was named as MITHILA. Another famous king was Janak Sirdhwaja, father of Sita. The legends speak of various learned men patronized by Janak Sirdhwaja, who himself was an erudite scholar. Among them prominent were Yagyavalkya, who codified the Hindu law in his Yagyavalkya Smriti and Gautam, who had various valuable philosophical treatises to his credit. King Janak was himself a great philosopher and his ideas have been eternally enshrined in the Upanishads.

Traditions also speak of Kapil Muni's relationship with this area that propounded the Sankhya philosophy. Association of this area with Pandavas is also evident by the belief that they stayed here during their period of exile.

The learned men like Vidyapati, Kumaril Bhatt, Mandan Mishra, Nagarjun, Vibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhya and Vidushi Bhariti belonged to this reason.

The name of the district has been derived from its head quarter and principal town, which is said to have been founded by Darbhangi Khan. It is also said that the name Darbhanga was derived from Dwar-Banga or Dar-e-Bang meaning "THE GATEWAY TO BENGAL".

Darbhanga is one of the important districts of North Bihar situated in the very heart of Mithilanchal - the fertile, alluvial plains of North India. Under the British rule, Darbhanga was a part of Sarkar Tirhut upto 1875, when it was constituted into a separate district. The sub-divisions of the then district Darbhanga were created as earlier as Darbhanga Sadar in 1845, Madhubani in 1846 and Samastipur in 1867. Darbhanga was part of Patna Division till 1908, when the separate Tirhut Division was carved out. Darbhanga became the Divisional headquarters in 1972 when all its three sub-divisions got the status of separate districts. Thus the present Darbhanga district took shape.