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Jamalpur is a small town located in district Munger of Bihar(India),with a population of about 1.5 lakhs. It is located on the banks of Ganga, which flows through Munger, 9 kms from it . It is 466 km from Calcutta, 170 km from Patna and 1170 km from Delhi.

Railways and Jamalpur
The railways have been an integral part of Jamalpur's life and almost every Jamalpurian has got something to do with it . This small, non-descript town is home to Asia's first and largest railway workshop; strategically located as it was ,on the first railway line linking the summer capital of Shimla to the winter capital of Calcutta. Railway fundas abound- Magadh Vikramshila exp. & HWH-JMP (optimistically called Super) are choked much beyond capacity on Friday afternoons. An un-mistakable bridge divides the proletariat Railway colony portion from the rest of plebian JMP.

The Raj legacy
Jamalpur is a place where the legacy of the RAJ still lives on, albeit in a more moderate form. Roads still bear names like Albert road, Warwickshire road, golf marg, club road; bearers of the officers club wear white and red turbans. Wednesdays & Saturdays are still tie days'.
The grave of the British officer who was killed while fighting a tiger in (what is now) the Golf course is symbolic of the days that used to be - adventure, elitism, royalty, power, domination.

Places
For all that, however, Jamalpur (Jamal ..in urdu means beautiful) is an incredibly beautiful place - hills, lakes, water falls -all add to it's picturesque beauty.
Famous throughout India is the 'Sholay tunnel' , a tunnel where , you guessed it, a scene in the megabuster SHOLAY was shot . Immortal also are actor Sanjeev Kumar's words- "jab main Jamalpur main inspector tha...".

Dialect
Talking of words, the lingua Franca of the place is a dialect of Magadhi , quite similar to the elusive Bihari dialect.

Entertainment
Sports is an integral part of Jamalpur's agenda - club's like 11star, ,5-star,little-Tendulkars abound. Football is the most popular sport, followed by cricket. Jamalpur's doorway to Bolly &Hollywood are the two cinema halls -Awantika & NI ( the national institute) , which normally screen movies which are (at least)a year old. Tickets are moderately priced, those for balcony are available at Rs. 3 apiece, with black marketeers having a field day at Rs 5.50.

YOGA
From entertainment to inner harmony, Jamalpur's very much there - Munger has the WORLD'S first yoga university called the BIHAR SCHOOL OF YOGA , which has contributed to making yoga a part of many lives.

The bottomline is that despite all it's smallness , Jamalpur, because of our sheer sentimental attachment to Gymkhana, will always occupy a BIG place in our hearts.

For more on Tourism in Jamalpur,click here