The new State Jharkhand formerly a part of Bihar state, was formed on November 15th, 2000 with Ranchi as its capital. Jharkhand is the 28th state of the Indian Union. The districts are Garwa, Palamu, Chatra, Koderma, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Deoghar, Dumka, Godda, Pakur, Sahibganj, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi, Lohardagga, Gumla, West Singhbhum and East Singhbhum.

Industry and Minerals: Jharkhand has the country's two biggest steel plants at Bokaro in the public sector and Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) in Jamshedpur in the private sector. Other important industries are Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company, Sriram Bearing, Usha Martin, Indian Tube Company, etc. The state is abundantly rich in minerals-copper, coal, iron, manganese, mica, chromite, bauxite, etc., and has the potential of becoming one of the most prosperous states of India.

Power: The installed capacity of power in Jharkhand is 2,590 MW. This includes 420 MW (Tenughat Thermal Power Station), 840 MW (Patratu Thermal Power Station ), 130 MW (Sikkidri Hydel) and 1,200 MW (DVC, Thermal/Hydel). The prospects of capacity addition in both the thermal and hydel sectors of various power stations is 4,736 MW. This includes 686 MW hydel generation.

To provide electricity to all villages and rural areas, the State Government has made a provision of Rs.30 crore during 2001-02.

List of districts

There are 24 Jain Temples each one dedicated to one of Jain Tirthankara. The temple on the highest peak is of Parsvanatha.

Pilgrims begin their journey from Madhuban. Madhuban is a stopover at the foot of the hill from where people have to walk. It takes around three hours to reach Parasnath.
Hazaribagh

Hazaribagh means “thousand tigers”. Hazaribagh is famous for its wildlife sanctuary. The place is situated in the rising and falling of Chhota Nagpur Plateau. The sanctuary is 190 sq km and was established in 1954. The sanctuary is home to animals like wild boar, niglai and leopard. The sanctuary is a thick forest area so it’s a safe place for birds to live.

The Best Season to visit the sanctuary is from October to March as the climate is pleasant at that time.Prior permission from the divisional forest officer (west division) is required to enter the sanctuary.

The other places to visit are:

Canari Hill (5 kms): Cycle Rickshaws available from the Hazaribagh town.

Rajrappa falls (89 kms):
State Transport Bus operates daily an early morning service to this place from the town.

Suraj Kund (72 kms):
Hot spring. Buses are available from the town.

Palamau national park
The Palamau National Park is located in the western part of the Chotanagpur plateau. The park is spread over a core area of 250 square kilometers and is also known as the Betla National Park. The Palamau National Park was brought under Project Tiger in the year 1973. It is among the first nine Tiger Reserves of the country. The core area of the park was declared as a National Park in September 1989. Best Time to visit the national park is from February-April.

Dhanbad

Dhanbad is one of the most important industrial centres in India . In and around Dhanbad is the richest mineral wealth of India.

Places to visit

Central Mining Research StationCentral Fuel Reaserch InstituteDirectorate General of Mines SafetyMining College

The collieries, various technical institutions and research centres of high order, attractives neighbourhood and the landscapes are the attractions of this industrial city.

Topchanchi: 37 kms. This is a beautiful lake, surrounded by green hills.
Jharia: Suburts of Dhanbad, is rich colliery centre & has entensive commerce.
Sindri: 30 kms. Fertiliser & other factories & Bihar Institute of Technology.
Maithon Dam: 52 kms. D.V.C Dam.
Panchet Dam: D.V.C Dam.

Ranchi
Ranchi is the state capital of Jharkhand. The City is full of Water falls, lakes and Forests. The city lies at 23°23' N Latitude and Longitude of 85°23' E. located at a height of 2140 ft above the sea level. The city receives an annual rainfall of 1503mm. The temperature in the summer ranges from (Min 20.6 °C to Max 37.2°C) and in winter from (Min 10.3°C to Max 22.9°C).

Cultural Spirit

Fairs & Festivals
Sarhul

Sarhul is celebrated during the spring season when the Shaal trees get new leaves. Sarhul festival is the worship of the village deity who is considered to be the protector of the tribes.

The deities are worshipped with shaal flowers. The shaal flowers represent the brotherhood and friendship among villagers. The priest is called Pahan and he distributes shaal flowers to every villager. The Prasad is then distributed among the villagers.

Karam

Karam Devta, the God of Power, youth and youthfulness is worshipped during the festival. The festival is held on the 11th day of the phases of moon in the Bhadra month. The groups of young villagers go to the jungle and collect the items required for Puja i.e. wood, fruits and flowers. During this entire period people sing and dance in groups. The entire valley seems to be dancing with the drumbeats. This is one of the rare examples of such a vital and vibrant youth festival in Jharkhand’s Tribal area.

At the same time, the unmarried young tribal girls celebrate the Jawa festival. This is held mainly in expectation of good fertility and better household. The unmarried girls decorate a small basket with germinating seeds. It is believed that the worship for good germination of the grains would increase the fertility. The girls offer green melons to the Karam deity as a symbol of ‘son’ which reveals the primitive expectation of human being, i.e. grains and children. The entire tribal area of Jharkhand becomes tipsy during this time.

Tusu Parab or Makar

This festival is mostly seen in the area between Bundu, Tamar and Raidih area of Jharkhand. TUSU is a harvest festival held during the winter in the last day of Poush month. It is also for the unmarried girls. Girls decorate a wooden/ bamboo frame with coloured paper and then contribute it to the nearby hilly river.

Hal Punhya is a festival which begins with the fall of winter. The first day of Magh month, known as “Akhain Jatra” or “Hal Punhya”, considered as the beginning of Ploughing. The farmers, to symbolize this auspicious morning plough two and half circles of their agricultural land this day is also considered as the symbol of good fortune.

Bhagta Parab

This festival comes between the period of spring and summer. Among the tribal people of Jharkhand this festival is best known as the worship of Budha Baba.

People fast during the day and carry the bathing Pahan the priest, to the tribal mandir called Sarana Mandir. The Pahan sometimes called Laya, gets out of the pond, the devotees make a chain, locking their thighs with each other and come forward to offer their bare chest to Laya for walk over.

After the worship in the evening, devotees take part in dynamic and vigorous Chhau dance with lots of gymnastic actions and masks. The next day is full of primitive sports of bravery.

The devotees pierce hooks on skin and get tied at one end of a long horizontal wooden pole, which is hanging on the top of a vertical Shal wood pole. The height goes up to 40 feet. The other end of the pole which is connected with a rope is pulled around the pole by the people and the tied devotee display the breath-taking dance in the sky.

This festival is more popular in the Tamar region of Jharkhand.

Rohin
This festival is perhaps the first festival of Jharkhand in the calendar year. It is a festival of sowing seeds in the field.

Farmers start sowing seeds from this day but there is no dance or song like other tribal festivals but just a few rituals. There are some other festivals like Rajsawala Ambavati and Chitgomha which are also celebrated with Rohin.

Bandna
Bandana is one of the most famous festivals celebrated during the black moon month of Kartik (Kartik Aamavashya).

This festival is mainly for the animals. Tribals are very close with animals and pets. In this festival, people wash, clean, paint, decorate feed well and put ornaments to their cows and bulls.

The song dedicated for this festival is called Ohira which is an acknowledgement for animal’s contribution in their day-to-day life. The belief behind this festival is animals are integral part of life and have souls as human being do.

The most exciting day of the bandana week is the last day. Closured Bulls and buffalos are chained to a strong pole and they are attacked with a dry animal Hyde. The angry animals hit the dry skin with ithier horns and the crowd enjoys. Generally the colours used for decorating animals are natural colours and this artwork is of folk type.

Besides this all the other festivals like Diwali, Holi, Id, X-Mas, Dusshera are also celebrated.

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Music & Dances
Folk Music includes Akhariya Domkach, Dohari Domkach, Janani Jhumar, Mardana Jhumar, Faguwa, Udasi, Pawas, Daidhara, Pahilsanjha, Adhratiya, Vinsariya, Pratkali, Jhumta etc.

Folk dances include Paika, Chaw, Jadur, Karma, Nachni, Natua, Agni, Choukara, Santhal, Jamda, Ghatwari, Matha, Sohrai, Lurisayro etc.