Motihari is the headquarters of East Champaran district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located 40.09 kilometres northeast of Mehsi and north of the state capital Patna. Geography Motihari is located on 26°39' N and 84°55' E in northwestern Bihar. It is about northwest from the state capital Patna, from Bettiah, from Muzaffarpur, from Mehsi, and from Sitamarhi. It is on the east bank of a lake, about southeast of Bettiah. Topography The topography of Motihari has been described as scenic, with the "stunning beauty" (in classical terms) of Moti Jheel Lake dividing the town in two halves. In Gangan Lit-Mag (Gangway Literary Magazine), Austria, wrote Anant Kumar: "The playgrounds of my childhood were the streets of Motihari. Back then that little East Indian town was not overpopulated, and the dry, clean streets of every part of town were ideal for our games: marbles, tops, badminton. And back then Motihari was a wide distance away from the big world. There were very many mango and lichee trees, fragrant lemon bushes, broad, large fields…and very few people. There were scattered decrepit hawelis and bungalows, in which frightening bhuts, geniis and juraels dwelled." The Gandhi Sangrahalaya has a wide collection of relics and photographs of the Champaran Satyagraha. The Gandhian Memorial Pillar was designed by Nand Lal Bose, a famous artist of Shantiniketan. The foundation stone of the pillar was laid on 10 June 1972 by the then Governor, D. K. Barooch. It is a tall stone pillar and is situated at the same site where Mahatma Gandhi was presented in court. Climate Climate is characterised by high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The Köppen Climate Classification sub-type for this climate is "Cfa" (Humid Subtropical). The highest maximum temperature ever recorded in Motihari was 44.4°C on May 24, 1903, while the lowest minimum temperature ever recorded in Motihari was 0.0°C on February 3, 1905. The heaviest rainfall recorded in 24 hours in Motihari was 520.0mm on 25th August 2005. Demographics As of 2011 Indian Census, Motihari had a total population of 126,158, of which 67,861 were males and 58,297 were females, with a sex ratio of 859. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 16,870. The total number of literates in Motihari was 92,798, which constituted 73.6% of the population with male literacy of 76.2% and female literacy of 70.5%. The effective literacy