Bhojpuri language in the context of "Awadhi language"

Bihar (pronounced [bɪˈɦaːr] ), also spelled Behar in colonial documents, is a state in Eastern India. It is the second largest state by population, the 12th largest by area, and the 14th largest by GDP in 2024. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, and Jharkhand to the south. Bihar is split by the river Ganges, which flows from west to east. On 15 November 2000, a large chunk of southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand. Around 11.27% of Bihar's population live in urban areas as per a 2020 report. Additionally, almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, giving Bihar the highest proportion of young people of any Indian state. The official language is Hindi, which shares official status alongside that of Urdu. The main native languages are Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri, but there are several other languages being spoken at smaller levels.

In Ancient and Classical India, the area that is now Bihar was considered the centre of political and cultural power and as a haven of learning. Parshvanatha, the 23rd Tirthankar led the shramana order in this region in 9th century BCE. Jainism was revived and re-organised by Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankar in 6th century BCE. From Magadha arose India's first empire, the Maurya empire, as well as one of the world's most widely adhered-to religions: Buddhism. Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule. Another region of Bihar, Mithila, was an early centre of learning and the centre of the Videha kingdom.

Most of the languages of Bihar, the third most populous state of India, belong to the Bihari subgroup of the Indo-Aryan family. Chief among them are Bhojpuri, spoken in the west of the state, Maithili in the north, Magahi in center around capital Patna and in the south of the state. Maithili has official recognition under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The official language of Bihar is Modern Standard Hindi, with Standard Urdu serving as a second official language in 15 districts. Bihari Hindi serves as the lingua franca of the region.

Exact speaker numbers for the main Bihari languages are not known because the more educated prefer to speak in Hindi (in formal situations) and so return this answer on the census, while many in rural areas and the urban poor, especially the illiterate, list their language as "Hindi" And "Urdu" on the census as they regard that as the term for their language.

A Hindu wedding, also known as vivaha (विवाह, pronunciation) in Hindi, lagna (लग्न) in Marathi, biyah (बियाह) in Bhojpuri, bibaho (বিবাহ) in Bengali, bahaghara (ବାହାଘର) or bibaha (ବିବାହ) in Odia, tirumanam (திருமணம்) in Tamil, pelli (పెళ్లి) in Telugu, maduve (ಮದುವೆ) in Kannada, and kalyanam (कल्याणम्, కళ్యాణం; കല്യാണം) in Malayalam and other languages, is the traditional marriage ceremony for Hindus.

The weddings are very colourful, and celebrations may extend for several days and usually a large number of people attend the wedding functions. The bride's and groom's homes—entrance, doors, walls, floor, roof—are sometimes decorated with colors, flowers, lights and other decorations.

Hindustani classical music (also known as North Indian classical music or Shastriya Sangeet) is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It is played on instruments like the veena, sitar and sarod. It diverged in the 12th-century from Carnatic music, the classical tradition of southern India. While Carnatic music largely uses compositions written in Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindustani music largely uses compositions written in Sanskrit, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), Braj, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Rajasthani and Punjabi.

Knowledge of Hindustani classical music is taught through a network of classical music schools, called gharana. Hindustani classical music is an integral part of the culture of North India and is performed across the country and internationally. Exponents of Hindustani classical music, including Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Ravi Shankar have been awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India, for their contributions to the arts.

The Bettiah Christians (Hindustani/Bhojpuri: Béttiah Masīhī or Béttiah ʿĪsāʾī), also known as Betiawi Christians, are the northern Indian subcontinent's oldest Christian community, which emerged in the 18th century. The origins of the Bettiah Christian community lie in Champaran in what is now the Indian state of Bihar, in which the king of the Bettiah Raj, Maharaja Dhurup Singh, invited Roman Catholic missionaries of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to establish the Bettiah Christian Mission there.

Upper and middle-caste Hindus who converted to Christianity in the 18th and 19th centuries constitute the majority of the ethnoreligious community of Bettiah Christians, though it has incorporated those from former Muslim, Newar and scheduled caste heritage as well.

The Bhojpuri people, also known as Bhojpuriya-sawb (Devanagari: भोजपुरिया सब; Kaithi: 𑂦𑂷𑂔𑂣𑂳𑂩𑂲𑂨𑂰 𑂮𑂥; Romanized: bhojapuriyā sab) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent who speak the Bhojpuri language and inhabit the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region. This area is now divided between the western part of the Indian state of Bihar, the eastern part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, western part of the Indian state of Jharkhand, along with some neighbouring districts in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as well as the Madhesh province and Lumbini province of Nepal. A significant population of the Bihari diaspora of Bhojpuris can be found in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa (Natal), Seychelles, Mauritius, United States, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

Kaithi (𑂍𑂶𑂟𑂲, IPA: [kəɪ̯t̪ʰiː]), also called Kayathi (𑂍𑂨𑂟𑂲), Kayasthi (𑂍𑂰𑂨𑂮𑂹𑂟𑂲, IPA: [kəjəst̪ʰiː]), Kayastani, or Kaite Lipi (काइते लिपि) in Nepali language, is a Brahmic script historically used across parts of Northern and Eastern India. It was prevalent in regions corresponding to modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The script was primarily utilized for legal, administrative, and private records and was adapted for a variety of Indo-Aryan languages, including Angika, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Hindustani, Maithili, Magahi, and Nagpuri.

Bhojpuri region, or simply Bhojpur, is a ethnolinguistic and cultural area in the Indian subcontinent where the Bhojpuri language is spoken as a mother tongue. The Bhojpuri region encompasses parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and the Madhesh, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces of Nepal.