Bhojpur & Purvanchal · Middle & Lower Gangetic Plain
Terrain and eco-zones
Humid subtropical, with 1,000 to 1,200 mm of monsoon rain and a pronounced hot season. May and June reach 43–45 °C with a dry westerly; January nights fall to 7–9 °C, with fog along the river. The plain floods routinely where the Ghaghara and the Gandak meet the Ganga.
Landforms
Level Gangetic alluvium, among the most densely settled agricultural land on earthDiara — the sandy island and bank land in the Ganga's channel, cropped between floodsKaimur scarp and the Vindhyan edge in the south, rising to Chunar and RohtasTerai and the Someshwar hills on the far northern fringe, at the Nepal borderRavines along the Sone and Karmanasa
Rivers and waters
Ganga — the axis, and at Varanasi the only stretch where it flows northSone — the western boundary, sandy and seasonalGhaghara and Gandak — the northern boundaries, both Himalayan and both violent in floodKarmanasa, Gomti, Tons and RaptiChandra Prabha and the Vindhyan streams in the south
Through the year
| Season | Months | Typical | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | November–February | 7–24 °C | Foggy and cold, and the region's festival season — Dev Deepawali at Varanasi, Sonepur's cattle fair, weddings and the malaiyo mornings. |
| Summer | March–June | 26–45 °C | Hot and dry, with sattu, chura and green mango carrying the day. The Ganga drops to its channel and the diara land is farmed. |
| Monsoon | July–September | 27–35 °C | Flood season on the Ghaghara and Gandak. Kajri is sung, jhoolas go up, and the paddy is transplanted. |
| Post-monsoon | October | 22–32 °C | The Ramlila season, and Chhath at the end of the month — when the whole diaspora comes home. |
Best time to visitOctober to March. Time it for Chhath in late October or November if you want to understand the region, or for the Ramnagar Ramlila's thirty-one nights from September, or Dev Deepawali at Kartik Purnima when the Varanasi ghats are lit end to end.
The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Bhojpur & Purvanchal, and the best time of year to visit. (4)