खगौल khagaul
‘Observatory’ Town, Bihar (Bih)
From Hin: khagol, ‘astronomy’, ‘celestial sphere’.
Khagaul, near Patna, was known in ancient times as Kusumpura. It was here in the 5th century CE that Aryabhata, India’s first great astronomer, composed his Āryabhaṭīya. The town’s modern name reflects this heritage, deriving from khagolśāstra — the science of the heavens.
Aryabhata pioneered the place-value system and used zero as a number, calculated the length of the solar year, and proposed that the Earth rotates on its axis. His observatory at Khagaul made the town synonymous with astronomy in later tradition. Though little remains of the ancient site, Khagaul’s name still evokes its celestial past.
Today Khagaul is a busy satellite town of Patna.
For related place names see Indian Place names and Bihar place names.
