Saharsa, headquarters of the district of the same name, is the principal town of the Kosi region — the flood-shaped country east of the great river. Its busy junction is the rail gateway for the whole Kosi belt, and the line that finally bridged the Kosi here knitted a long-isolated region back to the rest of Bihar.
Just outside the town lies Mahishi, seat of the Ugratara Shakti-Peetha and the legendary debate of Mandan Mishra and Shankara — making Saharsa both a modern transport hub and a doorway to one of Mithila’s oldest sacred sites.