Mangrauni — whose older name Mangalwani is read as “the place of blessings” — is a large Maithil Brahmin village in the Rajnagar block of Madhubani district, about 2 km from Madhubani town. From early times it has been known for devotion, temples and astrology, and counts among the cluster of learned villages around the district headquarters.
Its best-known shrines are the Budhi Mata (Maa Bhagwati) temple, revered across Madhubani, and the Baba Ekadash Rudra Mandir built in 1953, whose eleven Shivalingas represent the eleven forms of Shiva. It is also remembered as the home village of Maharani Kamsundari Devi, the last queen of Raj Darbhanga.
The everyday language is Maithili, and the village sits squarely in the Mithila-painting heartland that surrounds Madhubani town, with a long tradition of Sanskrit and jyotish (astrology) learning.
