The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s2.190

c5.s2.190

Bisala-chhatra—Same as Bisala Hajipur was included in the kingdom of Baisala. Ramachandra, Lakshmana and Visvamitra, on their way to Mithila, are said to have halted at Hajipur for one night on the site of the present temple called Ramachandra, which contains the image of Ramachandra and the impression of his foot. Haji Shamsuddin, king of Bengal, established his capital at Hajipur in the middle of the 14th century, and from him the name of Hajipur has been derived It still contains a stone mosque said to have been built by him close to the Sonepur Ghat The celebrated Raja Todar Mal lived at Hajipur when he made the settlement of Bengal and Bihar and is said to have resided in the fort (killa), the ruins of which still exist and contain the Nepalese temple. Sonpur, situated at the confluence of the Gandak and the Ganges, was also included in Bisala-chhatra. It was at Sonpur (Gajendramoksha-tirtha) that Vishnu is said to have released the elephant from the clutches of the alligator, the fight between whom has been described in the Varaha-Purana (ch. 111) They fought for five thousand years all along the place from a lake called Kaunda-Tala, five miles to the north-west of Sonpur, to the junction of the Gandak and the Ganges. Vishnu, after releasing the elephant, established the Mahadeva Hariharanatha and worshipped him. Ramachandra, on his way to Janakapur, is said to have stopped for three nights on the site of the temple at Sonpur; hence in his honour, a celebrated fair is held there every year.