Bigha (vigha): what it means state by state
Bigha is still the word most sellers use when they talk about land in North and West India. It is also the word that causes the most confusion, because one bigha in Alwar is not the same piece of ground as one bigha in Meerut.
There is no national bigha. It is a traditional unit that grew locally, so the number of square feet in a bigha changes with the state, sometimes with the district, and occasionally with the village. In parts of Rajasthan a pucca bigha runs to about 27,225 sq ft while a kachcha bigha is roughly a third of that. In western Uttar Pradesh people often work with a bigha of about 27,000 sq ft, in Haryana you will hear a bigha of 27,225 sq ft close to the Punjab side and a smaller kachcha bigha further east, and in Gujarat the vigha settles at 17,424 sq ft, which is a neat two fifths of an acre.
So when a seller says the land is four bigha, the honest reply is a question: which bigha? Ask for the figure in square yards or square feet, because that is what the sale deed, the registry and any bank valuation will carry. A parcel that sounds cheap per bigha can turn out expensive per square foot once you know which bigha was meant.
It also helps to know the sub units that travel with bigha. Twenty biswa make a bigha in Haryana and UP, twenty biswansi make a biswa, and in Bihar and Bengal the katha does the same job. In Gujarat you will hear vigha alongside guntha, in Maharashtra guntha alone, in Punjab and Haryana revenue records kanal and marla, and down south cent, ground and ankanam.
For every Landkhojo parcel we publish the area in square yards and square feet first, then show the local equivalent in bigha, biswa, kanal or guntha, so you can talk to the patwari, the broker and the neighbouring farmer in their own language without losing the real number.
Typically used for: Agricultural and farm land negotiations across North, Central and West India.
Where you'll hear it: Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand
Also called: Vigha in Gujarat, bigha pucca and bigha kachcha in the Hindi belt, bigha katha in Bihar
Quick facts
- Value we standardise on
- 17,424 sq ft
- In acres
- 0.40 acre
- In square yards
- 1,936 sq. yd.
- Sub unit
- 20 biswa = 1 bigha
How bigha changes from place to place
The word stays the same, the ground does not. Here is what one bigha works out to in the regions where people use it, so you know exactly what you are being quoted.
| Region or usage | Local term | Square feet | Square yards | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rajasthan (pucca bigha) | Bigha pucca | 27,225 sq ft | 3,025 sq. yd. | Common around Alwar, Jaipur and the Shekhawati belt. Equal to 3,025 sq. yd. |
| Rajasthan (kachcha bigha) | Bigha kachcha | 9,075 sq ft | 1,008 sq. yd. | Exactly one third of the pucca bigha, still quoted in older village deals. |
| Haryana | Bigha | 27,225 sq ft | 3,025 sq. yd. | Matches the Punjab style bigha, which is four kanal. Some eastern districts use a smaller kachcha bigha. |
| Western Uttar Pradesh | Bigha | 27,000 sq ft | 3,000 sq. yd. | Around 3,000 sq. yd. Eastern UP often works with a bigha near 27,225 sq ft or smaller local versions. |
| Gujarat | Vigha | 17,424 sq ft | 1,936 sq. yd. | Two fifths of an acre, and the value most conversion charts quote by default. |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bigha | 12,000 sq ft | 1,333 sq. yd. | Roughly 1,333 sq. yd., noticeably smaller than the northern bigha. |
| Bihar | Bigha | 27,220 sq ft | 3,024 sq. yd. | Divided into 20 katha locally, so a katha there is about 1,361 sq ft. |
| Uttarakhand | Bigha | 6,804 sq ft | 756 sq. yd. | Hill districts use a much smaller bigha, close to 756 sq. yd. |
| West Bengal | Bigha | 14,400 sq ft | 1,600 sq. yd. | Fixed at 1,600 sq. yd. and split into 20 katha of 720 sq ft each. |
If a seller quotes you in bigha, ask which version they mean before you talk price, then get the same area written in square yards and square feet. That is the figure the sale deed, the registry and any bank valuation will go by.
One Bigha in every other unit
Land unit converter
Convert between bigha, biswa, katha, guntha, kanal, marla, cent, acre, hectare, square yards (gaj) and square feet.
What locals would call this area
The same word can mean very different ground depending on where you are standing. Here is your 17,424 sq ft read back in the terms people actually use, state by state.
| Region | Local term | Your area |
|---|---|---|
| Haryana (Gurugram, Sohna, Naugaon) | Bigha | 0.64 bigha |
| Haryana and Punjab | Kanal | 3.2 kanal |
| Haryana and Punjab | Marla | 64 marla |
| Rajasthan (Alwar, Jaipur) | Pucca bigha | 0.64 pucca bigha |
| Rajasthan villages | Kachcha bigha | 1.92 kachcha bigha |
| Western Uttar Pradesh | Bigha | 0.6453 bigha |
| Uttar Pradesh and Haryana | Biswa | 12.91 biswa |
| Gujarat | Vigha | 1 vigha |
| Gujarat and Maharashtra | Guntha | 16 guntha |
| Madhya Pradesh | Bigha | 1.452 bigha |
| Bihar and Jharkhand | Katha | 12.8 katha |
| West Bengal | Cottah (katha) | 24.2 cottah (katha) |
| Assam | Katha | 6.05 katha |
| Uttarakhand hills | Bigha | 2.5608 bigha |
| Tamil Nadu and Kerala | Cent | 40 cent |
| Chennai | Ground | 7.26 ground |
| Andhra Pradesh and Telangana | Ankanam | 242 ankanam |
| Delhi NCR | Gaj (square yard) | 1,936 gaj (square yard) |
Local values are the ones commonly used in each area. Districts and villages sometimes work with their own figures, so always ask the seller which version they mean and get the area written in square yards on paper.
PaperworkQuestions people ask
Why is one bigha not the same everywhere?+
Because bigha was never standardised. It grew out of local practice, so each region settled on its own size. A pucca bigha in Rajasthan is about 27,225 sq ft, a kachcha bigha in the same state is roughly 9,075 sq ft, Gujarat's vigha is 17,424 sq ft, Madhya Pradesh works with about 12,000 sq ft, and the hill districts of Uttarakhand use a bigha closer to 6,804 sq ft. Always ask which bigha is being quoted, then get the area restated in square yards.
What is the difference between a bigha, a biswa and a katha?+
They are the same idea in different languages. A bigha is the parent unit, and it gets divided into twenty parts. In Haryana and Uttar Pradesh those parts are called biswa, and in Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal they are called katha. Since the parent bigha varies, so do biswa and katha, which is why a Bihar katha is about 1,361 sq ft while a Bengal cottah is only 720 sq ft.
Which local units are used around Sohna, Naugaon and Alwar?+
On the Haryana side you will hear bigha, biswa, kanal and marla, with kanal and marla appearing in the jamabandi. On the Alwar side of Rajasthan it is mostly pucca and kachcha bigha. Sale deeds through the whole belt are written in square yards, which is the unit we quote in.
How many guntha, kanal, marla or cent make an acre?+
Forty guntha, eight kanal, 160 marla or 100 cent. All four are standardised, so those numbers hold wherever you are. Bigha is the odd one out, and the answer there depends entirely on the state.
Why do land records use hectares when nobody speaks in hectares?+
Revenue departments moved to metric for record keeping, so jamabandi, khasra and khatian extracts carry hectares and ares. Everyday conversation stayed with the traditional units. You need both: hectares to read your papers and square yards to sign your deed.
What is the difference between vigha and bigha?+
The same unit with different spellings. Vigha is the Gujarati form, bigha the North Indian one. A Gujarat vigha is usually taken as 17,424 sq ft, which is not what a Haryana bigha means, so the spelling difference hides a real size difference.
Which unit should I use when comparing two pieces of land?+
Square feet, every time. Convert both offers to a price per square foot and the comparison becomes honest in seconds. Headline prices per bigha or per katha hide too much because the units themselves are not fixed.
How big is a 1,500 sq. yd. farm land in local terms?+
A 1,500 sq. yd. farm land is 13,500 sq ft. That is about 2.5 kanal or 50 marla in Haryana language, roughly 0.5 pucca bigha in Alwar, about 0.77 vigha in Gujarat terms, 12.4 guntha, just under 10 katha in Bihar, 31 cent in the south, or 0.31 acre.
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