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Friday, September 26, 2014

4. Bihar

Tourism in Bihar

Bihar is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world with history of 3000 years. The rich culture and heritage of Bihar is evident from the innumerable ancient monuments that are dotted all over this state in eastern India. This is the place of Aryabhata, Great Ashoka, Chanakya, Mahavira, Guru Gobind Singh, Chandragupta Maurya, Vātsyāyana, Sher Shah Suri and many other great historical figures.

Attractions:
  • Patna – The capital of Bihar, famous for its rich history and royal architecture
  • Gaya – Known for Bodh Gaya the place at which Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment
  • Muzaffarpur – Famous for its education
  • Kesariya – Location of the world's largest Buddhist Stupa
  • Nalanda – Location of one of the world's oldest university
  • Sasaram – Tomb of Sher Shah Suri, the great Emperor of medieval India
  • Sonepur Cattle Fair – The Sonepur cattle fair or Sonepur Mela, it is the biggest cattle fair of Asia and stretches on from fifteen days to one month
  • Takht Sri Patna Sahib – One of the famous Sikh pilgrimage known for the birthplace of Sikh's Tenth Guru Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib
  • Darbhanga – It is among the oldest cities of Bihar. Famous for the Maharaja forts and Kali Mandir.
  • Munger – Home to the only Yoga University in the world, Bihar School of Yoga. Religious places such as Shakti Peethas.
  • Deoghar- One of the famous Hindu pilgrimage known for the Satsang Ashram of Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra situated at Satsang Nagar
  • Vaishali- Lord Mahavir was born on the outskirts of this ancient city, and lived in Vaishali till he was 22

Bihar is one of the most sacred places of various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism & Islam. Famous Attraction includes Mahabodhi Temple, a Buddhist shrine and UNESCO World Heritage Site is also situated in Bihar, Barabar Caves the oldest rockcut caves in India, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library the oldest library of India.

Bihar ‎, pronounced in eastern India is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world with a history going back 3000 years. The rich culture and heritage of Bihar is evident from the innumerable ancient monuments that are dotted all over the state. Bihar is home to many tourist attractions and is visited by large numbers of tourists from all over the world. Around total 6 million tourists visit Bihar every year.

History of tourism

The documented history of tourism in Bihar region dating back to the 4th century BCE. Greek geographer Megasthenes (, c. 350 BC - 290 BC) visited the region in reign of Chandragupta Maurya.[2] His observations were recorded in Indika.[3] Dionysius was son of Megasthenes, who visited Patliputra in reign of Ashoka the Great. Hsuan-Tsang and I Ching visited Nalanda to study in the 7th century.

In the earliest day, tourism in region was purely based educational tourism as Bihar was home of some prominent ancient universities like Nalanda University and Vikramashila University.
Archaeological sites
Excavation

Kumhrar
Agam Kuan
Barabar Caves
Nalanda
Vikramsila
Kesaria

Ancient

Vishnupada Temple
Mahabodhi Temple
Sasaram
Maner Sharif
Patliputra
Brahmayoni Hill
Pretshila Hill
Ramshila Hill

Forts

Rohtasgarh Fort
Sasaram Fort
Palamu Fort
Maner Fort
Jalalgarh Fort
RajMahal
Munger Fort

Pilgrimages

Bihar one of the most sacred place of various religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism & Islam, Many tourist travel to Bihar to visit their pilgrimage.

Mahabodhi Temple, a Buddhist shrine and UNESCO World Heritage Site is also situated in Bihar. Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Patna, is one of the longest bridge in the world.

Hindu pilgrimages

Mahavir Mandir
Sitamarhi
Madhubani
Punausa
Buxar
West Champaran
Munger
Jamui
Darbhanga
Anga
Patna
Gaya

Sikh pilgrimages

The capital of Bihar, Patna is one of the holiest city in Sikhism, as The tenth Guru of the Sikhs Guru Gobind Singh was born here in 1666 and spent his early years before moving to Anandpur. Patna was also honoured by visits from Guru Nanak in 1509 as well as Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1666.

Takht Shri Harmandir Saheb - is, one of the Five Takhts of the Sikhism. The Gurdwara at Patna Sahib is in remembrance of the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, The tenth Guru of the Sikhs.
   
Gurdwara Pahila Bara - commonly known as Gurdwara Ghai Ghat, is dedicated to Guru Nanak Dev, who during his visit in to Patna stayed here in 1509 and later by Guru Tegh Bahadur along with his family visited this place in 1666.

Gurdwara Gobind Ghat - is where the child Guru Gobind Singh used to play with his playmates on the bank of the Ganges. It is situated on the bank of river Ganges and hardly 200 yards from Takht Shri Harmandir Saheb. It s also known as Gurdwara Kangan Ghat.
   
Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh - This Gurdwara is situated 2 miles far from the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh.
Gurdwara Bal Leela - This place is just few meters away from Takhat Patna Sahib. Guru ji were playing with other children during his childhoodied Gurdwara Bal Leela is also known as Maini Sangat.
Gurdwara Handi Sahib - This Gurdwara was built in the memory of Guru Teg Bahadur. As Guru Teg Bahadur with Mata Gujri and Bala Preetam stayed here in 1728.
Gurdwara Taksali Sangat
Gurdwara Chacha Phaggu Mal
Gurdwara Pakki Sangat
Gurdwara Bari Sangat Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Chauki

Buddhism pilgrimages

Mahabodhi Temple
Bodhi Tree
Bodh Gaya
Gaya
Vaishali
Pawapuri
Nalanda
Rajgir
Kesariya
Vikramshila
Areraj
Patliputra

Islamic pilgrimages

Sasaram
Maner Sharif
Bihar Sharif
Phulwari Sharif

Jain pilgrimages

Rajgir
Pawapuri
Patliputra
Arrah
Vikramasila

Other pilgrimages

Padari ki haveli

hawa mahal

Buildings and structures

Golghar
Patna Museum
Kargil Chowk
Mahatma Gandhi Setu

Museums

Patna Museum - is the state museum of Bihar. It was built by the British during the British Raj in the year 1917 to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna.
   
Nalanda Museum
Bodh Gaya Museum
Vaishali Museum
Vikramshila Museum

Science museums

Patna Planetarium - is one of the largest planetariums in Asia. The Patna Planetarium was dedicated to the Nation and opened for the public from April 1, 1993.

Srikrishna Science Centre - This institution forms a unit of the National Council of Science Museums, an autonoums body under the ministry of Culture. It is located at south-western corner of the Gandhi Maidan.

Eco Center

Valmiki National Park
Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary
Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary
Bhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary
Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan - is classified as one of the 16 large zoos in the country and is also known as Sanjay Gandhi Botanical and Zoological Garden, Patna

or Patna Zoo. This is situated near Bailey Road in Patna.

Kakolat Waterfall
Telhar Waterfall
Karkat Waterfall

Fairs and festivals

Sonepur Fair
Pitrapaksh Fair
Rajgir Mahotsav
Patna Film Festival
Chhath

Connectivity and access
Transportation in Bihar


Bihar is also an important transit point of Bihar for the tourists dropping in from the other states of India. Bihar is well-connected by air, rail and road transport.

By Air

Patna has its own airport known as Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport or Airport Patna. It is a national airport and it is connected to all major cities of India via daily flights. Gaya Airport is the only international airport in Bihar and Jharkhand which 96 km from Patna. It is an international airport which is connected to Colombo, Sri Lanka through two airline operators: Bangkok, Thailand, Singapore, and Bhutan.

By Rail

Bihar is strategically located in the main line of the East Central Railway and therefore connected with important cities of India and most cities within Bihar.

By Road


The cities of Bihar are well connected by public transport including both private and government transport. The cities are interconnected as well as connected with the capital. The roadways also connected to adjacent states and regular bus service is available for different cities of adjacent states like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh. The roadways also connects to Nepal. To boost the state roadways, the state government have introduced Mercedes Benz luxury buses. The Mercedes luxury buses, 92 in number, ply between 17 routes including Patna, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

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