Places to visit in Bihar

Hi Bihar ladies!

Aap ke forum itni shant kyun hai? Zara hame bhi bataiye apne sheher aur rajya ke baare mein. If I'm unbiased, it is true that the name Bihar has become synonymous to Lalu Yadav.I believe the media is also responsible to large extent. But let me be clear, I've not written it to cook up a political storm or a discussion.

WOULD JUST LIKE TO MORE ABOUT Bihar, Patna and the other towns and cities. Can you please throw light on this once famous Magadha, and the places to visit there?

Thank you Ishani for inspiring me to join this wonderful forum. Bihar has been the nerve-centre of cultural heritage and power, education and rich history.

There are several places in Bihar that are worth visiting from Patna - the capital city, which besides being an important business centre in eastern India is more significantly the gateway to the Budhist and Jain pilgrim centres of Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Vaishali, Rajgir and Pawapuri.

Patna has many other beautiful places. Just putting up a few here on the board

Patna Museum : This excellent museum has a rare collection of metal and stone sculptures other than dating back to the Maurya and Gupta periods. It also has terracotta figures and archaeological finds from excavation sites such as Nalanda.

Golghar: This amazing beehive shaped building , with steps winding around the outside to the top, from where one gets a good view of the city and the Ganges.

Kumrahar Excavation: This is the place where ancient ruins of Pataliputra, since the time of Ajatasatru, Chandragupta and Ashoka have been uncovered here.

Qila House: Built on the foundations of Sher Shah's fort, Qila House(Aka Jalan museum) contains an impressive private collection of antiques.

Khuda Baksh Oriental Library: Founded in 1900, this library has a renowned collection of very rare Arabic and Persian manuscripts, Mughal and Rajput paintings.

SanjayGandhiBiologicalPark: Established in 1969 as a Botanical Garden, this park has been developed as Biological Park since 1973. The park is classified as one of the 16 large zoos in the country with more than 300 species of trees, herbs and shrubs. The zoo has more than 70 species of animals. There are more than 800 animals in the zoo. This park also has an Aquarium and a Snake House.

Thank you Poonam. Its like to know about so many places worth visiting in Patna. Will you please share some information on Nalanda. I'm really interested in knowing about that great source of education.

Also please let us know about the importance of Bihar as a Buddhist pilgrimage center. Is the government of Bihar doing enough to tap Buddhist tourism in the state?

Rgds,
Sonia

Nalanda is the site of one of the greatest centres of learning of ancient times. Once a greatly honoured monument, today it stands in ruins and is a fascinating trip through the pages of history.

The ruins of NalandaUniversity are spread over an area of 14 hectares. This university was totally built in red clay bricks. This university attracted scholars from all over the world. Even Chanakya or Kautilya was once a student of this university. This university was the seat of knowledge for the world.

Today only the memories of those glorious days remain preserved in the ruins. Among the ruins one still recognizes the different sections of the place. Particularly the place of worship and the hostels are very distinct. Beautiful lawns surround the whole area.

Nalanda has been one of my favorite places of visit in Bihar. I remember being awed at the history of this ancient centre of learning. My parents always used to make a point to visit Nalanda on our trip to our Nani's place in Patna. Are you familiar with the history of Nalanda?

Established in the fifth century AD, Nalanda is renowned as an ancient seat of learning. However, today this ancient university lies in ruins. The place not only has the remains of the great university but also many monasteries, temples, and viharas built by different kings.

Though the Buddha visited Nalanda several times during his lifetime, this famous centre of Buddhist learning acquired fame much later, during 5th-12th centuries AD. It is the first residential international university of the world, where 2,000 teachers and 10,000 students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied.

The University was patronized by the Gupta, Kushan, and Pal kings in successive centuries. Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most eminent patrons who built temples and monasteries here. Recent
excavations have discovered elaborate structures here. The university remained in prominence till 12 century AD when the Afghans attacked Bengal and burnt down this great University.