Tourism in Bihar

Bihar (Hindi: बिहार, Urdu: بہار‎, pronounced [bɪˈɦaːr] (listen)) 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.[1] Around total 6 million tourists visit Bihar every year.[1]

Ānanda Stupa, with an Asokan pillar at Kolhua, Vaiśālī
Mahabodhi temple

History of tourism

The documented history of tourism in Bihar region dates back to the 4th century BCE. Greek geographer Megasthenes (B.C. 350–290 B.C.) visited the region in reign of Chandragupta Maurya.[2] His observations were recorded in Indika.[3] Dionysius was son of Megasthenes, who visited Pataliputra in reign of Ashoka.[4] Hsuan-Tsang and I Ching visited Nalanda to study in the 7th century. educational tourism as Bihar was home of some prominent ancient universities like Nalanda and Vikramashila.[5][6]

Archaeological sites

Excavation

Ancient times

Forts

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.

Hindu pilgrimages
A Mahavir Mandir, Patna having second highest budget in North India after the famous Vaishno Devi shrine.[8]
Deo Sun Temple, Deo

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.[10] Patna was also honoured by visits from Guru Nanak in 1509 as well as Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1666.

A view of Takht Shri Harmandir Saheb
  • 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.[10]
  • 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.[11]
  • 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 is also known as Gurdwara Kangan Ghat.[12]
  • Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh - This Gurdwara is situated 2 miles far from the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh.[13]
  • 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.[14]
  • 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[15]
  • Prakash Punj
  • Gurdwara Taksali Sangat
  • Gurdwara Chacha Phaggu Mal
  • Gurdwara Pakki Sangat
  • Gurdwara Bari Sangat Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Chauki.

Buddhism pilgrimages
The 94 ft. tall Vishal Buddha Mandir, Bodh Gaya

Islamic pilgrimages

Jain pilgrimages
Jal Mandir at Pawapuri
The tallest statue of Lord Vasupujya, Champapur
  • Rajgir - Rajgir is supposed to be the birthplace of Munisuvrata, the twentieth Tirthankara
  • Pawapuri - Bhagwan Mahavira, the last Jain Tirthankar, attained Nirvana from Pawapuri.
  • Pataliputra
  • Arrah
  • Vikramashila
  • Vaishali
  • Champapuri - Champapur is a Jain Teerth Kshetra. It is the place where all the five kalyanaks of Bhagwan Vasupujya have taken place. The tallest statue of Bhagwan Vasupujya which stands 31 Feet in height was built in Champapur in 2014. The Panch Kalyanak Pratishtha Mahotsav of the statue was done from 27 Feb to 3 Mar 2014.

Other pilgrimages

Buildings and structures

Museums
Sabhyata Dwar in Patna

History museums

Science museums

Eco Center
Karkat Waterfall

Fairs and festivals
Chhath Puja

Connectivity and access

Bihar is also an important transit point 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.

See also

Outline of Tourism in India

Footnotes
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2011-02-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Statics Tourism in Bihar on Indian Government's tourism website Archived 2008-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
  2. v,6
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-06-21. Retrieved 2011-02-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Surviving text of Indika - book by Megasthenes
  4. Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", Chap. 21 Archived 2013-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Wriggins, Sally Hovey. Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim on the Silk Road. Westview Press, 1996. Revised and updated as The Silk Road Journey With Xuanzang. Westview Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8133-6599-6.
  6. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline Archived 2009-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965. ISBN 0-486-21344-7
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-09-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Budget of Mahavir Mandir
  10. Johar, Surinder Singh (1979). Guru Gobind Singh: A Study. Marwah Publications. p. 23.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2010-02-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Gurdwara Pahila Bara
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2010-02-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Gurdwara Gobind Ghat
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-08-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2010-02-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Gurdwara Bal Leela
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2010-02-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Gurdwara Handi Sahib
  16. The State Museum Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine Bihar, India Archived 2016-03-12 at the Wayback Machine - Patna Museum
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2008-09-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Patna Planetarium
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-10. Retrieved 2008-09-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Patna Planetarium
  19. Exhibits / Facilities Archived 2008-10-01 at the Wayback Machine at Srikrishna Science Centre
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-10-16. Retrieved 2010-06-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Patna Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan
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