Bihar - The land of tradition and Culture.
Introduction
Tourist from all over the world, ignore the land of Bihar as a tourist destination. Most of them prefer destination like Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan or some hilly areas. They believe that making a trip to Bihar is not so enjoyable and this trip is a wastage of time and money. But this is not correct, if you want to see the beauty of Bihar first of all you have to throw all the wrong assumption about Bihar from your mind. Bihar is a land of education, culture and tradition, power etc.. It makes your trip very interesting and knowledgeable. This very state gives rise to many religions all around the world like Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. Have you heard the name of famous books "Arthshashtra and kamasutra", which were written on the land of Bihar. And you glad to know that these books are the best ever books in their categories. Bihar gives rise to many famous writers and poets such as Baba Nagarjun, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Phanishwar Nath Renu etc. If you talk about the modern writer, Upamanyu Chatterjee is also from the same land. The famous Cattle fair "Sonepur Mela" is held only in Bihar. This fair is held in the month of November. There are so many tourist Places in Bihar that makes Bihar more beautiful and attractive. Several tourist spots in Bihar are Bodh Gaya, Patna, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali etc. These places have many tourist destination with historical and religious connection.
1. Patna
As you all know that Patna is the capital city of Bihar and it is mainly known for its education and medical facilities. In ancient time Patna is also known as "Patliputra". This city is famous because it is an oldest inhabited city as compare to other cities in the world. You can find this city name in the Indika, a Mauryan Historian Megasthene. This city is known as the capital of many famous dynasties like Mauryas dynasties, Nandas dynasties, Sungas dynasties as well as Guptas dynasties. If you see the religious background of Patna, you easily find that Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism are flourishing here only. Famous Gautam Buddha, Founder of Buddhism predicted about the bright future of this city during his visit to this city. He also predicted that this city is also emerging as a peaceful city in future years. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru of the Sikh was also born in the land of Bihar.
Patna is very famous for its trade and commerce. Many countries like Dutch, Portuguese, french fought many battles with Patna to take its trade that mostly deals with the calico, Saltpeter, silk and many other useful commodities. According to British Historian "Peter Mundy", Patna is known as the greatest marketplace in the eastern region.
There are several attractive places in Patna like Gol Ghar, Kumhrar, Mahatma Gandhi Setu Bridge, Museum, Takht Shri Harmandir Saheb that force visitors to visit Patna again and again. In British time the famous "Gol Ghar" is built to store their eatable items or in simple you can say that "Gol Ghar" is garner for Britishers. If you want to see the natural beauty of Patna and famous river Ganga, you have to go on the top of this famous "Gol Ghar".
In Patna, Takht Shri Harmandir Saheb is a very religious place for Sikhs. This place is very holy for Sikhs because the tenth guru of Sikhs, Sri guru Gobind Singh was born here. If you talk about Kumhrar, it is famous since 600 BC due to its attractive and historical site. It contains small museum that shows the old timer physical objects of Mauryan Dynasty. This Museum is very beautiful and at night it looks like a star twinkling in the sky. Mahatma Gandhi Setu that connect Patna to other parts of North Bihar is considered as one of the longest bridges in the world. This bridge is constructed over a famous river Ganga. This bridge gives the best possible view of River Ganges and its all possible surrounding location. If you plan to see Patna museum which is also known as Jadu Ghar, you are going to see a variety of an ancient statues that is imported from other parts of Bihar. There are several things available that shows you the cultural and historical background of Bihar. This Museum is also famous for Stone or Bronze statues. But the most attractive and famous thing about this museum is "Didarganj Yakshi", that force tourist to visit there.
2. Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya is the very beautiful and attractive place and it is also known as the place where Gautam Buddha give all his knowledge to the people. This place is very famous in North India especially in Bihar, that makes this place famous among tourists. A person belonging from various castes and religion from various part of the country, even from other countries make their way to this holy Buddhist Pilgrimage. Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Kushinagar, Lumbini is the four pilgrimage place that is related to the whole life of Lord Buddha. It is one of the most attractive and religious place of Gaya. Thousands of visitors visit this place everyday to see its beauty.
In Bodh Gaya you find many temples, monasteries and monuments that show the importance of this place in term of its history and religion. That makes this place most visited place of entire North India. There are several attractions belong to this place but some of them are very attractive and beautiful such as:-
A. Bodhi tree
As you all know that Pipal tree (Bodhi tree) is very holy for Buddhist and this tree is located on the western side of famous "Mahabodhi Temple". Around 2500 years ago, Under the shade of this tree Lord Buddha gives knowledge to people. You are amazed to know that the present Bodhi tree is the part of the original pipal tree, due to jealous Ashoka's wife ruined the main Bodhi tree. This tree is very holy not only for Buddhists but also for other religions. It is said that a person pays under this tree, they are blessed by this tree as well as fulfill their demands. People make a circle and walk around this tree to get boon and the seeds of this tree is considered as the lucky seeds for them and their family.
B. Bodhi Sarovar
This is the other beautiful and attractive place of Bodh Gaya that makes this place as a famous tourist Destination. This river has its own story that makes it so important, according to Hindu mythology Lord Buddha takes a bath in this holy river before going to sleep. This mythology increases the grandness of this holy river. This holy river attracts the mind of a large number of tourists toward this river, this river is located on the western part of famous "Bodhi temple". In this river if you demand any wish, it must be fulfill if your demand is the wish of your heart.
C. Mahabodhi Temple
This temple is very important for Buddhist as well as for other religion peoples. This temple is very near to "Bodhi tree". This temple is one of the most holy temples for Buddhist and thousand of Buddhists visit every day from all over the world. Mahabodhi temple is very big which attaining the height is 170 ft and it is built on a basement which is 48 sq ft. You can find a Chatras, a sign of a religion reign on the upper part of this famous Temple. This famous temple shows the entire life devotion of Lord Buddha, that increases its beauty with various art and painting. You can find a holy Jewel path on the northern side of a Temple. This path is used by Gautam Buddha when they walk and meditate on this path. If you decide to make a trip to North India, you are going to take advantage of many different cultures, beauty of the Himalayas, diverse religion, attractive and fascinating monuments, many wildlife national parks and much more that make your trip memorable forever. Bodh Gaya is one of the famous pilgrimage destination of Northern India, where many devotees including Buddhists and Hindu visit this place from different parts of countries.
3. Vaishali
Vaishali is one of the most interesting and beautiful tourist place in Northern India. It holds the first rank to be republic in the world. This place is also known as the birth place of Lord Mahavira, founder of Jainism. Vaishali is the place where Lord Buddha delivered his last sermon in front of people.
4. Nalanda
Nalanda is a very popular tourist spot in Bihar and this place is also known as the home ground for Buddhist learning. Many learners come from different part of the country to learn this script. This place became important from 5th century BC to present date. The famous Nalanda university is located in this place and it attracts student from different parts of the world.
5. Rajgir
This place is very important as a tourist destination apart from this it is also known as the capital of Magadh Empire in ancient periods. This place has so importance because lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira spend their precious time of life at this famous pilgrimage center. Not only this, you amazed to know that Lord Mahavira takes his last breath very near to this place known as Pawapuri. `
Images Source - Wikipedia.
Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.