Things to do in Bihar & Jharkhand
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Golghar
Gandhi Maidan is a large park around which are a couple of sights. For a dome with a view, climb the landmark Golghar, which is a short walk west of the Gandhi Maidan. The British army built this massive and bulbous beehive of a granary in 1786, in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the vicious 1770 famine. Fortunately it was never required. Its dual spiralling staircases (250 steps each side), designed so that workers could climb up one side and down the other, lead to an unparalleled view of the city and Ganges.
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Betla (Palamau) National Park
The park is open year-round, but the best time to visit is October to April. If you can stand the heat, May is prime time for tiger spotting as forest cover is reduced and animals venture out in search of waterholes. Jeep safaris can be arranged privately at the park gate. You must also hire a local guide to accompany you.
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Original Pole-Pole
Opposite the Burmese Vihara on Bodhgaya Rd is the long-running and popular semi-tent restaurant Original Pole-Pole . It's pretty basic and has a varied but standard travellers' menu of breakfast fare, pancakes, pasta and Indian and Chinese, along with sweets such as chocolate-chip cookies or cinnamon rolls.
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Insight Meditation Retreats
Three nine-day vipassana meditation and spiritual inquiry retreats are held by Insight Meditation Retreats from 7 January to 6 February at the Thai Monastery. Space is limited so book ahead. From mid-November you can inquire at the Burmese Vihara between 15:00 and 16:00. Donations are requested.
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Mahabodhi Temple
The magnificent World Heritage-listed Mahabodhi Temple, where Buddha attained enlightenment and formulated his philosophy of life, forms the spiritual heart of Bodhgaya. Within the temple complex entrance is a bookshop with a range of Buddhist literature.
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Niranjana Public Welfare School
This school provides education for some 270 local children and runs an orphanage in Sujata Village. Donations, sponsorships and volunteers are welcome. Contact the curator Siddhartha Kumar.
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Gautam
Situated opposite the Burmese Vihara is this basic semi-tent affair with a sit-out garden. It offers a standard travellers menu and the banana pancakes are the best in town.
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Indosan Nipponji Temple
The different monasteries offer visitors a unique opportunity to peek into different Buddhist cultures and compare architectural styles. For example, the Indosan Nipponji Temple is an exercise in quiet Japanese understatement compared to its richly presented Bhutan neighbour. The most impressive is the Thai Monastery, a brightly coloured wat with shimmering gold leaf and manicured gardens. Meditation sessions are held here in the morning. The Tibetan KarmaTemple and Namgyal Monastery each contain large prayer wheels, and the brand new Tergar Monastery of the Karmapa (Black Hat sect) is a glory of Tibetan decorative arts. Other noteworthy monasteries include those from Chi…
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Mausoleum of Sher Shah
If you’re motoring on from Gaya to Varanasi, a short detour to the Mausoleum of Sher Shah at Sasaram is worthwhile. Seemingly floating within a large tank, this is the mausoleum of the historically significant emperor Sher Shah. The whole museum is an exercise in architectural restraint. Its beauty lies in an aesthetic use of proportion from its rounded dome down through a ring of chhatris (pavilions or pillar-supported canopies) to its solid pedestal. Very similar in style to Isa Khan’s tomb in Delhi, it still bears vestiges of deep-blue Persian tiling. Within is the tomb of Sher Shah, his son and their family. Hasan Shah, father of Sher Shah, has his own less spectacu…
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Patna Museum
Behind the impressive but decaying exterior, this museum houses a splendid collection of Mauryan and Gupta stone sculptures. There’s the usual collection of period weapons, including Humayun’s dagger, and a gallery of wonderful Rajasthani miniatures. In another gallery is a motley collection of stuffed animals, including tigers, a large gharial (crocodile), a bizarre three-eared and eight-legged goat kid and an Australian wombat! Upstairs in a locked gallery an extra Rs. 500 permits you a glimpse of a tiny casket that’s believed to contain some of Buddha’s ashes which were retrieved from Vaishali.
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Kesariya Stupa
Rising high out of the earth from where the dying Buddha donated his begging bowl, this stupa is an enthralling example how nature reclaimed a deserted monument. Excavated and half revealed from under a grassy and wooded veil, is what’s likely to be the world’s second-tallest (38m) Buddhist stupa dating from the Pala period. Above the 425m-circumference pedestal are five uniquely shaped terraces that form a gargantuan Buddhist tantric mandala. Each terrace has a number of niches containing mutilated Buddha statues whose heads were lopped off by Muslim invaders.
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Takshila
Hotel Chanakya in Birchand Patel Path has two good restaurants. One of them, the upstairs Takshila exudes the ambience of the North-West Frontier with its solid furniture and exposed brick decor. The speciality is meat-heavy Mughlai, Afghan and tandoori dishes. Vegetarians, try the Diwan-i-Handi, a creamy mixed-vegetable masala with fluffy butter naan (only a half portion is needed). You can order beer from the Madera Bar, or drink a well-cooled Kingfisher there with a ready supply of pappad and masala peanuts.
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Chhoti Dargah
Worth visiting 30km west of Patna is Chhoti Dargah, an architecturally elegant three-storey mausoleum fronted by a large tank. The venerable Muslim saint Makhdum Shah Daulat was buried here in 1619 under a canopied tomb. As it is auspicious to be buried close to a saint, several cloth-covered graves in front of the mausoleum keep the saint company. The large body of water is a favourite swimming playground for local children and its steps provide a good laundry site.
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Nalanda Ruins
Allow an hour or two for wandering the extensive ruins – they’re peaceful and well-maintained with a park-like atmosphere of clipped lawns, shrubs and roses. A guide (Rs. 50 per hour) is a worthwhile investment in unravelling the labyrinthine buildings and their history. The red-brick ruins consist of nine monasteries and four main temples. Most impressive is the Great Stupa, with steps, terraces, a few intact votive stupas, and monks’ cells.
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Root Institute for Wisdom Culture
The Root Institute for Wisdom Culture holds popular introductory 10-day meditation courses from late October to March that are useful for beginners. A requested donation of Rs. 7020 covers the course, accommodation and meals. Intermediate-level courses are also scheduled from December to February. The 6.45am 45-minute meditation session is open to all, and for a donation visitors are welcome to stay on for breakfast. Visit the website for other events.
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Museum
Most sites in Vaishali surround a large tank. Dominating the skyline is a gleaming, modern Japanese Peace Pagoda, while opposite is a small museum presenting a collection of clay and terracotta figures plus an intriguing 1st- to 2nd-century AD toilet pan with appropriately sized exit holes. Nearby are the ground-floor remains of a stupa that contained Buddha’s ashes that now reside in Patna Museum.
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Kolhua Complex
The ruins of the Kolhua Complex, comprise of a hemispherical brick stupa guarded by a dignified lion squatting atop a 2300-year-old Ashoka pillar. The pillar is plain and contains no Ashokan edicts that were usually carved onto Ashoka pillars. Attending are the ruins of smaller stupas and monastic buildings. According to legend, Buddha was given a bowl of honey here by monkeys who also dug out a rainwater tank for his water supply.
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Har Mandir Takht
Behind a grand gate and sheltered from the mayhem of Patna’s Chowk area is an important Sikh shrine. Its miniature marble domes, sweeping staircases and fine latticework mark the spot where Guru Gobind Singh, last of the 10 Sikh gurus, was born in 1666. It’s 11km east of Gandhi Maidan. There is a free guide to show you around and you can show your appreciation of his services by putting a contribution in the temple donations box.
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Qila House (Jalan Museum)
This intriguing and eclectic private museum overflows with antiques ranging from elaborate Mughal-period silverware and weaponry to the wooden bed of Napoleon III. Look for Marie Antoinette’s Sèvres porcelain and the Crown Derby dinner service printed bold and garish for the failing eyes of King George III. To visit, telephone ahead and provide a photocopy of your passport identity and visa pages.
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Vishnupad Temple
Close to the banks of the Falgu River south of town, the sikhara (spired) Vishnupad Temple was constructed in 1787 by Queen Ahalya Bai of Indore and houses a 40cm 'footprint' of Vishnu imprinted in solid rock. Non-Hindus are not permitted to enter, but you can get a look at the temple from the pink platform near the entrance. Along the ghats on the river's edge, Hindus bathe and light funeral pyres.
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Tibetan Om Cafe
Lies within the western courtyard of Namgyal Monastery. It’s run by friendly Tibetans who know all about traveller hunger for momos (dumplings), pancakes, brown bread, pies and cakes. The food is cheap and superb, and you can loiter for as long as you like. For just Rs. 5 you can refill your water bottle with ‘well-boiled filter water’. A small shop here sells Tibetan items and clothing.
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Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library
This fascinating library, founded in 1900, contains a renowned collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts, Mughal and Rajput paintings, and even the Quran inscribed in a book just 25mm wide. A significant exhibit is Nadir Shah’s sword – perhaps this was the one he raised at Sunehri Mosque, Delhi, in 1739 to order the massacre of the city’s residents.
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Ruins of Pataliputra
These historic ruins are unfortunately often flooded, but excavations of this ancient capital have found evidence from the periods of Ajatasatru (491-459 BC), Chandragupta (321-297 BC) and Ashoka (274-237 BC). The ruins/ponds are surrounded by well cared for gardens and a museum that details the site’s historic past.
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Swagat Restaurant
This is a really good choice with an innovative menu of veg and non-veg dishes, such as mutton badam pasanda (mutton stuffed with almonds and cooked in an almond gravy), Portuguese-style fish and a creamy malai-kofta (fried cottage-cheese dumplings served in a spicy tomato and onion based gravy).
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Great Buddha Statue
A 25m-high Great Buddha Statue towers above a pleasant garden at the end of Temple St. The impressive monument was unveiled by the Dalai Lama in 1989, and is surrounded by 10 smaller sculptures of Buddha’s disciples. The statue is partially hollow and is said to contain some 20,000 bronze Buddhas.
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