Must-see attractions in Bihar & Jharkhand

The magnificent Unesco World Heritage-listed Mahabodhi Temple, marking the hallowed ground where Buddha attained enlightenment and formulated his…

Housed in a majestic colonial-era building, this museum contains a splendid collection of Mauryan and Gupta stone sculptures, some beautiful bronze…

This massive, bulbous granary was built by the British army in 1786 and was being restored at the time of writing. The idea behind its construction was to…

Undoubtedly, the most sacred fig tree ever to grace the Earth was the Bodhi Tree at Bodhgaya, under which Prince Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism,…

Set in a landscaped park, Kolhua comprises a large, hemispherical brick stupa guarded by a lion squatting atop a 2300-year-old Ashoka pillar. The pillar…

Allow an hour or two for wandering the extensive ruins at Nalanda – they’re peaceful and well maintained with a parklike atmosphere of clipped lawns and…

This peaceful 9-hectare park, inaugurated by the Dalai Lama in 2010, is notable for its massive sandblasted charcoal stupa (₹50), which houses a unique,…

Buddha is thought to have preached the Lotus sutra on this rock outcrop. There are some faint remains of a 1500-year-old stupa, some prayer flags and a…

This 80ft-high Japanese-style statue of the Buddha seated in a lotus posture towers above a pleasant garden at the end of Temple St. The impressive…

This impressive museum, one of the largest in south Asia, has three history galleries, plus displays on contemporary art and ethnic groups of Bihar. It…

The Nalanda archaeological museum is small but has some fascinating finds, including the Nalanda University seal and a host of sculptures and bronzes…

This 5th-century stupa, originally 12m tall, is now in ruins, but it was once one of the eight locations in which Buddha's ashes were buried. The…

Rising high out of the earth from where the dying Buddha donated his begging bowl, the enormous Kesariya Stupa is an enthralling example of how nature can…

This lovely, rarely visited national park covers around 250 sq km, much of which comprises the Palamau Tiger Reserve. Hiding behind dense stands of teak…

This fairly nondescript cave in the Pragbodhi Hills northeast of Bodhgaya is where Buddha is said to have spent seven years living as an ascetic, almost…

Sher Shah was a warrior who briefly seized power from the Mughal emperors in 1540 to become the ruler of the Suri empire for five years. If you’re…

One potential excursion from Patna is to hire a taxi to this architecturally elegant three-storey mausoleum fronted by a large tank, 30km west of Patna…

You'll have to rely heavily on your imagination to envisage what was once one of the greatest cities in the ancient world, ruled by kings Ajatasatru (491…

The huge Sujata Kuti stupa, across the Falgu River from Bodhgaya, was built to commemorate the residence of Sujata, the cow-herder who fed the starving…

Constructed in 1965, this blazing-white, 40m stupa stands atop Ratnagiri Hill about 5km south of town. Recesses in the stupa feature golden statues of…