Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is a land-locked state, bordered by Nepal in the north, Jharkhand in the south, West Bengal in the east and Uttar Pradesh in the West.

Bihar coined from a Pali word ‘Vihara’, which means Buddhist Monasteries. It is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world with history of 3000 years. Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education. The state is evident to innumerable ancient monuments.

Bihar is a vast stretch of fertile land, drained by the Ganges (India’s largest river). It experiences continental monsoon type climate with mildly cold winters and hot summers. The best times to visit Bihar are October, November, February and March.

Bihar is the 3rd largest state by population. Over 80% of its population lives in villages.

Patna is the capital of Bihar.

Hindi and Urdu are the official languages of Bihar. However, Angika, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili and Baijjika are the native languages of the state.

Bihar is epicentre of Hinduism, Islamism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Mahabodihi Temple, a World Heritage Site, is situated in Bihar.

Bihar’s Maithili region practises Madhubani painting, a style of Indian painting.

The state also contributes to the Indian classical music. Shehnai maestro, Ustad Bismillah khan, was born and brought up in Bihar. He received India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 2000.

Bihar’s leading dailies are Hindustan Times, Hindustan, The Times of India, The Economic Times, Prabhat Khabar, Dainik Jagaran and Aj.

Rice is the staple food of Bihar. Bihar’s Hindu upper and middle classes are vegetarian. Non-vegetarian food is also popular, but most Hindus don’t eat meat on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Mustard Oil is the traditional cooking medium. Litti (dough stuffed with sattu which is powder of roasted brown chickenpeas) and Chokha (mashed potatoes, fried onions, salt, carom seeds and cilantro) is the favourite dish of Bihar.

Chhat is the major festival of the state. It is the worship of the Sun God. The festival is celebrated twice a year: once in summers (Chaiti Chhath) and once a week after Deepawali (Kartik Chhat).

Over 6 million tourists visit Bihar each year. Bihar props education based tourism, as it preserves world’s ancient universities: Nalanda University and Vikramshila University. The major tourist destinations of Bihar are Vaisali, Rajgir, Patna, Pawapuri, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Kesaria.

Mahatma Gandhi Setu is the world’s second longest river bridge in Patna, Bihar.

Foreign tourists need to obtain a visa from Indian High Commission. Those who are coming from Yellow Fever countries will have to produce a valid vaccination certificate.

Bihar is well connected by rail, road and air. There are two airports in Bihar: Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Airport, Patna and Gaya Airport, Gaya. The Patna airport operates direct flights to major India’s cities, including Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ranchi, Lucknow and Mumbai. And the Gaya airport operates direct international flights to Colombo, Singapore, Bangkok and Paro.