About Patna
The largest town in Bihar, Patna, serves as the regional and state capital. Road and rail connections are excellent. It serves as Bihar’s central administrative and educational hub and a few historical sites popular with tourists as holy places. The region includes Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain pilgrimage sites like Pawapuri, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, and Nalanda. At the same time, the Sikhs revere Patna City as the birthplace of Shri Guru Gobind Singh.
Places to visit in Patna
- Takht Sri Patna Sahib: The journey to Takht Sri Patna Sahib is itself a spiritual journey because it was constructed on the site of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s birthplace and holds great relevance. You will ultimately arrive at this 18th-century Gurudwara, made of white marble, on the River Ganges banks. This majestic place invites pilgrims and visitors alike after navigating through the clogged traffic and tight alleyways of Patna city’s centre. If a few hours of peace aren’t enough, guests can spend the night at the nearby housing complex, as is customary with Sikh temples.
- Patna Museum: The Patna Museum, which the British purposefully constructed in 1917 in an eclectic design including features from Mughal and Rajput buildings, includes a collection of various archaeological and historical artefacts found in the city’s environs. The opulent structure is worth a visit. The real treasures of the collection are the finest examples of Mauryan art in the entire world and a casket discovered in the Stupa of Vaishali. The casket is said to contain the ashes of Gautama Buddha and the fossilised tree that dates back more than 200 million years.
- Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan: This is Patna's most well-liked green space and was built in 1969 as a botanical garden. It mixes enormous open spaces with more than 300 varieties of trees, herbs, and plants with one of the most prominent zoos in the nation. It is the perfect location for picnics and strolls through indoor rose gardens and orchid houses. The zoo is large and exceptionally well-kept, with over 800 animals that encompass almost 100 species.
- Mahavir Mandir: Hanuman Mandir, also known as Mahavir Mandir, is many visitors’ first introduction to the religious tradition in Bihar and is located just outside Patna Junction. It was formerly a plain small building that became well-liked by arriving Hindu immigrants after India was partitioned in the 1940s. The building was built in 1987, a distinctly modernist interpretation of classical themes. However, the quality of its architecture is not indicative of its brilliance as the adoration it inspires. On Saturdays and Tuesdays, the days when Lord Hanuman is worshipped, the temple is visited by devotees in large numbers.
- Golghar: The unquestionable architectural icon of Patna, Golghar, inspires awe and a great deal of curiosity. Captain John Garstin constructed this unusual dome-shaped building to the west of Gandhi Maidan in 1786 as a storage for the British Army. Surprisingly, the engineer chose not to employ pillars to support the structure’s 125m circumference and 29m height, perhaps taking inspiration from Stupa architecture. The Golghar’s spiral staircase, formerly used for loading and unloading, offers breathtaking panoramas of Patna and River Ganga’s bank to anyone who wants to climb it.
Patna Airport
The domestic airport servicing Patna, the Indian state of Bihar’s capital, is called Jay Prakash Narayan Airport (PAT). It bears Jayprakash Narayan’s name, a prominent political figure and freedom activist. It is India’s 15th busiest airport. The Airports Authority of India is enhancing and modernising airport infrastructure to accommodate the demand of growing travellers.
