1.1 Religions Originated from State

Bihar is also a birthplace of many religions, including Buddhism and Jainism. The Word "Bihar" has its origin in the word "Vihara" meaning Buddhist Monasteries. Buddha attained the Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, a town located in the modern day district of Gaya . Buddha started spreading his teaching after attaining the Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was born in Vaishali , Bihar. Mahatma Gandhi started the freedom movement in India by his Satyagraha in the Champaran district of Bihar against the British, who were forcing the local farmers to plant indigo which was very harmful to the local soil.

2 Travel

Bihar has two airports - Patna and Gaya. Patna airport is a domestic airport connected directly to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Ranchi. Gaya airport is a small international airport connected by Indian airlines to Kolkata and Bangkok.

Bihar is very well connected by rail lines to the rest of India. Most of the towns are interconnected and also directly connected to Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. Patna and Gaya are the best connected towns.
Roads are not in good condition, so it is better to avoid them if possible.
For Buddhist pilgrims, best option is to go directly to Gaya, either by air or train, and then travel to Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Rajgir, Sarnath, etc.

2.1 Places to See

• For Buddhists - Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Rajgir.
• For Jains - Vaishali and Pawapuri .
• For Sikhs - Har Mandir Sahib, Patna City, the birth place of Guru Govind Singh.
• For Hindus - The Pind-dan at Gaya, Baidyanath Dham, Tara Mandir at Mahisi, etc.
• For Muslims - Bihar-E-Sharif
• For history buffs - Patna, Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Rajgir, Vaishali , Pawapuri , Champaran , Sasaram , etc..

3 Culture

3.1 Cinema

Bihar has a very well developed cinema industry for the Bhojpuri language, spoken mainly in the central and western Bihar. There is a small Maithili film industry also.

3.2 Music

Bihar has a very old tradition of beautiful folk songs, sung during important family occasions, like marriage, birth ceremonies, festivals, etc. They are sung mainly by the women folk in group settings without the help of any musical instruments.

Bihar also has a tradition of lively Holi songs, filled with fun beats.

During the 19th century, when the condition of Bihar further worsened after the British loot and deliberate misrule, a lot of Biharis had to migrate as indentured labourers to West Indian islands, Fiji, and Mauritius. During this time a lot of sad plays and songs became very popular in Bhojpur area and still some dramas on that theme are played in the theaters of Patna.

3.3 Literature

Bihar produced a lot of great Hindi poets and novelists during and immediately after the independence movement. Dinkar, Nirala, Benipuri, and many others wrote important pieces of Hindi literature.

Different local languages also produced some prominent poets and authors. Vidyapati , the most famous of all Bihari poets, was a great Maithili poet.

3.4 Festivals

• Chhat - is a major festival in Bihar. It is worship of Sun.

4 Weather

It is mildly cold in the winter (worst it could get is 5-10 degree centigrades). Winter months are December and January. It is very hot in the summer (40-45 degrees). April, May and first half of June are the hot months. Then comes the monsoon in the months of June, July, August, and September. October, November, February, and March are very pleasant months.

5 Geography

Bihar is mainly a vast stretch of very fertile land. It has many rivers including Ganga, Son, Bagmati, Kosi , Budhi Gandak , Falgu , etc. Southern part of Bihar has some small hills. Nepal is to the north of Bihar. To get to the Himalayas one will have to enter Nepal and travel for around 50-100kms.

See Districts in Bihar, India

5.1 Division

After the division of the state in 2000, when the industrial and the mineral rich part of the state was carved out as a separate state of Jharkhand, the main economic activity of the state has been agriculture. Bihar is one of the poorest state of India. Blames for this are put on many factors - a historical disfavour from the center of Indian power (be it Calcutta during the British empire or Delhi during the independent India), a deeply polarized and highly politicized society, power hungry and corrupt rulers, lack of social reform movements, etc.

6 Educational Institutions

6.1 Colleges and Universities

There are many universities in Bihar. Patna University being the most prominent one. Science College , Patna College (for liberal arts), Patna Medical College , etc. are the better known colleges of this university.
There are three good state run engineering colleges -

Patna Engineering College , part of Patna University
Bhagalpur College of Engineering
Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology

6.2 Schools

Bihar has a system of districts schools, called Zila schools. They are located in each district headquarters. There are a lot of state run Navodaya schools also. In early eighties, the state government also took over a lot of privately run schools, and gave them government recognitions. There are many such schools throughout the state with different names. Central government also runs a lot of Central schools for the wards of its employees. Delhi Public School, a chain of schools, is also opening a lot of schools in various town of Bihar. There are a few christian missionary run schools also in the state. Schools generally follow one of these three high school systems - Bihar School Secondary Board, CBSE or ICSE. ICSE schools (there are not many of these in Bihar) follow English medium education, while the other two can follow Hindi medium education.

7 Politics

List of political parties in the state

8 External links

• Website of government of Bihar
• Districts of Bihar
• History of Bihar
• A collection of news items about Bihar
• A web site about Bihar

#REDIRECT States and territories of India

Bihar States and territories of India

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