Adventure and Sports, Fairs and Festivals, True Gifts of Nature, Culture, Art and Cuisine and HistoryHave a splendid and fabulous visit !! HistoryThe history of the land mass currently known as Bihar is very ancient. In fact, it extends to the very dawn of human civilization. Earliest myths and legends of hinduism the Sanatana (Eternal) Dharma - are associated with Bihar. Sita, the consort of Lord Rama, was a princess of Bihar. She was the daughter of King Janak of Videha. The present districts of Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Samastipur, Madhubani, and Darbhanga, in north-central Bihar, mark this ancient kingdom. The present small township of Sitamarhi is located here. According to legend, the birthplace of Sita is Punaura, located on the west-side of Sitamarhi, the headquarters of the district. Janakpur, the capital of King Janak, and the place where Lord Rama and Sita were married, lies just across the border in Nepal. It is reached via the rail station of Janakapur Road located in the Sitamarhi district, on the Narkatiyaganj - Darbhanga. It is no accident, therefore, that the original author of the Hindu epic - The Ramayana - Maharishi Valmiki - lived in Ancient Bihar. Valmikinagar is a small town and a railroad station in the district of West Champaran, close to the railhead of Narkatiyaganj in northwest Bihar. ![]() Jarasandh attacked Mathura many times. Jarashand was very poweful king at that time. It was imposable for even krishna to defeat him and he left his palace and went Dwarka. For the Rajsurya Yagya performed by Yudhishthir, Krishna, Arjun and Bhima went to Magadh in the disguise of Brahmins and Bhima killed Jarasandh while wrestling. In the war of Mahabharata, the residents of Magadh had supported the Pandavas. Still Jarashandh belonging places can be find in Bihar, just near to Rajgir. A part of Bihar was known as Pundru Desh during the time of Mahabharata. The King Pondrak of this region was a friend of Jarasandh and thought himself to be Krishna. He used to dress up like Krishna. He used to make himself famous in the names of “Vasudev” and “Purshottam”. He was present at the Swayamvar (a choice made by a princess of her husband in public) of Draupadi. Due to his ego, he challenged Krishna to discard his dress or else get ready for a fight. Krishna fought with him and killed him. According to one more mention, when Jarasandh attacked Mathura, Pondrak was with him. Later he attacked Dwarka and was killed by Krishna there. There were nine dynasties that ruled Magadh after the Mahabharat war (3139 BC). They were: 21 kings in Brihadrath dynasty (1,000 years), 5 in Pradyot (138 years), 10 in Shishunag (360 years), one King Mahapadm Nand along with his 8 sons (100 years), 10 Maurya (137 years), 10 Shung and 4 Kanva (457 years), and 30 kings of Andhra dynasty for 456 years (Bhagwatam 9/22/46-49, 12/1/1-28). The ninth one is Gupt dynasty. The antiques lying on the Kaimur hills in Bihar provide a unique opportunity to study our indigenous culture and to analyze the current socio-economic conditions of ancient Magadh and the reasons for its downfall. The discovery of rock paintings depicting pre-historical lifestyle have not only added a new dimension to Indian history but have also clearly led to the conclusion that indigenous culture all over the world is uniform. The rock paintings discovered in Bihar are identical to the ones found in central and southern India. And the Indian rock paintings and stone tolls have close resemblances with those found in Europe and Africa. The rock paintings of Spain's Alta Mira and France's Lascaux are almost identical to those found in Bihar. These paintings belong to the Mesolithic period, which ranges in Bihar from 5000 BC to 2500 BC. Those paintings had a long tradition. The tradition of drawing sketches on the rocks began some 30,000 years ago. ![]() The ancient kingdoms of Magadh and of Licchavis, around about 7-8th century B.C., produced rulers who devised a system of administration that truly is progenitor of the modern art of statecraft, and of the linkage of statecraft with economics. Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra, the first treatise of the modern science of Economics, lived here. The location of the center of learning in this part of ancient India was of special significance, since it was a place the founder of the monks' religion, Gautama Buddha (c. 563--483 B.C.), had made his "capital" to teach his students. The name "Nalanda" in Sanskrit means "giver of knowledge": a combination of "nalam" (lotus, representing knowledge) and "da" ("to give"). This university produces many famous scholar who contributed in different areas. Aryabhatta was the one of the famous scholar, product of this university who worked on different place value notation and finally developed the decimal place value notation and place holder. Aryabhatiya is the author of several treatises on mathematics and astronomy, some of which are lost. His major work, Aryabhatiya, a compendium of mathematics and astronomy, was extensively referred to in the Indian mathematical literature and has survived to modern times. The mathematical part of the Aryabhatiya covers arithmetic, algebra, plane trigonometry, and spherical trigonometry. It also contains continued fractions, quadratic equations, sums-of-power series, and a table of sines. Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura, and, because the university of Nalanda was in Pataliputra at the time and had an astronomical observatory in Taregna (25.350289°N 85.035222°E) in the Sun Temple 6th century. It is believed that here he proposed the Heliocentric Model, and suggested for the first time in history that Earth revolves around the Sun. Nalanda continued as a seat of learning till the middle ages, when the muslim invaders burned it down. The ruins are a protected monument and a popular tourist spot. A museum and a learning center- The Nava Nalanda Mahavira - are located here. Chanakya, he was the wily and canny adviser to the Magadh king, Chandragupta Maurya. Chanakya vowed to dethrone the haughty king who was harassing the people of the land. After fulfilling that vow, he made Chandragupta, his disciple, the Emperor. As an emissary of Chandragupta Maurya, Chanakya traveled far and wide in pursuit of promoting the interests of the State and dealing with the Greek invaders settled in the northwest of India, along the Indus valley. He succeeded in preventing the further onslaught of the Greeks. Indeed, he brought about amicable co-existence between the Greeks and the Mauryan Empire. Megasthenes, an emissary of Alexander's General, Seleucus Necator, lived in Pataliputra (ancient name of Patna, the Mauryan capital) around 302 B.C. He left behind a chronicle of life in and around Patliputra. This is the first recorded account by a foreign traveler in India. It describes in vivid terms the grandeur of life in Patliputra, a city established by King Ajatshatru, around 5th Century B.C., at the confluence of the rivers Sone and Ganga. Nearby, Rajgir, was capital of the Muaryan Empire during the reign of Bimbisara. It was frequently visited by Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira. There are many Buddhist ruins here. It is also well-known for its many hot-springs which, like similar hot-springs elsewhere in the world, are reputed to have medicinal property. This glorious history of Bihar lasted till around the middle of the 7th or 8th century A.D. - the Gupta Period - when, with the conquest of almost all of northern India by invaders from the middle-east, the Gupta dynasty also fell a victim. It is here that the tenth and last Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh (22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was born and attained the sainthood of sikhism, that is became a Guru. A lovely and majestic Gurudwara (a temple for Sikhs) built to commemorate his memory - the harmandir- is located in eastern Patna. Known reverentially as the Patna Sahib, it is one of the five holiest places of worship (Takhat) for Sikhs. In medieval times Bihar lost its prestige as the political and cultural center of India. The Mughal period was a period of unremarkable provincial administration from Delhi. The only remarkable person of these times in Bihar was Sher Shah, or Sher Khan Sur, an Afghan. Based at Sasaram which is now a town in the district of the same name in central-western Bihar, this jagirdar of the Mughal King Babur was successful in defeating Humayun, the son of Babur, twice - once at Chausa and then, again, at Kannauj (in the present state of Uttar Pradesh or U.P.) Through his conquest Sher Shah became the ruler of a territory that, again, extended all the way to the Punjab. He was noted as a ferocious warrior but also a noble administrator - in the tradition of Ashok and the Gupta kings. Several acts of land reform are attributed to him. The remains of a grand mausoleum that he built for himself can be seen in today's Sasaram (Sher Shah's maqbara.) During most of British India, Bihar was a part of the Presidency of Bengal, and was governed from Calcutta. As such, this was a territory very much dominated by the people of Bengal. All leading educational and medical centers were in Bengal. In spite of the unfair advantage that Bengalis possessed, some sons of Bihar rose to positions of prominence, by dint of their intelligence and hard labor. One such was Rajendra Prasad, native of Ziradei, in the district of Saran. He became the first President of the Republic of India.When separated from the Bengal Presidency in 1912, Bihar and Orissa comprised a single province. Later, under the Government of India Act of 1935, the Division of Orissa became a separate province; and the Province of Bihar came into being as an administrative unit of British India. At Independence in 1947, the State of Bihar, with the same geographic boundary, formed a part of the Republic of India, until 1956. At that time, an area in the south-east, predominantly the district of Purulia, was separated and incorporated into West Bengal as part of the Linguistic Reorganization of Indian States. Resurgence in the history of Bihar came during the struggle for India's independence. It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his civil-disobedience movement, which ultimately led to India's independence. At the persistent request of a farmer, Raj Kumar Shukla, from the district of Champaran, in 1917 Gandhiji took a train ride to Motihari, the district headquarters of Champaran. Here he learned, first hand, the sad plight of the indigo farmers suffering under the oppressive rule of the British. Alarmed at the tumultuous reception Gandhiji received in Champaran, the British authorities served notice on him to leave the Province of Bihar. Gandhiji refused to comply, saying that as an Indian he was free to travel anywhere in his own country. For this act of defiance he was detained in the district jail at Motihari. This was the first instance of the success of civil-disobedience as a tool to win freedom. The British received, their first "object lesson" of the power of civil-disobedience. It also made the British authorities recognize, for the first time, Gandhiji as a national leader of some consequence. Thus, in 1917, began a series of events in a remote corner of Bihar, that ultimately led to the freedom of India in 1947. Dr. Rajendra Prasad from the village Ziradei, then the Saran district of Bihar. Dr. Prasad is considered to be one of the architects of the Indian Republic, having drafted its first constitution and serving as the first president of free India. During the independence movement, he left his law work and joined the Congress Party, playing a prominent role in the Indian Independence Movement. He served as the president of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the first constitution of the Republic, which lasted from 1948 to 1950. He also briefly served as a cabinet minister in the first Government of the Indian Republic. Following the 1930 Dandi March, most of the top Congress leaders were arrested. Jayaprakash immediately set up an underground office at Bombay to continue Congress work. He traveled all over the nation, printing, distributing and organizing secret meetings. After an underground meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Banaras, Jayaprakash went to Madras where he was arrested. The next day the newspaper headlines screamed, "Congress Brain Arrested!" In the Nasik jail, Jayaprakash had the opportunity to meet thinkers like Ram Manohar Lohia, Ashoka Mehta, Minoo Masani, P. Dantawala and Achyut Patwardhan. They all were impatient for freedom and agreed to steer the Congress toward the goal of socialism. Jayaprakash was released from jail in 1933. In 1934, Jayaprakash and his friends formed the Congress Socialist Party under the Presidentship of Acharya Narendra Deva and secretaryship of Jayaprakash himself. The group intended to function as the Socialist wing within the Congress party and aimed to make socialism the goal of the Congress. In a book "Why Socialism?" (1932), Jayaprakash explained why socialism would be right for India. He was adored by the youth for his idealism. On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court held the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, guilty on charge of corrupt practices in the election. Jayaprakash advised her to resign until her name was cleared by the Supreme Court. Instead, she clamped Emergency on June 26. Jayaprakash was arrested and sent to Chandigarh where he was kept prisoner in a hospital. "My world lies in shambles around me," he cried. As his health worsened, he was moved to a hospital in Bombay. Finally in January 1977, Emergency was lifted. Fresh elections were declared. Under Jayaprakash's guidance several parties united to form the Janata Party. The party incorporated all of Jayaprakash's goals in its manifesto. Jayaprakash was weak and helpless by that time. He felt his work was done, but he had to sorrowfully witness the collapse of the Janata Party government. Jayaprakash died on October 8, 1979. People hailed him as "Lok Nayak" or leader of the people. Vinoba Bhave said after Jayaprakash's death that Jayaprakash considered himself only a "Lok-sevak," or servant of the people. Bihar Division...................................... ![]() Present Bihar, C. M. Nitish kumar |
Adventure and Sports
Fairs and Festivals
Chatth Puja This festival, which honors the Sun God, is celebrated six days after the festival of Diwali. The Chhath puja celebrations do not include much fanfare, rather, it is a festival of prayer and propitiation that is undertaken with somberness. The devotees, through this festival, express their thanks and seek the blessings of the forces of nature, mainly the Sun and river. It is believed that the prayers of the devotees are always answered during the festival and, at the same time, they are also punished for doing any misdeed. Sama-Chakeva It is during the winter season that the birds from the Himalayas migrate towards the plains. With the advent of these colorful birds, celebration of sama–chakeva is done. This is a festival especially celebrated in mithila. Mithilanchal dedicates this festival to the celebration of the brother sister relationship. It represents the tradition of this land as well as the art of making idols. This festival starts with the welcoming of the pair of birds sama-chakeva. Girls make clay idols of various birds and decorate them in their own traditional ways. Various rituals are performed and the festival joyfully ended with the ‘vidai’ of sama and with a wish that these birds return to this land the next year. Ramnavami A Hindu festival celebrated in all parts of the country. This is the auspicious day, celebrates the birth of Lord Rama. Ramnavmi commemorates the birth of Lord Rama on the ninth day of of the first fortnight of Chaitra. People celebrate it by fasting and offering prayers in his honour. Ramnavmi is one of the most important festivals of Bihar. During Ramnavmi, Bihar is agog with the enthusiasm of the common people. In Bihar, Ramnavmi starts with the morning ablutions, chanting of the mantras and hymns and offering flowers and fruits to the deity. In many places of Bihar, we can find public gatherings called 'sat sangs' where a preacher preaches about the teachings of Lord Rama. At the gathering, excerpts from Ramacharitamanas are recited and people from all castes and creed sit together to listen to these recitations. Durga Puja goddess This is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the HinduDurga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi , Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and Bijoya Dashami. In it's capital, hundreds of pandals are set up with carnivals. The city witnesses a huge surge in visitors in the four days from Maha Saptami. Ancient Places of Patna Durga Puja includes Bari and Chhoti PatanDevi Maa Shitla Mandir Agamkuan Holi ![]() At the time of Holika people assemble near the fire. The eldest member or a purohit initiates the lighting. He then smears others with color as a mark of greeting. Next day the festival is celebrated with colors and lot of frolic. Children and the youth take extreme delight in the festival. Though the festival is usually played with colors at some places people also enjoy playing holi with mud. Folk songs are sung at high pitch and people dance to the tune of dholak and the spirit of Holi. Makar-Sankranti Also known as Tila Sankranti, the festival marks the beginning of the summer season. People believe that from this day on, the days become longer and the heat of the sun also increases. Every year it is observed on the 14th of January. People celebrate it by giving offerings to the poor. Bihula Bihula is a prominent festival of eastern Bihar especially famous in Bhagalpur district. People pray to goddess Mansa for the welfare of their family. Madhushravani This festival is celebrated all over mithilanchal with much enthusiasm. It is celebrated in the month of Sawan (Hindu calendar), which falls around August. This festival carries a message with itself. It teaches how to weave together religion and tradition in day-to-day life. Basant Panchami, Shivratri, Raksha Bandhan, Holi, Durga Puja, Deepawali, Id, Bakrid, Christmas and many more festivals however big or small are celebrated with enthusiasm all over this landmass. Fairs Sonepur Fair Nearly all animals can be bought at the Sonepur mela from all breeds of dogs, camels, buffaloes, donkeys, ponies, monkeys, chimps, Persian horses, sheep, rabbits, bears, cats, and guinea pigs. All varieties of birds, poultry and fishes are also available. The area that attracts all, however, is the one where elephants are lined up for sale. The Sonepur Fair is the only one where such a large number of elephants are sold. Numerous stalls are also set up at the grounds of the Sonepur Cattle Fair. You will find a wide variety of goods in these stalls, ranging from garments, to weapons and furniture, toys, utensils and agricultural implements, jewelry and handicrafts. Major attraction is the sight of numerous elephants, beautifully decorated for the purpose of sale. |
True Gifts of Nature.....
It is thrilling to watch the animals and birds with their natural grace, sounds and movements !!
![]() | Bihar is truly a splendid home for wildlife. There are a total of 21 wildlife sanctuaries and 2 national parks in Bihar that makes it the best in the country for witnessing the wonders of the nature. The area covered by each of them is quite huge which gives ample space for the creatures to thrive in natural habitats. The state has taken special initiatives to take care of the animals and maintain the fragile ecosystem. The wildlife sanctuaries here are also renowned because they are home to some endangered species whose number has increased over the last few years. Rajgir Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhimbhand Sanctury, Valmiki Wildlife Sanctuary, Kabar Jheel Bird Sanctuary, Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary and Kaimur Sanctuary are the most famous of all the sanctuaries in Bihar. These sanctuaries are also a great place for all the bird watchers as they are home to some magnificent and rare species of avi fauna. Apart from hundreds of species of resident birds, there are similar number of migratory birds coming every year during winters. |
Culture, Art and Cuisine
Bihar is diverse in its riches. It has been reflected through its Saints, philosophers, music, handicrafts and its festivals with all their colourful rituals and traditions, all of which amalgamate together to give a true reflection of Bihar Culture, Festivals, Cuisine, Adventure. Dance and Music Chhau Dance The simple tribal people of Bihar express their creative joy through the Chhau dance, which was originally a war dance, preformed in order to perfect fighting techniques. It has, over the years, evolved into a narrative ballet. Jat-Jatin Dance Jat-Jatin Dance of the Mithila region is performed where one person performs the role of Jat (the husband) and Jatin (the wife) wearing masks and goes through the story of their life. Bidesia Bidesia is another form of dance drama that is extremely popular in the Bhojpuri-speaking region of Bihar. Jhijhian Dance When there is a total drought and there is not even a single drop of water anywhere; the lands are cracked and parched, the sky is lifeless without clouds and the people are awaiting rains - this is the time when the village women pray to Lord Indra for rain. They sing and dance to please the Lord of Rain with their deep devotion. Finally Lord Indra responds their worship and takes pain to pour heavy rainfalls. This is the message of the most eminent folk dance of Bihar. Kajari Dance Kajari is a song of rainy season. The popular melodious tune of Kajari songs produce a sweet sensation in body and it is heard from the very beginning of the Shravan month with the rhythmatic note of rain. Sohar-Khilouna Dance Holi Dance ![]() A colourful festival which conveys the massage for religious integration apart from any sort of bigotism. There is a typical style “Dhamar” of holi singing in our villages in which the villagers celebrate it in a form of group with full joy and dances with musical instruments like dholak, jhal-manjeera, etc. Jumari Dance Specialized to the married women, it is a folk dance of Mithilanchal of Bihar. Jumari Dance of Bihar is similar to that of "Garba performed in Gujarat" and it is a folk dance of Mithilanchal of Bihar. This dance is performed only by married women, since most of the rituals are also performed by them and hence, it also signifies a good omen. After the month of Ashvin in September-October, the next one is the Kartik month and at this time, the sky becomes crystal clear, without any traces of clouds. The full moon looks attractive and spreads its milky rays in all directions. Such a romantic atmosphere gets the married women to go on dancing, singing and celebrating the turns of the season. Harvest Dance Vidyapati Songs ![]() Modern Dance ![]() Arts of Bihar Madhubani Painting One of the art forms of Bihar, the Madhubani School of Painting, has lately received much attention and poularity. Madhubani, in the heart of the Mithila region, had a rich tradition of wall paintings done by the village women with vegetable dyes. An artist encouraged them to try their wall paintings on paper and since then Mithila paintings gained ground. These line paintings in primary colors normally depict village scenes, human and animal forms, gods and goddesses. Patna Qalam Patna Qalam is a very popular School of Painting of Bihar. This offshoot of the well-known Mughal Miniature School of Painting flourished in Bihar during early 18th to mid 20th century. With the decline of the Mughals, the Delhi artists migrated to Murshidabad. Some of them came to Patna and practiced their craft following a style that gradually came to be known as the Patna Qalam. The style is famous for its soft colors and the use of hand made paper or mica sheets. Most of these paintings depict the life of the people of Bihar. Crafts of Bihar Sujini and Khatwa Embroidery Wood Inlay Lacquerware Stonecraft Bihar's rich heritage of stonecraft is evident from the ancient sculptures of the Mauryan period, prominent amongst which is the famous Asoka pillar at Sarnath. The most noted stoneware centre of Bihar is Patharkatti in Gaya district. this area abounds in the less expensive blue black pot stone from which images and household articles like the pestle, the mortar kharal (medicine grinder) are made. Buddhist icons are a speciality. Chandil and Karaikalla in Singhbum district and Dumka in Santhal parganas work in beautifully grained greenish black soapstone. Glassware Patna has had a fine tradition of glassware, mostly tableware, and this was amongst the popular items exported abroad in large quantities. This craft seemed to have declined with time. However, the state has revived glassware in another form. Glass objects are now decorated in the tikuli technique. Traditional pictures like those made on the walls of the houses, highly deorative and attractive, are made on glass with gold or silver pieces to fill up the entire picture. A number of utility articles are made in this style such as wall decorations, boxes, trays, table tops, mats, etc. Masks The papier-mâché masks of Bihar are impregnated with inarticulated meaning. Traditionally only those people who were dancers were permitted to make the masks. Originally they were made of wood, later of bamboo, then pumpkin shells and now papier-mâché. Printed Textiles Carpets But the pile carpet as we know it took birth only about 300 years ago and flourished because of royal patronage offered to carpet weaving. Though it still continues to produce the old designs based on the Indo-Persian style, it is on the decline, and having got isolated from Gaya-Sasram it produces a rougher variety in the usual floral and geometrical patterns. Cuisine Staple food · Dal · Roti · Tarkari · Achar · Kichdi, a broth of rice and lentils seasoned with spices · Chitba, prepared from rice · Pitthow, prepared basically from rice · Tilba prepared from Katarni rice · Chewda of Katarni rice Sweets · Anarasa · Belgrami · Chena Murki · Motichoor ka Ladoo · Kala Jamun · Kesaria Peda · Khaja · Khurma · Khubi ka Lai · Laktho · Parwal ki Mithai · Pua & Mal Pua · Murabba · Tilkut Snacks · Chiwra · Dhuska · Litti · Makhana · Sattu Fruits Litchi ![]() ![]()
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