Week end tour to Simultala

 19.3.21 Howrah at 11.30 hours

20.3.21. Simultala reached at 7.00 hours

21.3.21. Simultala (Train at 21.30 hours)

22.3.21. Howrah reached at 3.15 hours

In Bihar’s Jamui district, there is Jhajha block. Simultala is located in Jhajha block with a population of about 10,000. A time away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city life is something that almost all of us long. However, there are not many places left that can offer you a really enchanting time far from the noisy city life. If you want a scarcely populated place free from pollution, spend times walking on dusty roads through forests where you don’t want to be disturbed by any passing vehicle or other people, you can travel to Simultala, a little hamlet in the state of Bihar in India. Influence of Bengali language and culture can be seen from sign boards of streets to dialects of people. The Water of Simultala is very good for your health. Since it is located on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, the place is full of undulating lands and hillocks. The terrain is quite fascinating.

It is said famous stalwarts of past like Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra, Viceroy of British India, Queen of Dhaka and many more had their villas here. We did not find any house of Tagore or Sarat Chandra, though. A legend of his times, the owner of the film company “New Theaters”, Calcutta, Shri B.N. Sarkar’s bungalow at Simultala is a living testimony of its glorious past. This house comes before you reach the Simultala station.

How to Reach Simultala

Simultala is a small station on the Delhi-Patna-Howrah Railway route around 19 kms from Jhajha (by train it takes around 25 minutes and it is better option than Jasidih), 25 kms from Jasidih (To go to Deoghar you have to get down at Jasidih - which is 6 kms from Jasidih). If you are coming from Kolkata first comes Madhupur (in Jharkhand), then Jasidih (Jasidih ) followed by Simultala (Bihar) and Jhajha (Bihar). However the distance between Madhupur and Simultala is quite far - 54 Km. The journey from Patna to Simultala is fascinating - with the beautiful landscape, deep valleys, serpent like roads.

Traveling by train to Simultala is the best way to visit. If you're planning to visit Simultala, you should ideally take a look at the train that stops at the Simultala station. There are different trains from Howrah that can take you to this place. Though many of the trains do not stop at this small station, you can get down at Jhajha (better than Jasidih), which is the next station and take a trekker to come back to Simultala or you can get down at Jasidih and take a trekker to go to Simultala. The auto fare will be quite high, though. But you can also take a local train or any passenger train from Jasidih or Jhajha which stops at Simultala. But the frequency is not very good.

Please note there is no mobile tower of Vodafone. So if you have only Vodafone connection then you will be disconnected from the world. I am told before Jio, it was there, but Jio has apparently removed the Vodafone tower !

But according to me the best option is to take Howrah Mokamah train (03029) which leaves Kolkata at 23.30 hrs and reaches Simultala at a very convenient time of 7.00 hours in the morning. So your half a day is not lost unlike, say Digha or Mandarmani. We took this train only. We bought it through Tatkal, comfortably. Our normal train ticket was under waiting list. 

From the Station the Govind Chand Dhur's lodge or Gobido Chand Dhar’s lodge is only 15 minutes pleasant walk. We did not take any auto to reach the lodge. The lodge is around 300 metres from Simultala Police Station (landmark). It is owned by my friend’s batch mate Sujoy Dhar – who shuttles between USA and India at lease 6-8 times a year. The lodge is more than 100 years old and was constructed by his grandfather in the year 1913.

 

We were joined by Anindya, Sujoy (and two of his office colleagues in his architecture firm – who has come to renovate the house for guests – he wants it to be self sustaining), Sabyasachi – da at the lodge. After reaching our lodge we had our breakfast. Then we went for a short walking tour and saw the house of famous Lord Sinha and some other palaces. It is certainly a village of Grand Palaces. But most of them are in ruins.

The architecture of most of these villas is very impressive. It is a real pity Government is not doing anything to make it a tourist friendly place. These palaces will tell you how rich the Bengalis were in those days. This was their favourite holiday destination to retrieve their health. Simultala was regarded as one of the most popular health resorts among them, apart from Madhupur. Many of them had even constructed bungalows in Simultala.

 We saw The MILT Residential School which is run by an NGO (NRI Bengali) and offers free education to needy children from the locality.

 After a short while, we returned back to our lodge to have our lunch.

 Simultala Tourist Attractions

After lunch we hired a Trekker – where 7 of us were somehow accommodated. First we went to Dharara, which is basically a river basin.

Though it remains dry most parts of the year, if you are visiting the place in the rainy seasons, you are going to get it filled with water. We met a priest over there who had come from Kolkata long time back.

 

Then we went to Lattu Pahar – which is a popular one. You can go there and climb to the top of Lattu Pahar to get a fascinating view of the village from that height

From there you can see queen’s palace (queen of Dhaka) and we stopped at the Queen’s Palace on the way back to our lodge. The Palace is in derelict condition. These are all on the Eastern side of the Railway station/Shimultala.

On the Western side (of Railways line) is  Haldi falls – which is about 6 km away from the rail line. It is believed that the water of the falls have a curative power. You have to walk for some time to reach the falls, even if you take a vehicle. The wilderness of the Leelabaran falls, situated at a distance of 2 km from the railway station, is also worth seeing.

 

We had an amazing evening session with some snacks (Chicken Pakora). We were enthralled by the duet of Anindya (played Sarod) and Sabyasachi- da (played Sitar). They played Kirwani Raga.

 

Next day (21.3.21) Tutu-da and I went to see the Western side of Railway Station/ Simultala, by walk. Unfortunately we did not go to see the Haldi falls. This side is equally fascinating and full of derelict houses. We reached in time to our lodge to have our lunch. We saw Madhab Villa where shooting of famous Bengali film "Dadar Kirti" took place. Incidentally it is owned by my friends relative.

 We took our siesta and had evening snacks and finally left for Rail station. Our train does not stop here. So decided to go to Jhajha by a local train and catch our train at 21.35 hours. The train which stopped at Simultala came quite late (more than an hour late and we were almost missing our connecting train from Jhajha). So, to go to     Jhajha either take a trekker or have adequate time in hand. But it is always better to take a train which stops at Simultala station.

Tourist Places near Simultala

Within a few station’s distance is Jasidih, from where you can go to the popular Hindu pilgrimage of Deoghar - where you can take a look at the Baidyanath Temple of Lord Shiva. There are also several temples in the same area. Madhupur is not very far by train.

 Stay

Many of bungalows are provided on rent now-a-days. If you're looking for a hotel in Simultala you can also stay at Anya Resort Simultala. You can also stay Aprajita lodge or Paul Orchards or Bihari Babu’s Bungalow as per Google map, on the way to Anya Resort from Train station (Right hand side). I did not go to these place. But you can stay at my friend’s lodge, where charges are very reasonable. Contact details of Govind Chand Dhur’s lodge – 98309 12386 and 8777 705181, 98300 30875, 810 00 38844. Small rooms are Rs 700 per day for 2 people. Large rooms are Rs 2200 where 6 people can stay. For extra person Rs 150 per head. You can rent the kitchen also.

https://goo.gl/maps/nxmo2VbNqy1suFG88

You can also hire the whole lodge for an event for Rs 10,000 per day.

You can also see this website for accommodation : http://www.simultala.com/  

 Food

It is very famous for its Chana-Murki. Other than this Gulab Jamun, Bundiya, Samosa, Jalebi are also quite popular. We had Chana Murki and Samosa. We had Samosa, Jalebi and Chana Murki. They are quite good.

Source:

https://wikitravel.org/en/Shimultala (some more information about Accommodation)

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Simultala (some more information about Accommodation)

https://toursntravelsforu.blogspot.com/2013/02/simultala.html

https://www.patnabeats.com/the-mini-shimla-of-bihar-simultala/

http://sandakphutrekking.blogspot.com/2014/08/simultala.html

https://pushpakbanerjee.wordpress.com/2017/04/02/the-top-10-places-to-visit-in-deoghar-and-simultala/

Madhubani Art - birthplace of Sita

• • Friday, October 5, 2012
  • Triangular Park
    Kolkata, West Bengal, India
  • Sealdah Railway Station (3:40 pm)
    Beliaghata, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
    

    Sudipta and I met at Park Street and left for Sealdah to catch Ganga Sagar Express (3.40 pm departure).
  • Saturday, October 6, 2012
  • Madhubani, Bihar
    Madhubani, Bihar, India
    

    We are received by Sudipta of Banglanatak.com at Madhubani station and we went to the hotel in Madhubani (some of the people attending this festival are put up) for a cup of tea and left for Simri region by Sumo.
    
    Mithila is an ancient cultural region of South Nepal and North India lying between the lower ranges of the Himalayas and the Ganges River.
    
    The Gandak and Kosi River are in two sides of Mithila.
    
    The Ramayana records a marriage between Ram of Ayodhya and Sita, the daughter of Raja Janak of Mithila.
    
    Mithila region consists of the following districts:
    
    Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Khagaria, Madhepura, Madhubani, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa, Samastipur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul, Vaishali and West Champaran.
    
    The name of the district Darbhanga has been derived from its principal town Darbhanga, which is said to have been founded by Darbhangi Khan. It is also said that the name Darbhanga was derived from Dwar-Banga or Dar-e-Bang meaning The gateway to Bengal.
    
    The district of Madhubani was carved out of the old Darbhanga district in the year 1972 as a result of reorganisation of the districts in the State. It consists of 21 Development Blocks. Bounded on the north by a hill region of Nepal and extending to the border of its parent district Darbhanga in the south, Sitamarhi in the west and Supaul in the east, Madhubani fairly represents the centre of the territory once known as Mithila and the district has maintained a distinct individuality of its own.
    
    Sitamari has a past that pre-dates history. When Sita was going to Ayodhya, She stayed and rested here.
  • Simari, Bihar
    Simari, Bihar, India
    

    We stayed in one of the houses (roof) of the villagers (dadaji - grandfatther of Jyoti Kumari ??) , sort of vilalge chieftain of Simri.
    
    We were told that maachh ,makhan and paan - these are the identities of mithila : fish is the most popular food habit in mithila ; people like fish as a main dish in any occasion. Chuda ,dahi and chini is also most important cuisine of mithila. People like paan , in every occasion.
    
    The origins of Madhubani painting or Mithala Painting are shrouded in antiquity and mythology. Madhubani painting has been done traditionally by the women of villages around the present town of Madhubani (the literal meaning of which is forests of honey) and other areas of Mithila.
    
    The painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth, handmade paper and canvas.
    
    Madhubani painting has remained confined to a compact geographical area and the skills have been passed on through centuries, the content and the style have largely remained the same. And that is the reason for Madhubani painting being accorded the coveted GI (geographical Indication) status.
    
    Madhubani paintings also use two dimensional imagery, and the colors used are derived from plants. The colors used were traditionally derived from natural sources like plants, charcoal soot, ochre etc. Black colour is obtained by mixing soot with cow dung.Yellow colour is obtained from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves. Blue from Indigo. Red from Kusum flower juice, red sandalwood or rose. Green from the leaves of apple trees, White from rice powder, Orange from palasha flowers.
    
    Madhubani paintings mostly depict the nature & deity from the ancient epics. Natural objects like the sun, the moon, and religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings. Generally no space is left empty; the gaps are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds, and even geometric designs.
    
    Objects depicted in the walls of kohabar ghar (where newly wed couple see each other in the first night) are symbols of sexual pleasure and procreation.
    
    Traditionally, painting was one of the skills that was passed down from generation to generation in the families of the Mithila Region, mainly by women.
    
    After taking our breakfast we attended the work shop of Vidyanath Jha and Chaturang Jha. I was taught by Vidyanath Jha, senior and respected artists of the village, how to draw the Madhubani style of painting.
    
    After lunch we left to see the palace of King of Darbhanga. We were quite amazed to see that such exquisite palace exists in such a remote place like this. Later we got to know many things about the King of Mithila.
    
    In the evening we attended the programme organized by Banglnatak.com. We heard the song of Bauls (of Bengal,) drummers of Bajashol of Orissa and some local artists also sang. It was jam packed. However there was no commotion.

    http://madhubanii.blogspot.in/
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhubani_art
  • Sunday, October 7, 2012
  • Simari, Bihar

    Simari, Bihar, India

    In the morning we went for Prabhat feri or singing around the villages by the Bauls.

    
    

    Then after breakfast we went to the house of the artists. We went to the house of Vidyanth Jha, K Jha Devi and Chaturang Jha.

    
    

    In fact they are extremely warm and offered tea. In one of the houses were offered a special type of black coloured Roti. We got to know that Banglanatak.com is doing great work for the artists. After chatting some time we went to the mela ground to finish our art work - we did yesterday. I bought many paintings today.

    
    

    Then after taking our lunch we left for station. There we met a person and got to know that Darbhanga Raj, also known as Raj Darbhanga and the Royal Family of Darbhanga, were a family of Zamindars and rulers of territories that are now part of Mithila and Darbhanga district, Bihar, India. Their seat was at the city of Darbhanga. The estate of Darbhanga Raj was estimated to cover an area of 2,410 square miles (6,200 km2), incorporating 4,495 villages within 18 circles in Bihar and Bengal and employing over 7,500 officers to manage the estate. It was the largest zamindari in India and was the best managed estate at the time of abolition of Zamindari. The Raj Darbhanga trace their origin to kayastha at the beginning of the sixteenth century.

    
    

    To know more see http://akshay-chavan.blogspot.in/search/label/Darbhanga

    http://madhubanii.blogspot.in/
  • Sealdah, Raja Bazar, Kolkata, West Bengal
    Sealdah, Raja Bazar, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

  
  

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  Madhubani Art - birthplace of Sita on Tripline
  
  

Sonepur Ka Mela, Bodh Gaya and Nalanda - a study in contrast

25/11/2011

We left for Patna on 25/11/2011 to see Sonepur Mela by Himigiri Express at 11.55 PM. We are six people – Gobindo, Ashis-da, Subir-da and Ashit-da and his wife with diverse background - all of us, hardcore traveller and suffer from wanderlust.....a great combination.

Our itinerary is like this

http://www.tripline.net/trip/Sonepur-3536313747011004B89DBF744E62D888

26/11/2011

We reached Patna around 10.15 am. From Patna we hired/reserved an auto to go Sonepur (Rs 200 – which is little less than normal rate). Alternately one can go to Hajipur (@ Rs 20 per head) and reach Sonepur by taking another auto. There is a direct train to Sonepur station also from Kolkata, but the length of the journey is more – more than 14 hours. Our contact person is Mr. Ajay, System Administrator, (0 9430 828 188); he is with Bihar tourism. We booked 3 Tents on 26/11/2011 – the location of the tent is 2 minutes walk from the Sonepur Mela (near Sonepur Hospital) for 1 day @ Rs 525 per Tent. The location of the tent is very secured and convenient.

When the Mela started in November 10, 2011 (up to 9.12.2011) the rent was Rs 999. As the mela progresses the rent falls. There are some cottages also too at Rs 1100, which were initially around Rs 3000. I thought it is too pricey considering the facilities provided. (Bihar Tourism office is at 26 B Camac Street – few buildings away from Pantaloon,22 Camac Street,Kolkata. There is no infrastructure there, but Mr. Tapan Sinha (9830 04 52 35) gave some valuable information i.e. contact no. of Mr. Ajay.)

The Sonepur Cattle Fair or Sonepur Mela is held on Kartik Poornima (the full moon day) in the month of November in Sonepur, Bihar, on the confluence of river Ganges and River Gandak. It is also known as Harihar Kshetra Mela and it attracts visitors from all over Asia; till date, it is the biggest cattle fair of Asia and stretches on from fifteen days to one month. It has its origins during ancient times. Chandragupta Maurya used to buy elephants and horses across the river Ganges. The Sonepur Cattle Fair once used to attract traders from places as distant as Central Asia. Originally, the venue of the fair was Hajipur and only the performance of the Puja used to take place at the Harihar Nath temple of Sonepur.

However, under the rule of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the venue of the fair got shifted to Sonepur. The temple of Harihar Nath is believed to have been originally built by Lord Rama, on his way to the court of King Janak to win the hand of Mata Sita. It is further said that Raja Man Singh later got the temple repaired. The Harihar Nath temple, as it stands today, was built by Raja Ram Narain, an influential person during the late Mughal period.

Billed as the world’s largest cattle fair, the Sonepur Mela in Bihar draws in farmers from across the country vying for top prizes for their animals. The Sonepur Mela is one of the largest cattle fairs in Asia where cows, sheep, elephants, camels, cats, dogs, pigs, monkeys. But over the years, the fair has become much larger to include several attractions, including motorcycle wall of death shows and dancer girls.

There are plenty of other attractions and entertainments on offer at this pulsating festival; visitors can simply browse through the stalls or regional food and drink specialties. You will find the variety of stalls selling almost everything under the sun from garments to weapons, furniture to toys, utensils and agricultural equipments to jewelry and handicrafts etc. You may also taste varieties of famous local delicacies such as Papdi, Khazoor, Halwa and much more. However it was no way different from any other village fair and loud music.

But when we went there, it is bit late and by that time elephants and camels have left. A huge disappointment for us. So it is better to go within 1^st week. We rode the giant wheel and saw some magic shows.

However we saw horse, cow, rabbit, dog, birds. We were told the cost of a good horse is Rs 1 lakh. The jersey cows were sold at Rs 50,000 and ordinary cows were sold at Rs 20,000.We are told that jersey cows give 20 litres of milk per day and local cows give 8 litres per day ( and hence the difference).

When asked about the dancing girls we were told that “nautanki iska jaan hai. Yeh chala jaiga to mela bhi khatam ho jaiga!”

In the evening we went to beside the Gandak River and after spending some time we came back to our tent and left for dinner.

27/11/2011

Today we left early in the morning to see the fair and went to the Gandak River and hired a boat (Rs 100) to go the other side and saw a Nepali temple on the other side of the river. There is a crematorium on the other side of the river. After spending some time in the boat, we decided to come back to hotel and left for Patna.

BODH GAYA

By train

The nearest Railway station is Gaya (16 km). From there you can take a bus or a three wheel taxi to Bodh Gaya. Three-wheel taxi price is extremely variable, depending on time of day, but should be between 80-120 Rs. You should bargain considerably, there is rarely a shortage of service.

The express train from Patna takes about two hours. One can also go to Gaya from Kolkata.

By bus

There is a main road connecting Bodhgaya and Gaya. The Bihar State Tourist Development Corporation runs daily deluxe bus services to and from Bodh Gaya.

Ashitda and his wife left for Kolkata (they halted some time in Patna at their relative’s house) and left for Bodh Gaya by taking the bus from Mithapur Bus station, Patna – which is 2 km south of Patna railway station. We took our lunch at Welcome restaurant beside the bus station.

The bus goes straight to Bodhgaya. It took around 4 hours to reach there. When we reached there, it is already 8.00 pm. Then we took an auto to reach our hotel – Shanti Guest House – 631- 2200 129 or Mobile 909 717 0075 or 9835 81 80 81 behind Kal-chakra ground. The hotel rent is only Rs 400. In fact we were lucky to see the brother of owner of this hotel in the bus itself! It was very good and highly recommendable. Since the tourist season starts with the coming of Dalai Lama to Bodh Gaya in mid December, we are still good 15 days away from that day and therefore hotels were quite cheap. It is in a very nice, peaceful location. According to the owner of the hotel, the rent can even go up to few thousands during the high season! : Shanty-guesthouse.com

We went to Mahabodhi temple complex – the temple is already closed (at 9 pm) and will open again in the morning at 4 am. We instantly fell in love with the place. It is unlike any touristy area in India, more like Khajuraho and not at all crowded.

Do

Bodh Gaya is a village in the state of Bihar. As the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment, Bodh Gaya is the most revered of all Buddhist sacred sites. Bodh Gaya is essentially a pilgrimage destination for Buddhists and all of its main attractions are related to this. The subsidiary tourist industry that has grown up around it (shopping, eating, and accommodation) is not really the main attraction. Perhaps unique to Bodh Gaya are the rather cheesy CDs for sale near the temple entrance that purport to be monks chanting Buddhist texts. You will know whether you want to take this home with you!

Whether you're a Buddhist or not, the main thing to do in Bodh Gaya is just to absorb the vibe of the place where the Buddha attained awakening: the vapour trail of that energy is still in the air!

Eat

We had our dinner at Green Fuji. The food was very good and price is very reasonable – it is 2.5 minutes walk from Mahabodhi temple. There are some other restaurants also.

Cafe Om. Excellent pastries, great food too. This is the place where everybody meets everybody.

Sleep

There are some sleeping options too in Bodhgaya. Some of them with whom we had a talk are:

Deep guest house: 200/ 300 (2007) – now 500 / 600 Ph No. 0631- 2200 463

Bodhgaya Road; deepguesthouse@yahoo.com

Telephone +91 631 2200463

Kirti Guest House P.O Box No.21,Bodh Gaya 824231,Gaya, Bihar, India

            Tel. 91-631-2200 744 / Mobile 91 9431 223 016 / kirtihouse744@yahoo.com

Kundan Bazar Guest House, Bhagalpur Village, 824231 [http://www.kundanbazar.com], reservations@kundanbazar.com Single rooms to full-service apartments(Near Old Vietnam Temple), ☎ 9106312200049, Single rooms to full-service apartments, bike rentals, internet cafe, book, gift, and clothing shop, snooker bar, self-service kitchen, laundry facility, tour packages, and more

• ££ Monastery guest houses offer a cheap option to hotels, though guests are expected to adhere to their house rules. They do not charge fixed nightly rates, but instead accept donations (ask other guests for the going rate). There is a whole string of guesthouses just opposite the park from the Mahabodhi Temple. All pretty much the same well maintained with restaurants on the ground floor.

28/11/2011

     We hired a car for Rs 1300 to see Bodhgaya (around Rs 300), Rajgir and Nalanda.

The main temple complex houses the famous Mahabodhi temple/ Mahabodhi stupa and a descendant of the original Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment.

Bodhi Tree - it is believed that this tree is a direct descendant of the one under which the Buddha Sakya-muni attained enlightenment, inside the Mahabodhi complex.

There is also a nice lake in the complex. After spending around 1.5 hours inside the complex we bought some souvenirs within the complex and had some good tea. Then we went to some other attractions.

We saw 80-foot Buddha Statue .

There are also temples or monasteries from many other nations with a Buddhist tradition. Most temples open from 6AM to sunset and close between noon and 2PM. The best thing is you can see temple architectures of various countries! They are all nearby. One can even cover them by walk or by cycle rickshaw (to save time) or by hiring a bicycle.

§ Japanese temple (Indosan Nippon),

§ Thai Monastery

§ Bhutanese Monastery

§ Tibetan Monastery

    We however did not see Bodhgaya Multimedia Museum, located next to the Mahabodhi Temple, due to scarcity of time. It is open all 7 days of the week. Museum provides the historical and Geographical context for the life of Buddha through a set of Multimedia films and 3D Animation movie.

We also did not see Barabar caves, the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, mostly dating from the Mauryan period (322–185 BCE), and some with Ashokan inscriptions, located in the Jehanabad District, 24 km north of Gaya.

We then went to Fuji green to have our lunch (we had Momo, then-thuk, fried rice and banana and ordinary pan cake. All of them are very good and it is a real value for money. Then we went to our hotel to check out (12 pm) and left for Nalanda and Rajgir. On the way we got down at Myanmar or Burmese temple.

Get out

§ Rajgir – The site of Gridha-kuta (Vulture's Peak), where the Buddha stayed and gave teachings on the Mahayana (the second turning of the wheel), and Venu-vana, the first Buddhist monastery. Rajgir is also an area known for its hot springs, which are open to the public. Buses depart from Bodhgaya.

§ Nalanda – This Buddhist University was established in 450 AD. Currently, there are extensive ruins, but no inhabitants. Nalanda Museum is open 10AM-5PM daily except Friday.

$$ If you are coming from Bihar Sharif via Bakh-tiyarpur, then avail shared jeeps plying between Rajgir and Bihar Sharif (make a stop at the turnoff for Nalanda – which is in between these two). Rickshaws and other vehicles are available from there to the main gate of Nalanda; a distance of 2km. PWD operates a guest house near the gate.

§ Deo – Visit this place for a glimpse of Famous Sun Temple.

§ Patna - 130 km by Road, Deluxe Buses for Patna Available from BSTDC : Bodhgaya Hotel (7AM, 2PM daily), you can also go By Train from Gaya Junction

Nalanda

Understand

Nalanda is in the Bihar state of India and marks the site of the once famous Buddhist University also known as the Nalanda University. Nalanda was a Buddhist university established in 450 AD, and was the longest running university in Indian history and at its zenith accommodated over 10,000 students and over 2,000 faculties. However, it was destroyed by Bakh-tiyar Khilji, Turkish Muslim invaders in 1193, when the students and teachers were massacred and the massive university library was burnt down, and currently all that remains are extensive ruins that are spread over an area of 14 hectares. Though there was a small stupa constructed by Emperor Ashoke, there was no University there. But it was an important place for Buddhist for that.

Three kings of different era were instrumental in making this University – Guptas of famous Gupta dynasty, Harshavardana and Devpala of Pala dynasty. Hiuen Tsang travelled visited Nalanda first in 637 and then again in 642, spending a total of around two years at the monastery.

By train

The nearest important station is Bihar Sharif (about 15 km) - which is connected to Patna and several other important towns and cities of eastern India.

By car

Shared jeeps plying the route between Rajgir (15km) and Bihar Sharif (35km) make a stop at the turn off for Nalanda. Rickshaws and other vehicles are available from here to the main gate, a distance of 2KM.

By bus

Bus facilities are available from Patna, Gaya, Bihar Sharif and Rajgir.

It took around 3.5 hours to reach Nalanda by our auto. The road and landscape was indeed picturesque. We initially skipped Rajgir (which was on the way) to come back later. However we had some exquisite Khaja at Rajgir. Rajgir is very famous for Khaja. We bought some for our home. Gobindo did not allow me to make the payment for Khaja!

See

The Great Stupa. The remains of the stupa have terraces and smaller stupas.

We met a very good guide in Nalanda (probably the best I have seen ever). We were there for around 1 hour. We were told at its prime it used a cover an area of around 9 Km. We were late for the museum , as a result could not see the museum.

Nalanda Archaeological Museum. The museum houses a significant collection of Pala and Mauryan statues. 10AM-5PM daily, closed Fridays.

Eat

There is nice Garden Restaurant run in the Nalanda Multimedia Museum. However we did not go there.

Then we planned to go to Rajgir to see the hot spring. But it was already late- so we had to skip the idea to go to hotspring.There are many horse carts in Rajgir. There is a railway station near the main bus stand of Rajgir.

Rajgir was a favourite place of Buddha and Mahavir and its original name was Rajgirha. It was the capital of Maurya. Bimbisara was the first one to be converted to Buddhism and transferred the capital from Rajgir to Pataliputra (or Patna of today). Pataliputra was probably the largest city in the world in those days.

Sleep

Many visitors to Nalanda prefer to stay in Rajgir as there is a greater choice of accommodation

Get out

Bodh Gaya (89km) and Rajgir (15km)

We were informed that train to Bihar Sharif is running late. So we decided to go to Rajgir to catch the bus to Bihar Sharif for a 1 hour journey. From Bihar Sharif (a major junction) we took another bus to Bakh-tiyarpur. Initially we were scared that the train is running very late. But actually it was around 1.15 minutes late. We had our dinner (Ganga Restaurant) at Bakh-tiyarpur railway station. The food was very cheap and good – though quite spicy. There are very few options near the railway station, though.

http://girls-143.blogspot.com/2011/11/group-india-sonepur-mela.html

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/11/16/in-focus-sonepur-india-cattle-fair/5094/

http://kalpriyanagari.blogspot.com/2011/11/sonepur-mela.html

http://dick-dykes.blogspot.com/2011/11/indias-sonepur-fair-11_22.html