Bihar ~ India Famous Places


Bihar

Visit To Bihar

Bihar, which takes its word from the word 'Vihara', or monastery was the early home of Buddhism and the birthplace of one of the India's most revered emperors - Ashoka. His buddhist legacy has left its imprint in some of the state's most visited pilgrimage sites, while on the outskirts of modern Patna. Kumrahar still has fragmentary remains of the early Mauryan capital. In Bodhgaya and Nalanda, Buddhism's traditions is powerfully visible. Akin to the greatest ancient civilations, Indian way of life was also clustered around its magnificent rivers. and few rivers of the owrld have moulded the culture, economy and personality of the people evolving on their banks as the great river Ganga. Cutting straight across Bihar from west to east, the bounteous Ganga had made the region so fertile and plentiful that its natural prosperity nurtured a veritable fountianhead of political and cultural civilization down the mellinia.

All major religions of India have left a mark most notably Buddhism, Janism and Sikhism. The world's first university of Buddhist learning was founded at Nalanda. Historically, Bihar has been closely linked with the life of Buddha as he spent most of his time here and attained enlightenment at Bodhgaya. Kingdom after kingdom rose and fell to leave their indelible mark on the history of Bihar. Rivals fought legendary battles, devastating the land and people. Yet, some strange alchemy, the same land saw the birth of some of the most gentle and progressive religious teachers like the Buddha, Mahavira and Guru Gobind Singh. Then came the Muslims who outlet the region with panache for five centuries, to be eliminated in their turn by the ever expanding colonization on the English, who ruled till the Indian Independence.

Hallowed by the footsteps of Buddha, the fertile plains of Bihar remain rich in farmlands growing paady, cotton, sugarcane, wheat, maize, barley, jute and fruit. These plains are peopled largely by Hindus but five centuries of Muslim political dominance has resulted in a significant Muslim population. Modern Bihar is marked by the sharp contrast between the densely populated and desperatley poor Ganges plains and the still forested uplands of the Chota Nagpur plateau. this is scenically beautiful, but increasingly a region of major industrial development as its rich seams of coal and huge deposits of iron ore contribute to India's economic modernization.

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