Patna Capital City of Bihar
Patna is one of the oldest continuously living cities in India and now it considered as the most important city in the state Bihar as well as its capital city. It is located at Middle Eastern India on the on the southern bank of the Ganga River. Being a place of several strip rivers includes the rivers Sone, Gandak and Punpun, Patna is known to as the largest riverine city in the world. Mahatma Gandhi Bridge about 5575 meters long on the Ganges is the longest river bridge in the India. According to the census report 2011, there have a population of about 1.684 million which make the city most populous in Bihar. Patna has a great religious history where several types of religions including Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Jain lived together and thus many pilgrim centers of different communities still found here. Some major of these religious places in Patna are Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Pawapuri and the sacred birth place of 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.
Patna derived its name from Pataliputra, the former capital city of Magadha kingdom. The city has a history of about 3000 years old from the ancient Vedic age. Several dynasties respectively the Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Gupta, Pala Dynasty and Islamic ruler controlled the administrative system of their kingdom from here as a capital city. After the end of Nanda dynasty, Maurya ruler Chandragupta captured it in 4th century AD and created it his capital city. When the Mauryan Dynasty lost its power then many undersized powers came in to the control but expect Gupta dynasty they are not so vital and the city lost its importance until Sherkhan Suri rose into power in the early 16th century A.D. Next, Sher Shah Suri was a powerful king of Patna who came in reign in the middle of the 16th century. He built a fort and founded a town on the banks of the Ganges. Although the fort does not survive now but the Sher Shah Suri Masjid mosque is alive still today.
After the Sher Shah Suri rule over Patna went under the control of Mughal emperor, Mughal ruler Akbar came to this city in 1574 to crush the Afgha Chief Daud Khan. Later in 17th century, Patna gradually became a centre of the English East India Company who established a factory in the city for trading of calico and silk. In 1912, Patna became the capital of the British province of Orissa and Bihar till 1935 when Orissa became a separate state. During the independence struggle of India many great leaders and commoners were involved from Patna to wash out the British colonial rule. Most notable Satyagraha movements of Mahatma Gandhi namely the Champaran movement against the Indigo plantation and the 1942 Quit India Movement were started from the city. after Indian independence in 1947 still today Patna continued to be the capital of the state of Bihar.
Tour Spots in the city Patna
Patna Zoo or Rajib Gandhi Zoological Park was initially established as a Botanical Garden in 1969. Then the Governor of Bihar provided about 34 acres of land from his House Campus to create a park in the garden. Later on, in 1972, Public Works Department and Revenue Department contributed about 119 acres to the Forest Department to develop the zoo. There have about 301 species of trees, herbs and shrubs and almost 101 species of animals. These include tiger, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, Himalayan bear, lion tailed macaque, hog deer, giraffe, zebra, crocodile, cassowary, Emu, white peacock, etc.
Indira Gandhi Planetarium is located in the Science Complex of the same name on Bailey Rd near Income Tax Golambar in Patna. It was opened for the public from April 1993. This Planetarium is one of the largest planetariums in Asia which attracts a large number of tourists round the year. The planetarium has regular film shows on subjects related to astronomy. It also holds exhibitions, which attracts lots of visitors. It places just 7 km away from Patna Airport, 1.6 km from Railway station, 2 km from Government Bus stand.
Sri Krishna Science Centre was established in Patna in 1978 by the Minister of state Govornment, Shri Thakur Prasad Singh respect to the first Chief Minister of Bihar, Dr. Sri Krishna Singh. This Science Centre is located at south west corner of the Gandhi Field. The Science Centre has been set up with all round objectives for the benefit of the public, especially the students of Schools and Colleges.
Patna Museum or Jadughar was built in 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artifacts found in Patna. Items on display in the multipurpose museum include archaeological objects, coins, art objects, paintings, instruments, textiles, paintings, bronze images and sculptures and terra cotta images by Hindu and Buddhist artists. It has a rare collection of British-period paintings depicting day-to-day life, as well as a fine collection related to the first President of India.
Gol Ghar (Gol - round and Ghar - house) was built by Captain John Garstin during British rule in 1786 to the west of the Gandhi Field. This building architecture consists of Stupa architectural style on the foundation of 125 meters and a height about 29 meters. Its wall is pillar less and maintains an average thickness of about 3.6 meters at the base. On the top of the house can be reachable through a 300 steps of its spiral stairway around the monument.
Mahavir Temple is a Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Hanuman, located in Patna. This temple is very sacred place for Hindus and its Mandir Trusts have the second highest in North India with an average daily earning of one lakh rupees. The temple is mostly gathered on Saturdays and Tuesdays, and during the annual festivals of Ram Navami and New Year celebration.
Patan Devi Temple or Maa Patneshwari, is a mother goddess considered as one of 51 sacred Shakti Pithas by Hindus. As per Hindu mythology, the 'right thigh' of the corpse of Goddess Sati had fallen here. The name of the city Patna is widely supposed to have been derived from this Temple name.
Maner Sharif is a Muslim historical site located about 24 km away of Patna on way of NH-30. It is also called Maner. You will found here two very popular Muslim tombs namely the Makhdoom Yahya Maneri or Bari Dargah and Shah Daulat or Makhdum Daulat or Chhoti Dargah.
Padri Ki Haveli or St Mary's Church is a small one of the oldest churches in Bihar constructed in 1713. The base of this church standing on a dimension of 70 feet in length, 40 feet wide and its height about 50 ft.
Takht Sri Patna Sahib is a Gurdwara or temple at Patna was constructed to respect tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in 1666 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It is believed that this sacred place was visited by Guru Nanak. This is one of only five Takhats or Holy Seats of Authority of the Sikhs.
Some other important tour spots in the city of Patna are Gandhi Maidan, Shitala Devi temple, Agamkuan, Kumhrar, Ashokan Pataliputra, Didarganj Yakshi, High Court and Secretariat Building. There are five other Gurdwaras in Patna which are related to different Sikh Gurus; these are Gurdwara Pahila Bara, Gurdwara Gobind Ghat, Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh, Gurdwara Bal Leela and Gurdwara Handi Sahib.
How to reach Patna?
Travel by Roadways
Being the capital city of Bihar, Patna maintain a well connected roadway network through several national highways namely NH-9, NH-30, NH-31, and NH-83. NH No.31 is very important which passes through Dinapur, Barauni, Nawada, Patna City and the maximum parts of Patna District. The city maintain a distance of about 1005 km from Delhi, 1792 km from Mumbai and 536 km from Kolkata, 511 km from Lucknow and 544 km Kanpur. Bus services from Patna to major neighboring cities is provided by the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation and the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation.
Travel by Railways
The Patna Junction railway station is connected to most of the major cities in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Varanasi and Amritsar etc by the railway network. Patna rail head located just 4 km away from city hub and the the nentwork of the city lies in between New Delhi and Kolkata. The city has five major stations: Patna Junction, Rajendranagar Terminal, Gulzarbagh Station, Danapur Station and Patna Sahib Station. It also serves as a major transit point for many express and super fast trains, connecting various parts of India.
Travel by Airways
Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport popularly called as Patna Airport is operating both the international and domestic flights from major cities in India and some countries. It is located just 10 km at Phulwarisharif. There has also a domestic airport in Patna at Bihta.
Travel by Waterways
Patna has a fixed terminal on National Waterway No-1 which was established in 1986. This 1621 km route of navigable water runs from Haldia (West Bengal) on the Bay of Bengal, across the edge of Jharkhand province and the centre of Bihar and then to Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh).
Hotels in Patna City
| Hotel Chanokya Bir Chand Patel Marg, Patna Phone: 0612-2223141 |
Hotel Element Guest line Kidaipuri, Nalini Apartment, Patna Phone: 0612-2530310 |
| Hotel Fort Station Road, Besides Iswari Market Phone: 0612-2210279 |
Atithi Hotel Near Patna Medical Collage Hospital Phone: 0612-2302891 |
| Hotel Gourab Railway Terminal, Rajendra Nagar Phone: 0612-6531480 |
Hotel Utsab Sri Ram Place, Boring Canal Road Phone: 0612-2525353 |
| Link way Hotel Fraser Rd, Vishal Mega mart, Patna Phone: 0612-6942044 |
Mamata Hotel Frazer Road, Daak Bungalow, Patna Phone: 0612-2230411 |
| OTL Hotel Mithpur, New Bus Stand, Main Rd, Patna Phone: 0612-6587200 |
Sri Vinayaka Hotel Near Bank of India, Frazer Road, Patna Phone: 0612-2224157 |
| The Ambassador Hotel Bhattacharya More, Rajendra Path Phone: 0612-2321903 |
Yuvraj Hotel Exhibition Rd, Bombay Dying, Patna Phone: 0612-2322082 |
| Mamta Estate Pvt Ltd Boring Road, Kitab Bhavan Marg, Patna Phone: 0612-2570400 |
Royal Inn Guest House Boring Road, Nageswer Colony, Patna Phone: 0612-2521544 |
| Vrindavan Hotel Frazer Road, Gurudwar Lane, Patna Phone: 0612-2235534 |
Siddhartha Inn Luxmi Nursing Home, Boring Rd, Patna Phone: 0612-2520804 |
| Baseraz Guest House Patliputra, Sardar Patel Path, Patna Phone: 0612-2571221 |
G-Guest House Phulwari Sharif, Haroon Nagar, Patna Phone: 0612-2555988 |
| Maharaja Guest House Fraser Rd, Kameswar Complex, Patna Phone: 0612-6941635 |
Lazmi Niwas Kadamkuon, Ram Krishna Ave, Nala Rd Phone: 0612-2660529 |
General info of Patna City
| Country | India |
| State | Bihar |
| District | Patna District |
| STD Code | 0612 |
| ISD Code | +91 |
| Dialects | Hindi, Magadhi, Angika, Bhojpuri, Maithili and English. |
| Climate | Winter Minimum - 8°C and Summer Maximum - 36°C |
| Best season to visit | October to April |
| Targeted Railway Station | Patna Railway Junction |
| Airport | Airport of Patna City Airlines phone: (+91) 612-223199 |
| Tourist Office | Government of India Tourist Office Sudama Palace Complex, Kankarbag Rd Phone: (+91) 612-345776 Bihar State Government Tourist Office Fraser Road, Patna, Bihar, India Phone: (+91) 612-210219 / (+91) 612-225295 |