Patna – The Hub of Buddhist Tourism in India

Patna, also known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. Patna is the second-largest city in Eastern India after Kolkata. Patna was founded in 490 BCE by the king of Magadha. Pataliputra was a seat of learning and fine arts. Patliputra was home to many astronomers and scholars including Aryabhata, Vatsyayana and Chanakya. Megasthenes, the Indo-Greek historian and ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, gave one of the earliest accounts of the city. He described the city as the greatest city on earth during its heyday. A number of Chinese travelers came to India in pursuit of knowledge and recorded their observations about Pataliputra in their travelogues. One such famous account was recorded by a Chinese Buddhist traveler Fa Hien, who visited India between 399 and 414 CE, and stayed here for many months translating Buddhist texts.

The ancient city of Pataliputra was founded in the 5th century BCE by Ajatashatru, king of Magadha. His son Udaya made it the capital of Magadha, which it remained until the 1st century BCE. The second Magadha dynasty, the Mauryas, ruled in the 3rd and early 2nd centuries BCE until the city was ransacked in 185 by Indo-Greeks. The Shunga dynasty then began, ruling until about 73 BCE. Pataliputra remained a center of learning and in the 4th century CE became the capital of the Gupta dynasty. It declined and was deserted by the 7th century. The city was refounded as Patna by an Afghan ruler in 1541 and again rose to prosperity under the Mughal Empire. It passed to the British in 1765. Extensive archaeological excavations have been made in the vicinity.

The modern city of Patna is situated on the southern bank of river Ganges. The city also straddles the rivers Sone, Gandak and Punpun. The Buddhist, Hindu and Jain pilgrimage centres of Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya and Pawapuri are nearby and Patna City is also a sacred city for Sikhs as the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh was born here. Patna has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Government of India's flagship Smart Cities Mission. Patna is well connected through air, rail & road. Patna's native language is Magahi or Magadhi a language derived from the ancient Magadhi Prakrit, which was created in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, the core of which was the area of Patna south of the Ganges. It is believed to be the language spoken by Gautama Buddha.

Patna is home to many tourist attractions, popular among them being Buddha Smriti Park, Golghar and Takht Sri Patna Sahib – one of the Five Takhts of Sikhism and which consecrates the birthplace of the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Gobind Singh.

Buddha Smriti Park has been developed by the Bihar Government to commemorate the 2554th birth anniversary of the Buddha in 2010.

Buddha Smriti Park or Buddha Memorial Park is a brainchild of the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, on 27 May 2010 inaugurated Buddha Smriti Park and planted two saplings - one was brought from Bodh Gaya and the other from Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka of the sacred Bodhi tree.

The central attraction of this park is the Stupa, known as Patliputra Karuna Stupa which is 200 feet high, situated in the middle of the park. This 22 acre park located in the heart of city houses the pot containing holy ashes of Buddha inside the main stupa. Previously the pot containing ashes of Buddha was for display in Patna Museum. The pot was earlier excavated from Vaishali.

A Meditation Centre has been developed to create a unique facility derived from plans of the monasteries in the ancient Mahavihara of Nalanda. It consists of a total of 60 air conditioned cells, each having a view of the Stupa enshrining the sacred relics of Sakyamuni Buddha.

Golghar - literally translating to "Round House" - used to be a large granary built in the 1780s by the British to be used during times of famine. Built in the Stupa architecture, the building has a height of 29 m. It is pillar-less with a wall of thickness of 3.6 m at the base.

One can climb at the top of the Golghar through the 145 steps of its spiral stairway around it. The top of the Golghar presents a wonderful panoramic view of the city and the Ganges.

The spiral staircase was designed to facilitate the passage of the workers who loaded and unloaded the grain in the granary, who had to carry grain-bags up one flight, deliver their load through a hole at the top, and descend the other stairs.

Takht Sri Patna Sahib is a Gurdwara built to commemorate the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of the Sikhs on December. The current version of the shrine was built in the 1950s.

Takht Sri Patna Sahib is one of the Five Takhts of Sikhism. Takht which literally means a throne or seat of authority, are the spiritual & temporal centre of Sikhism. The first among them is the Golden Temple in Amritsar.