A Visit to Bihar

The Gole Ghar, Patna

Bihar – the cradle of Indian civilization

[Bihar is a rich state with some of the poorest people living in it. It is rich in fertile land, plenty of water, and hardworking people. This is the state which each year lands more IAS and IIT seats. Also this is the state where ugly caste politics has dragged its people down into poverty.]

A visit to the state of Bihar has been on my bucket list for quite some time. Earlier in Feb 2020 I made a short trip to Kaimur district of Bihar hoping to take another journey soon. Then corona struck and all my travel plans went haywire.

Nalanda - the ruined university

Exactly a year after, I mustered courage and embarked upon my journey, this time to the western state of Gujarat followed by a trip to the North East in March. Then came the second wave and once again we were confined to our homes. However, with the second corona wave came the vaccination drive too.

After taking two jabs and emboldened by the ebbing wave I decided to slip into my trekking shoes once again with Bihar uppermost on my mind.

It was August 2021 and the erratic monsoon was wreaking havoc in the eastern parts of India including the area of Bihar that I had planned to do. Watching the weather forecasts and vagaries of monsoon became a full time job. Anyways, I had to bite the bullet and finally took a calculated risk by booking my tickets for a journey starting 05 Sept 2021.

Enthusiastically, I made an eight day travel plan and set out to cover the following places in Bihar:

The Mahabodhi temple and tree, Bodhgaya

- Patna

- Vaishali

- Chirand

- Gaya / Bodhgaya

- Rajgir / Nalanda

- Barabar & Nagarjuni caves in Jehanabad

VAISHALI

They say the first republic in India was established in the 6^th century BCE here by King Vishal. There are some ruins in Vaishali which they say are those of a fort/palace belonging to the King. I, however, would take it with a pinch of salt.

Vaishali is the birthplace of the last Tirthankara of Jainism – Lord Vardhaman Mahavira. Lord Buddha is said to have attained nirvana here after giving his last sermon. Here the second Buddhist council after the Buddha’s demise was also held where the Ananda Stupa and the Asokan pillar stand today. And then, Ambapali / Amrapali – the legendry beautiful courtesan also lived in Vaishali.

The Ananda Stupa & Asokan Pillar, Vaishali

CHIRAND

I wanted to see this place where the ASI excavations have resulted in finding stone tools of Neolithic period (7 to 8 thousand years back). The tools are uniquely made and polished. Chirand is a village situated on the north bank of river Son. It is located near the boat starting point in Doriganj – a place notorious for illegal sand extraction by the sand mafia of Bihar. Unfortunately, it was Monday and the museum was closed.

Inscription in one of the caves

I decided to know from the locals about the sand trade and was told that the sand mining rights were leased out for 99 years by an erstwhile chief minister of Bihar to one of his relatives. There are hundreds of interstate trucks filled with illegal sand and impounded by the authorities. It is a chaotic situation there in the area.

Three days before my arrival in Patna there were heavy rains. Vaishali was inundated and so were the surrounding area and the roads. We had to take a longer route to reach Vaishali from Patna as the usual route via Lalgunj was under floodwaters. The water wasn’t receding as the river Sone in spate had breached the earthen bunds thereby letting more water into the low lying plains.

BODHGAYA

After doing Vaishali and Chirand from Patna, I made Bodhgaya my base for the rest of my travels in the area. I chose Bodhgaya over Gaya because the latter is much polluted, crowded, and unclean. Comparatively, Bodhgaya is calm, cleaner, and wide open. It is not cost effective to make Bodhgaya as a travel base but the serene and calm atmosphere would compensate.

Due to the pandemic, Bodhgaya is not fully open. Only the Mahabodhi temple and the 80 feet Buddha are open to the tourists.

The 80 feet Buddha statue in Bodhgaya

Rajgir & Nalanda

It requires one full day to do these destinations. Nalanda is 75 km from Gaya and Rajgir 10 km short of that. It was overcast and instinctively I decided to visit Nalanda first and asked the driver to move straight without stopping at Rajgir.

Nalanda was a prestigious centre of learning in ancient India. Founded in CE 427 by a benevolent and erudite king named Kumaragupta I, the university continued to spread knowledge and wisdom across the globe for the next more than 7 centuries. Then came a savage marauder named Mohamed Bakhtiar Khilji who in the name of Islam, massacred the monks and teachers and plundered Nalanda in CE 1193. He put the library on fire and the 9 million manuscripts continued smouldering for 3 months. That was the end of Nalanda.

Two hours were enough for me to cover the Nalanda ruins.

Rajgir

Rajgir is the place in Magadha of Mahabharata lore where the mighty Jarasandh ruled. He was killed by Pandava son Bhima in a physical bout of wrestling.

The Swarna Cave, Rajgir

Swarn Bhandar caves

When we reached back Rajgir, the rain had already stopped and my journey went on uninterrupted. I started with the Swarna Bhandar caves. These two man made caves are claimed by both the Buddhists and the Jains. The name swarn bhandar or Sona bhandar is misleading. The caves are not related to any gold stash /deposits though the legend has it that there is a secret door in the rock which can be opened by an inscription engraved there. The guide told me that the inscription hasn’t been deciphered yet. More of myth than anything close to reality.

The Sky Walk

About 15 km from Rajgir, in the thick forest, Bihar Forest department has erected an 85 feet glass bridge. This is not actually a bridge as it doesn’t span and gorge/waterbody. It can at best be termed as a glass platform to give you a feeling of a skywalk as you look down through the glass floor. Not much to write home about. You waste a lot of time and gain nothing by going there.

The Ajatshatru Fort

There’s a trace of boundary wall in a small piece of land. A man sits in the corner. He is a self styled tourist guide. “Come, I will show you the jail where king Ajatshatru had imprisoned his father Bindusar”, said the man to me. “But Sir, there is nothing to see here. No ruins are visible, How and what you will show me”, I retorted back. Then he explained that everything was underground and he was ready to explain the whole thing to me. But I wanted to see, not hear another story. That was it. The worst thing to happen to a traveler anywhere in the world is when you are asked to listen to a mythical narration in the name of showing an ancient monument.

The world peace Pagoda

Built in 1969 by a Japanese monk atop Ratnagiri hill this is said to be the tallest peace pagoda.. There’s a ropeway to take you up there in about 10 minutes. One can walk up as well if one so desired. However, nothing spectacular about it though they say it is the tallest one. The one in Dhaulagiri, near Bhubaneshwar, Orissa is majestic and more appealing to the eye.

Then there are mythical places like the arena where they say the wrestling bout between Jarasandh and Bhima continued for 18 days, and also the track marks of the wheels of Lord Krishna’s Chariot. Hinduism has too much of such mythical lore. The less said the better.

Barabar & Nagarjuni caves

Lomas Rishi cave, Barabar

Inside Lomas Rishi cave

Some 40 km from Bodhgaya towards Jehanabad, we find 7 caves cut into granite rock. Four of these are in Barabar hill and three in Nagarjuni hill. They also call this group of 7 caves as Satghar or seven homes. These simple rock cut caves are considered to be the oldest in India belonging to the 4th century BCE. They are said to have been cut between 322 – 185 BCE. The Sudama cave is said to be the oldest. Comparatively, the oldest of Ajanta caves in Maharashtra, India belongs to the 2^nd century BCE though they continue to be made until the 5^th century CE.

Three of the four Barabar caves are on a single rock and the fourth – Vishwakarma cave, one is a little distance away. The three are Karana Chaupar, Sudama cave, and the Lomas Rishi cave. The granite rock looks like a whale from one side (where the Karan cave is) and a crocodile from the other (where the Sudama and Lomas caves are). All these caves are rock cut and so finely polished that one’s reflection is visible like in a mirror, though not that sharp and clear.

The Vapiyaka cave, Nagarjuni

Some two km away on the Nagarjuni hill are 3 more such caves. These are Gopica cave, Vedathica cave, and Vapiyaka cave. The Gopica cave is visible when you park your vehicle by the building of the South Bihar Power Distribution company. It is about a 500 m walk to the point where the steps start. Walk up 55 steps to reach the big cave. The other two caves are at a distance of about one km from this cave.

The Gopica cave, Nagarjuni. Biggest of the seven

The track is not well laid out and chances are that you get lost like I was. I went about 2 km in the wrong direction when I sensed that the area I was in had no chance of a rock cut cave in existence. I returned back and found a farmer tending his cattle. This man Kishori Paswan was nice enough to take me to the remaining two caves; Vedathika and Vapiyaka. But for his guidance, I wouldn’t have reached the last two caves. Those two are deep inside the forest area.

King Ashoka is said to have given these caves to the ascetics of the Ajivika sect who were ardent atheists of that era.

My week long trip went smoothly without any disruption from the rains. All I lost to the rains was about 30 minutes of my time while visiting the Sky Walk safari in Rajgir.

PS:

As I write this piece, I hear that Chirand village is seriously under floodwater and also, other areas of Vaishali are inundated due to heavy rains in the past few days.

SOME PHOTOS