Bihar Tours & Experiences

Things to do in Bihar

The first three are on our tour's route; the rest add Hindu rites, a relic site, two great festivals and Mauryan caves. For the sights themselves, their history and how to reach them, read our Bihar travel guide.

Dawn chanting at the Mahabodhi Temple

The Mahabodhi's day opens with sutta chanting and meditation at 5.30 am; at 6 pm comes the Mahayana chant, and at 6.30 the Pali one. Between sessions, circle the Bodhi Tree on the temple's walkways and visit the monasteries that Buddhist nations have raised around it. More is on our Bodh Gaya tours and experiences page.

Rajgir's ropeway and hills

Ride Rajgir's ropeway to the hilltop Vishwa Shanti Stupa, a peace pagoda in marble, then visit Gridhakuta, the Vulture's Peak, which tradition names as the place of the Buddha's Lotus Sermon, and Venuvan, a bamboo grove that King Bimbisara gave him early on. Our 3 Days Bodhgaya Rajgir and Nalanda Tour Package gives Rajgir its second day, ropeway ticket included, weather permitting.

Nalanda's monasteries

Nalanda Mahavihara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, spreads 11 monasteries and 14 temples across 23 hectares of excavated ground; keep to the paths, not the walls. The Archaeological Survey's museum, open since 1917, displays the finds, and a hall near the ruins is dedicated to Xuanzang, the Chinese pilgrim-scholar. Our tour spends its third morning here.

Pind daan at Gaya

Hindu families come to Gaya's Vishnupad Temple, by the Phalgu river, to make the pind daan offering for their forebears before Vishnu's footprint in the rock. The crowds peak in the 16 days of Pitrapaksha, in September or October, and phones and cameras stay outside under Bihar Tourism's rules.

Ashoka's pillar at Vaishali

North of the Ganga at Kolhua, near Vaishali, Ashoka's lion-crowned pillar still rises next to a brick stupa, and relics of the Buddha dug up at Vaishali are kept in the Buddha Samyak Darshan Museum.

Chhath and the Sonepur Mela

For Chhath, in October or November after Diwali, devotees fast and stand at the river ghats with offerings to the sun as it sets and again as it rises. Two weeks after Diwali, on Kartik Purnima, the month-long Sonepur Mela begins where the Gandak joins the Ganga.

The Barabar Caves

Jehanabad district's Barabar and Nagarjuni hills hold seven caves cut from the rock in Mauryan times, including Lomas Rishi and Sudama, with polished inner walls and inscriptions. Take an auto or taxi from Jehanabad and expect to walk the final stretch.

Choosing between our tours and experiences

Our 3 Days Bodhgaya Rajgir and Nalanda Tour Package is private and starts in Gaya or Patna: the same car and driver stay with you for three days, a local guide joins you at the principal sites, and you sleep in Bodh Gaya, then Rajgir. It is built for travellers interested in the Buddha's history, pilgrims from Buddhist countries among them, and we can stretch it to Patna or Vaishali. Experiences, which are single activities, appear separately whenever we run one in Bihar. Every package we sell in the state is on Bihar tour packages.

When to go for these

• Bihar Tourism recommends September to April for its sites.
• The coolest months are November to February. In IMD's averages, January in Patna reaches about 22°C in the afternoon and drops to about 9°C overnight, and winter fog can hold up morning trains and flights.
• From April to June the heat is fierce: Gaya's May afternoons average about 40°C, so see the Mahabodhi and Nalanda early or late. Our tour runs best between October and March.
• The monsoon, June to September, delivers roughly 85 per cent of annual rainfall.
• Festivals: the Vaishali Mahotsav in April, Buddha Purnima at May's full moon, Pitrapaksha in September or October, Chhath in October or November and the Sonepur Mela from Kartik Purnima.

Planning tips

• Bihar bans the sale and drinking of alcohol, under a law in force since 2016.
• The Mahabodhi's temple committee asks you to hand in phones, tablets, laptops and heavy bags at its deposit counter; Bihar Tourism permits phones and cameras at Golghar, at Kolhua and in the Barabar caves.
• Wear modest clothes, remove your shoes and keep your voice down in temples, monasteries and gurdwaras, and cover your head at Patna's takht.