Patna Travel Guide: Golghar, Museums, Gurdwara and Day Trips to Nalanda

Patna lies along the south bank of the Ganga, and its sights fall into three groups: the old city around Patna Sahib, the centre around Gandhi Maidan, Golghar and the museums, and the Mauryan ruins at Kumhrar. Bihar Tourism says the city's history stretches back more than 2,500 years, and that as Pataliputra it was the capital of Magadha under several dynasties for about a thousand years. For the wider state, start with our Bihar travel guide.

Golghar

Golghar is a beehive-shaped granary west of Gandhi Maidan. Captain John Garstin built it in 1786 for the British, after the famine of 1770, to store grain; Bihar Tourism says it was never used for that purpose because of a design flaw. The dome stands 29 metres high, with a spiral staircase of 145 steps up the outside, and from the top you can look out over the Ganga. Incredible India mentions a remarkable echo inside.

Takht Sri Harimandir Ji Patna Sahib

This gurdwara marks the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, and is one of the five takhts, the seats of Sikh authority. Three Sikh Gurus consecrated the site, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh built the present shrine, with its golden dome, in the early 19th century. Bihar Tourism lists the rules for visitors: dress modestly, cover your head, remove your footwear and keep silent. Incredible India adds that a museum holds relics of the Gurus, and that Prakash Parv, the Guru's birth anniversary, is observed each December.

Patna Museum

The Patna Museum opened on 3 April 1917 to house objects found around Patna, and it keeps Mauryan, Gupta and Mughal pieces along with paintings, textiles, sculpture and terracotta. Incredible India also mentions a casket of the Buddha's relics from Vaishali, a Persian manuscript of the Shahnama and a fossil tree in the geology gallery. Bihar Tourism says that photography is restricted and that electronic gadgets need permission from the authorities.

Bihar Museum

The Bihar Museum, on Bailey Road, opened in stages from August 2015, with the remaining galleries unveiled in October 2017. Incredible India says it covers 5.6 hectares and that Indian and Japanese firms designed it together. Three history galleries run from prehistory to the Mughals and the British period, and there are also galleries of historical and regional art, the Bihari diaspora and a children's gallery. Bihar Tourism asks visitors not to use flash and to keep quiet, and gives the best time as all year round.

Kumhrar and Agam Kuan

Kumhrar, also spelled Kumrahar, is the site of the Mauryan palace of ancient Pataliputra, which Incredible India dates to 322 to 185 BCE. The centre of the site is a hall of 80 pillars, made of Chunar sandstone, which began as a royal court. Close by, Agam Kuan is a deep well that Incredible India calls about 2,200 years old and ties by legend to Ashoka; a roofed structure was built over it under Akbar, and it belongs to a temple complex dedicated to Sitaladevi. Patna's district website describes the two as the ruins of the Ashokan Pataliputra.

Buddha Smriti Park

On Fraser Road near Patna Junction, opposite the Mahavir Mandir, this 22-acre park was developed to mark the 2,554th birth anniversary of the Buddha. Its stupa, the Pataliputra Karuna Stupa, holds one of the eight original relics excavated at Vaishali in a glass enclosure, and caskets nearby hold relics brought from Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka. The park also has a meditation centre, a library on Buddhism, a museum and two Bodhi trees that the Dalai Lama planted.

Mahavir Mandir

The Mahavir Mandir is a Hanuman temple, also called the Manokamna Temple because devotees believe it grants wishes. Incredible India says Swami Balanand of the Ramanandi sect established it in 1730 AD, and that the Patna High Court recognised its historic value in 1948. It faces Buddha Smriti Park, so the two make a short visit together near the main railway station.

Gandhi Ghat and the Ganga aarti

Gandhi Ghat is a riverfront landing that Incredible India links with the belief that Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were immersed here. The ghat comes alive at dusk, when priests wave 51 lamps in the evening Ganga aarti, and the page notes a kite festival at Makar Sankranti. Bihar Tourism lists auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws and city buses for getting there.

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh founded this library in 1891, according to Incredible India, and it was named after him in 1947. Its collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts includes illuminated Qurans and Mughal miniatures. Incredible India lists the library as open from 9.30 am to 5 pm and closed on Fridays, so you should not leave it for a Friday.

Padri ki Haveli

Incredible India describes Padri ki Haveli as one of the oldest surviving churches in Bihar. It blends a Portuguese-style facade with Indian motifs, and inside is a statue of St Francis Xavier that the page calls 400 years old. Patna's district website lists it with the High Court, Golghar and the Secretariat as examples of the city's British-era architecture.

Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park

Incredible India describes this 153-acre zoo in the heart of the city, with an aquarium and a snake house. It lists summer hours of 6 am to 6 pm and winter hours of 6 am to 5 pm.

Maner Sharif

Maner Sharif lies about 30 km west of Patna, according to Incredible India, and is a centre of Islamic learning. Its Bari Dargah holds the tomb of the Sufi saint Hazrat Makhdum Yahya Maneri, and the town is known for its laddus, which the page recommends buying from the shops nearby. Incredible India lists the shrine as open all day.

• Nalanda: The ruins of the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, spread across 23 hectares, and Bihar Tourism says the university flourished for about 700 years from the 5th century CE, until the invasion of Bakhtiyar Khilji around 1200 CE.
• Rajgir: Bihar Tourism's Nalanda page lists the Vishwa Shanti Stupa, reached by ropeway, along with Brahmakund, the Cyclopean Wall and Gridhakut Hill, where, according to Incredible India, the Buddha delivered many sermons.
• Pawapuri: The Jal Mandir is reached by auto-rickshaw or taxi from Nalanda and Rajgir.
• Bodh Gaya: For the Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the rest of the Buddhist circuit, see our Bodh Gaya travel guide and the Bodh Gaya tour packages.