Bihar Tour Packages

No. The Government of Bihar banned the trade and consumption of liquor from April 2016, and the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act has been in force since 2 October 2016, so hotels and restaurants in the state do not serve alcohol, and visitors should not bring any with them. Plan for a dry trip while you are in Bihar; the rule applies to travellers just as it does to residents.

Start where your route begins. Gaya's airport lies within a few kilometres of Bodh Gaya, so it suits a trip that opens at the Mahabodhi Temple, as the tour does. Patna, the state's main gateway, suits travellers adding the capital's takht and Bihar Museum, or Vaishali to the north. You can arrive at one and leave from the other: the tour starts in Gaya or Patna and returns you to either for your departure.

For Jain pilgrims, Pawapuri, a 38 km drive from Rajgir, is where Mahavira reached nirvana; the Jal Mandir, a water temple marking the site of his cremation, rises from a pool of red lotuses, so a visit fits easily around the tour's night at Rajgir. For Sikh pilgrims, Patna's Takht Sri Harmandir Ji, where Guru Gobind Singh was born, is one of Sikhism's five takhts; visit with your head covered and your shoes off.

It is an offering made for the souls of departed ancestors, and Gaya is one of the places Hindus most value for it. Families perform it at the Vishnupad Temple, on the bank of the Phalgu, where a footprint of Vishnu is set in rock, and the busiest time is Pitrapaksha, which lasts 16 days and falls in September or October. Gaya is 16 km from Bodh Gaya, so the rite can be added before or after the tour.

It runs weather permitting, as the tour says. The ropeway climbs to the Vishwa Shanti Stupa, a marble stupa on a hill about 400 metres high, and the ticket is included on the second day. If wind or rain stops it, your guide gives the time to Rajgir's other sights, such as Venuvan, the bamboo grove King Bimbisara gave to the Buddha, and the hot springs at Brahmakund, which Hindu pilgrims visit.

The excavated monasteries and temples spread over about 23 hectares, so wear comfortable shoes and use the whole morning the tour gives them. Bihar Tourism asks visitors to keep quiet and not to climb on the ruins. The Archaeological Survey's museum, opened in 1917, shows only a few hundred of the thousands of objects excavated at the site; its entry fee is not included in the tour. Nearby, a memorial hall remembers Xuanzang, the Chinese pilgrim-scholar.