Vishnupad, Mundeshwari, Janaki Mandir and the sacred circuits
The famous temples of Bihar span three thousand years: Mundeshwari on its Kaimur hilltop is among the oldest functioning temples in India; Vishnupad at Gaya holds the footprint where Hindus perform Pind Daan for their ancestors; the Mahabodhi at Bodh Gaya is a World Heritage Site; Sitamarhi's Janaki Mandir marks Sita's birthplace; and Pawapuri's Jal Mandir floats on a lotus lake where Mahavira attained nirvana.
01 · Gaya · Half a day, usually with Bodh Gaya
The city of pind-daan: at the Vishnupad temple, built around a 40-cm footprint of Vishnu in basalt, pilgrims perform rites for the dead on the banks of the Phalgu. During Pitru Paksha in autumn, hundreds of thousands come.
Discover02 · Gaya
Bodh Gaya03 · Kaimur
Mundeshwari Temple04 · Sitamarhi
Sitamarhi05 · Nalanda
Pawapuri06 · Banka
Mandar Hill
07 · Bhagalpur
A Shiva temple on a rock in the Ganga
08 · Patna
Pataliputra, still alive
09 · Nalanda
Hot springs and five hills
10 · Patna
The finest Mughal tomb in Bihar, an hour from Patna
3 days / 2 nights · Gentle
Three days in the cradle of Buddhism with a Hindu pilgrim town and the oldest caves in India thrown in — all within an hour of one hotel bed.
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7 days / 6 nights · Gentle
The classic loop — Patna, Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodh Gaya — done at a pace that leaves time for a sunrise at the Mahabodhi and an afternoon on the hot-spring steps.
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10 days / 9 nights · Steady
The Kaimur forts, the Buddhist heartland, the capital, the Ganga towns and Mithila — the complete arc of Bihar's history and landscape, with a slack day built in for the place you fall in love with.
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Field note · 4 min
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Bihar in Winter