Bihar, district by district

HQ Bihar Sharif · 4 places

The ruined university, Rajgir's hills, hot springs and glass bridge, Pawapuri's Jal Mandir.

NalandaRajgirPawapuriRajgir Nature Safari & Ghora Katora

HQ Gaya · 2 places

Bodh Gaya and the Pind Daan ghats of Gaya town — Bihar's most-visited district by a distance.

Bodh GayaGaya

HQ Aurangabad · 1 place

The west-facing Sun Temple at Deo, Bihar's second home of Chhath; Umga's hilltop temple; Daud Khan's fort.

Deo Sun Temple

HQ Jehanabad · 1 place

The Barabar and Nagarjuni caves — the oldest rock-cut caves in India, polished like glass inside.

Barabar Caves

HQ Nawada · 1 place

Kakolat Falls and the Jain pilgrimage of Gunawa, where Gautam Swami attained nirvana.

Kakolat Falls

HQ Arwal · no full page yet

A small farming district on the Son; Madhusrava's Shiva temple and the river ghats.

HQ Sheikhpura · no full page yet

Girihinda hill with its Shiva temple and the Vishnu temple at Samas village; between Nalanda and Jamui.

HQ Sasaram · 5 places

Sher Shah's tomb, Rohtasgarh and Shergarh forts, and the Kaimur plateau's waterfalls — Dhua Kund, Tutla Bhawani, Kashish.

SasaramRohtasgarh FortDhua Kund & Manjhar KundShergarh FortTutla Bhawani

HQ Bhabua · 3 places

Mundeshwari — the oldest functioning temple — plus the plateau's falls at Telhar and Karkatgarh.

Mundeshwari TempleBakhtiyar Khan's Tomb, ChainpurTelhar Kund & Karkatgarh

HQ Arrah · 1 place

Veer Kunwar Singh's 1857 country — Jagdishpur fort and Ara House — and the Aranya Devi temple.

Jagdishpur & Arrah

HQ Buxar · 1 place

Rama's Vishwamitra ashram by legend, two battles that made and unmade empires (Chausa 1539, Buxar 1764), ghats on the Ganga.

Buxar

HQ Patna · 2 places

The capital: Bihar Museum, Golghar, Patna Sahib, the Mauryan hall at Kumhrar and Maner Sharif down the road.

PatnaManer Sharif

HQ Gopalganj · 1 place

Thawe Mandir, where the goddess is said to have come to a devotee's call, with a remarkable tree growing through it.

Thawe Mandir

HQ Chhapra · 1 place

Sonepur's month-long Harihar Kshetra cattle fair at the Gandak–Ganga meeting, Asia's largest; Ami's Ambika Bhavani.

Sonepur Mela & Hariharnath

HQ Hajipur · 1 place

The world's first republic, Buddha's last sermon, the lion pillar of Kolhua and the new relic-stupa museum.

Vaishali

HQ Muzaffarpur · no full page yet

Litchi capital; Garibnath Dham's Shravan crowds; the gateway to Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Champaran.

HQ Siwan · no full page yet

Dr Rajendra Prasad's birthplace at Zeradei; the Mahendranath Shiva temple with its tank.

HQ Bettiah · 3 places

Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Lauriya Nandangarh's lion pillar, Bhitiharwa ashram, the Nepal border at Valmikinagar.

Valmiki National ParkValmikinagar & the GandakLauriya Nandangarh

HQ Motihari · 1 place

Kesaria's giant stupa, Gandhi's 1917 satyagraha at Motihari, George Orwell's birthplace, Someshwar Nath at Areraj.

Kesaria Stupa

HQ Darbhanga · 2 places

The Raj's red palaces and Anand Bagh, Shyama Mai temple on a cremation ground, Kusheshwar Asthan's birds, Mithila painting.

DarbhangaKusheshwar Asthan

HQ Madhubani · 1 place

Mithila painting villages — Jitwarpur, Ranti — and the Saurath Sabha; Kapileshwar Sthan.

Madhubani

HQ Saharsa · 1 place

Ugratara at Mahishi, where the philosopher Mandan Mishra debated Shankaracharya; Kandaha's Sun temple.

Ugratara, Mahishi

HQ Sitamarhi · 1 place

Sita's birthplace at Punaura Dham; Janaki Mandir; the banyan at Panth Pakar where her procession rested.

Sitamarhi

HQ Madhepura · no full page yet

Singheshwar Sthan Shiva temple; Kosi floodplain.

HQ Samastipur · no full page yet

Khatu Shyam temple and the Vidyapati Dham at Bidupur; Morwa's fairs; mostly a railway junction.

HQ Sheohar · no full page yet

Bihar's smallest district; Deokuli's Shiva temple is the one stop.

HQ Supaul · no full page yet

Kosi river country; the Koshi barrage at Bhimnagar on the Nepal border.

HQ Bhagalpur · 3 places

Vikramshila's ruins, the dolphin sanctuary, tussar silk, Sultanganj's rock temple, Mandar Hill next door.

VikramshilaBhagalpurSultanganj

HQ Banka · 1 place

Mandar Hill with its ropeway and Jain and Hindu shrines; Odhni Dam's hill reservoir.

Mandar Hill

HQ Araria · no full page yet

Border plains; Kali Mandir at Rampur and the Nepal crossing at Jogbani.

HQ Katihar · no full page yet

Gorakhnath temple at Manihari, the Ganga ferry to Sahibganj; Barari's Shiva temples.

HQ Kishanganj · no full page yet

Bihar's tea district — the gardens at Pothia — in the narrow neck between Nepal and Bengal.

HQ Purnia · no full page yet

Puran Devi temple, Kali Bari; the eastern gateway to the Seemanchal plains.

HQ Jamui · 2 places

Simultala's hill-station air, Nagi-Nakti bird dams, Lachhuar's Jain temple where Mahavira was born by one tradition.

Nagi & Nakti Bird SanctuariesSimultala

HQ Munger · 2 places

Mir Qasim's fort on the Ganga, Sita Kund's hot spring, Bihar School of Yoga, Bhimbandh's forest springs.

MungerBhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary

HQ Begusarai · 1 place

Kanwar Lake, Asia's largest oxbow and a winter bird haven; Simaria Ghat's Kartik mela; Jaimangla Garh.

Kanwar Lake

HQ Lakhisarai · 1 place

Ashok Dham — a Shiva linga found by a boy in 1977, now a temple town; Pala-era mounds all around.

Ashok Dham, Lakhisarai

HQ Khagaria · no full page yet

Seven rivers meet here; the Katyayani temple at Dhamhara Ghat.