Do you think you can vouch to know in and out of a place without ever visiting there? No certainly not. Patna is one such city which is often confused to be a destination with not much of sightseeing, but the real picture is still not clear to many

Patna is the capital city of the Indian state of Bihar and is said to be one of the oldest inhabited cities of the world. The city is located on the southern banks of the river Ganges and was earlier known as Patliputra. Patna is also considered to be very sacred for the Sikhs as their tenth and last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh was born here. The city has a glorious history to look up to. It also has been the proud capital of the Mauryan Empire.

Major Attractions
The entire city of Patna is dotted with one attraction or the other. Even major Buddhist and Jain pilgrim centres famous all over the world like Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya and Pawapuri are located closer to Patna. Some of the attractions of Patna are:

Gol Ghar - The Gol Ghar is a huge beehive-shaped structure that was built as a granary after the awful famine of 1770. An endless seeming series of stairs lead us to this massive tourist attraction. Once on reaching the top, one can get the picturesque view of the river Ganges and Patna City.
Harmandirji – This shrine was built to honour the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh. This dome shaped structure has many belongings of the prophet Guru Gobind Singh and also contains many Sikh scriptures.

Kumhrar – This historical place is nearly 5 km from Patna. This ancient site holds certain evidences of the glorious Mauryan era. Excavations in this area has resulted in several precious findings. A huge 80 pillared hall of the Mauryan dynasty is a worth noting excavation of this place.

Patna Museum – Various archaeological finds from different places of Bihar can be found in the Patna Museum. Stone and metal sculptures of Mauryan and Gupta periods, Buddha ashes and a long fossilized tree measuring around 16 metres are the main features of the museum.

Khuda Baksh Libraray – This library is one of the national libraries of India located in the Ashok Rajpath Road in Patna. The library has a unique collection of Persian and Arabic manuscript. Apart from these rare paintings of Rajput and Mughal period are kept here. A one-inch wide Quran is also preserved here.

Martyrs Memorial – This memorial has been made in the memory of the seven young men who bravely faced the bullet firing of the British during the 'Quit India Movement of 1942'. The memorial is located near the old secretariat.

Dining
If you think Patna has a dearth of good restaurants, then You are mistaken. Patna would surprise you with its quality and quantity of restaurants that serve Indian, Chinese and other cuisines of tongue's delight, check out:

• Vasant Vihar
• Vau's
• Gokul Restaurant
• Takshila
• Bansi Vihar Restaurant
• Abhiruchi Restaurant
• Delicacies

Accommodation

• Hotel Patliputra Ashok
• Hotel Chanakya
• Hotel Maurya Patna
• Hotel Marwari Awas Griha
• Hotel Samrat International
• Hotel Winsdor
• Hotel President

Shopping
The Patna region has a rich tradition of handicrafts. One can find good quality of stone and beads jewellery in Patna. Stone pottery is also very famous here. Hand-painted wall hangings, leather goods, wooden stools, appliqué work on fabrics are some of the important features of the shops of Patna. Tourists from all over the place get attracted towards the Madhubani Paintings, which is a very ancient and traditional art form of Bihar.

Some of the major shopping areas in Patna include:

• Maurya Lok Complex
• Hathua Road
• Patna Market
• Khetan Market

How To Reach
By Air: Patna being the capital city of Bihar has an Airport that is well connected with most of the cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata. There are several airlines that operate regular flights for Patna.

By Rail: The railway station of Patna is the key railway station of the Eastern Railway. It is well linked with almost all the important cities of the country and most of the cities in Bihar.

By Road: Patna falls on the National Highway No 30. Patna is well connected to the key cities within the state as well as the country.