Bihar and Related Topics

Statue of Matrikas found near Agam Kuan, built by Ashoka.

Patna

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Patna (

City of Patna, on the River Ganges, 19th-century painting.

Monsoon clouds over Priyadarshi Nagar, a part of Kankarbagh- residential area in Eastern Patna.

Maurya Lok is one of the oldest and major shopping area of the city

The Mahavir Mandir is a famous temple in Patna.

Bhootnath Road TV Tower broadcasts programming to Patna

Gandhi Maidan (shown above) lies in the heart of Patna and is the site for most political and social functions in the city.

Golghar was originally built to serve as a granary for the British East India company army during the famine of 1786. It now features an observation deck overlooking the Ganges and the city.

Indian Institute of Technology Patna at Bihta, one of the premier institutes of engineering and research in India.

Patna College, established 1863, is considered to be the oldest institution of higher education in Bihar.

Moin-Ul-Haque Stadium near Rajendra Nagar, used for cricket and association football.

Pataliputra as a capital of the Magadha Empire.

Pataliputra as a capital of Maurya Empire. The Maurya Empire at its largest extent under Ashoka the Great.

Pataliputra as a capital of Shunga Empire. Approximate greatest extent of the Shunga Empire (c. 185 BCE).

Pataliputra as a capital of Gupta Empire. Approximate greatest extent of the Gupta Empire.

Street in Patna, 1825 (British, active in India)

Golghar at Bankipore, near Patna, 1814–15

State Bank of India- Patna Regional office at East Gandhi Maidan Marg

Reserve Bank of India's regional office at South Gandhi Maidan Marg, Patna

A murti, or representation, of the goddess Durga shown during the Durga Puja festival

People Celebrating Chhath Festival the 2nd Day at Morning a tribute to the rising holy God Sun

Kankarbagh Indoor Stadium at Patliputra Sports Complex during Pro Kabaddi League match

), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India.

Uttar Pradesh

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State in northern India.

Uttar Pradesh is the largest subdivion by population in the world. The red area has a smaller population than Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), the lower house of the bicameral legislature.

Sown saplings of rice in a paddy; located in the rich fertile Indo-Gangetic Plain, agriculture is the largest employment generator in the state.

IT premise in Noida, which is known for infrastructure and services, as well as high-end housing complexes.

Indian field hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand

JRHU is the world's first school for the handicapped

Central Drug Research Institute, an autonomous multidisciplinary research institute

The battle of Kurukshetra, folio from the Mahabharata

Devotees inside Krishna temple during Lathmaar Holi

Uttar Pradeshi thali with naan, sultani dal, raita, and shahi paneer

Paan (betel leaves) being served with silver foil

Anandabodhi tree in Jetavana Monastery, Sravasti

A hybrid nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) showing nectar spur, found mainly in Hardoi district

The threatened Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a large fish-eating crocodilian found in the Ganges River

The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to the northwest, Uttarakhand and an international border with Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Madhya Pradesh to the south, and touches the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the southeast.

Jharkhand

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State in eastern India.

Khakparta Temple, a 9th-century Shiva temple in Lohardaga

Santhal rebellion against Zamindari system during British Company Raj in 1855

Jawaharlal Nehru, industrialist Jamnalal Bajaj, Sarojini Naidu, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and Maulana Azad at the 1940 Ramgarh session of the Indian National Congress.

Congress General Secretary Mr. Ram Ratan Ram's letter to PM Mr. Rajiv Gandhi on the issue of the state of Jharkhand

Sun Temple at Ranchi; Hinduism is the largest religion in the state

Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

Jagannath temple at Ranchi built by king Ani Nath Shahdeo

Palash flowers, bright red, pepper the skyline in Jharkhand during fall, also known as forest fire

A crocodile at Muta crocodile breeding centre at Ormanjhi, Ranchi

A Female Indian Elephant at Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in Jharkhand

National Highway 33 near Ramgarh Cantonment

Aerial View of Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur

thumb|The ancient Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga Temple in Deoghar

thumb|Jain temple at Samet Shikharji, the place from where twenty Tirthankars attained nirvana

The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south.

West Bengal

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West Bengal (, Bengali: Poshchim Bongo,, abbr.

Coin of the King Shashanka, who created the first separate political entity in Bengal, called the Gauda Kingdom

The Pala Empire was an imperial power during the Late Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal.

Firoz Minar at Gauḍa was built during the Bengal Sultanate.

Subhas Chandra Bose, he was a leading freedom fighter of India

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

Many areas remain flooded during the heavy rains brought by a monsoon.

A hut in a village in the Hooghly district

The Grand Hotel in Kolkata. Tourism, especially from Bangladesh, is an important part of West Bengal's economy.

Freshly sown saplings of rice in a paddy; in the background are stacks of jute sticks.

Satyajit Ray, a pioneer in Bengali cinema along with Ravi Sankar.

Panchchura Temple in Bishnupur, one of the older examples of the terracotta arts of India.

Jamdani Sari of Bangladesh is very popular in West Bengal.

Salt Lake Stadium / Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport is a hub for flights to and from Bangladesh, East Asia, Nepal, Bhutan and north-east India.

Kolkata Metro, India's first metro rail system

University of Calcutta, the oldest public university of India.

The front entrance to the academic block of NUJS, Kolkata.

Prajna Bhavan, housing the School of Mathematical Sciences and School of RKMVU.

It also borders the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam.

Magadha

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Cyclopean Wall of Rajgir which encircled the former capital of Magadha, Rajgir. Amongst the oldest pieces of cyclopeon masonry in the world

Magadha in the early Iron Age (1100-600 BC)

Map depicting 16 mahajanapadas kingdoms and other kingdoms in 540 BCE.

King Bimbisara visits the Bamboo Garden (Venuvana) in Rajagriha; artwork from Sanchi.

Magadha kingdom coin, c. 430–320 BCE, Karshapana

Magadha kingdom coin, c. 350 BCE, Karshapana

The ancient Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya prior to its restoration

The 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, Mahavira, who was born in Magadha to a royal family

The eastern Gangetic plain during the Magadha kingdom's early expansion

Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain.

Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE) – modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan

Buddhism

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Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on a series of original teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha.

The gilded "Emaciated Buddha statue" in an Ubosoth in Bangkok representing the stage of his asceticism

Enlightenment of Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, Gandhara.

The Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths. Sanskrit manuscript. Nalanda, Bihar, India.

Traditional Tibetan Buddhist Thangka depicting the Wheel of Life with its six realms

Ramabhar Stupa in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India is regionally believed to be Buddha's cremation site.

An aniconic depiction of the Buddha's spiritual liberation (moksha) or awakening (bodhi), at Sanchi. The Buddha is not depicted, only symbolized by the Bodhi tree and the empty seat.

Dharma Wheel and triratna symbols from Sanchi Stupa number 2.

Buddhist monks and nuns praying in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple of Singapore

A depiction of Siddhartha Gautama in a previous life prostrating before the past Buddha Dipankara. After making a resolve to be a Buddha, and receiving a prediction of future Buddhahood, he becomes a "bodhisattva".

Bodhisattva Maitreya, Gandhara (3rd century), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sermon in the Deer Park depicted at Wat Chedi Liam, near Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

Buddhist monks collect alms in Si Phan Don, Laos. Giving is a key virtue in Buddhism.

An ordination ceremony at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok. The Vinaya codes regulate the various sangha acts, including ordination.

Living at the root of a tree (trukkhamulik'anga) is one of the dhutaṅgas, a series of optional ascetic practices for Buddhist monastics.

Kōdō Sawaki practicing Zazen ("sitting dhyana")

Seated Buddha, Gal Viharaya, Polonnawura, Sri Lanka.

Kamakura Daibutsu, Kōtoku-in, Kamakura, Japan.

Statue of Buddha in Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, Phitsanulok, Thailand

An 18th century Mongolian miniature which depicts the generation of the Vairocana Mandala

A section of the Northern wall mural at the Lukhang Temple depicting tummo, the three channels (nadis) and phowa

Tibetan Buddhist prostration practice at Jokhang, Tibet.

Vegetarian meal at Buddhist temple. East Asian Buddhism tends to promote vegetarianism.

A depiction of the supposed First Buddhist council at Rajgir. Communal recitation was one of the original ways of transmitting and preserving Early Buddhist texts.

Gandhara birchbark scroll fragments (c. 1st century) from British Library Collection

The Tripiṭaka Koreana in South Korea, an edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon carved and preserved in over 81,000 wood printing blocks

Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads Mahayana sutras from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan Kanjur.

Mahākāśyapa meets an Ājīvika ascetic, one of the common Śramaṇa groups in ancient India

Ajanta Caves, Cave 10, a first period type chaitya worship hall with stupa but no idols.

Sanchi Stupa No. 3, near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Map of the Buddhist missions during the reign of Ashoka according to the Edicts of Ashoka.

Extent of Buddhism and trade routes in the 1st century CE.

A Buddhist triad depicting, left to right, a Kushan, the future buddha Maitreya, Gautama Buddha, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, and a monk. Second–third century. Guimet Museum

Site of Nalanda University, a great center of Mahāyāna thought

Vajrayana adopted deities such as Bhairava, known as Yamantaka in Tibetan Buddhism.

Angkor Thom build by Khmer King Jayavarman VII (c. 1120–1218).

Distribution of major Buddhist traditions

Buddhists of various traditions, Yeunten Ling Tibetan Institute

Monastics and white clad laypersons celebrate Vesak, Vipassakna Dhaurak, Cambodia

Chinese Buddhist monks performing a formal ceremony in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

Tibetan Buddhists practicing Chöd with various ritual implements, such as the Damaru drum, hand-bell, and Kangling (thighbone trumpet).

Ruins of a temple at the Erdene Zuu Monastery complex in Mongolia.

1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago

Interior of the Thai Buddhist wat in Nukari, Nurmijärvi, Finland

Percentage of Buddhists by country, according to the Pew Research Center, as of 2010

A painting by G. B. Hooijer (c. 1916–1919) reconstructing a scene of Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

Frontispiece of the Chinese Diamond Sūtra, the oldest known dated printed book in the world

The Dharmachakra, a sacred symbol which represents Buddhism and its traditions.

An image of a lantern used in the Vesak Festival, which celebrates the birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana of Gautama Buddha.

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhartha Gautama was born in Lumbini, present-day Nepal and grew up in Kapilavastu, a town in the Ganges Plain, near the modern Nepal–India border, and that he spent his life in what is now modern Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.