Blogs from Bihar, India, Asia

Day 6 (Thursday 7thDecember) A Temple and a Cave I waited outside reception until 6.05 but none of the others appeared so I set off alone. I walked to the security gate (they had a bombing a few years back, by radical Hindu’s) but was told that as I had a camera I had to pay at the counter 500 yards back, so had to retrace my steps, pay my Rs300 for a camcorder and return to security going through the metal detector and frisking that is involved (I hadn’t taken my mobile as they are not allowed, or a bag as not needed). Temple entry was free. Inside the Mahabodhi Temple grounds the pillars were covered in flowers and prayer flags flew across the paths. The steps leading down to the main temple were framed ... read more

Sorry for the delay, here is by blog up to 2 days ago.... Day 1-2 1st December 2017 What a journey! Started and ended badly with some bad bits in between…. It all began when the taxi, which I had booked the night before, failed to show up for at 6:15, eventually arriving 25 mins late….Needless to say I missed my train. Luckily they run every half hour… So late at airport, took ages to find the hidden check-in desk, only to be told my softbag cannot go with other bags and I had to wait in another que for the people with skis and golfclubs. Got through security relatively OK although they made me remove my (money) belt and then stand with legs akinbo and arms outstretched. You can imagine the result, like a Brian ... read more

What could have induced Buddha to settle in a spot as unprepossessing as what was to become Bodh Gaya is not easy to fathom. Even 2,500 years ago, it couldn't have been less dry, dusty, windswept in the cold season, and scorching hot before the arrival of the soothing monsoon. The landscape is relentlessly flat, and water is hard to come by. Barely two months after the close of the rainy season, the Falgu River, which marks the eastern boundary of the town, seems to have vanished. A quarter of a mile wide, it is no more than a vast expanse of yellowish sand with clumps of grass growing here and there and a trickle of silty water a few feet wide meandering hesitantly down the middle. To Hindus and Buddhists, this is a sacred river, ... read more

An explorer trail to travel rugged Do things remain at the place? Do talks and conversations put on hold when you left the place? Naha….. I believe, when you travel, you elucidate by your own. Some previous experiences stay back and some savories and quirks of the place you travelled pop up within you. Today’s Youth, full of desires to travel. Just to motivate and be motivated, I want to reel off an episode of some memorable moments of my life in Rajgir City, Bihar. Within 33Km distance from Nalanda, a town named Rajgir, an ancient capital of Magadha Kings around 5th century B.C. Promptly, a tourist spot, I was not bewared about. As an Archaeologist, it was just a curiosity to walk within the past. I always prefer local travelling just to interact with locals, ... read more

Parli di Bihar e subito pensi al Buddha, che in questo stato dell'India settentrionale ha trascorso gran parte della sua movimentata esistenza; qui il buddismo e' diventato un vero e proprio movimento religioso ed il nome stesso del paese deriva dal sanscrito "Vihar", cioe' monastero. Potrei allora dedicarmi per ore a parlare di templi e stupa, rovine di monasteri e tombe dimenticate, tra immagini sacre e monaci quasi sempre sorridenti, ma non qui, non adesso, perche' forse non tutti sanno che il Bihar e' anche il luogo di nascita di Vardhamana Mahavira, il 24esimo Tirthankara, fondatore del Jainismo, una delle tante religioni semisconosciute che ancora vengono praticate nel subcontinente indiano; cerchero' allora di raccontarvi brevemente come funziona il tutto. Mahavira nasce nello stesso periodo (quinto secolo prima di Cristo) e vive negli stessi luoghi del principe ... read more