Country Languages spoken Spoken, Hindi, English, Magadhi Area 135.79 km2 | State Region District Patna Founded Ajatasatru Mayor Afzal Imam (JDU) Literacy 84.71% | |
Points of interest Colleges and Universities Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna University, Nalanda, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna, Nalanda Open University | ||
Patna ( Hindi ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. Patna. The second largest city in eastern India, had an estimated population of 1.68 million in 2011, making it the 19th largest city in India. Its urban agglomeration is the 18th largest in India, with over 2 million people. Patna also serves as seat of Patna High Court.
Contents
- Map of Patna
- Top 10 places to visit in patna
- Patna best place to witness solar eclipse
- History
- Geography
- Economy
- Culture
- Tourism
- Street food festival patna bihar
- References
Map of Patna
One of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world. Patna was founded in 490 BCE by the king of Magadha. Ancient Patna, known as Pataliputra, was the capital of the Magadha Empire under the Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Gupta and Pala. Pataliputra was a seat of learning and fine arts. Its population during the Maurya period (around 300 BCE) was about 400,000.
Top 10 places to visit in patna
The modern city of Patna is situated on the southern bank of the Ganges. The city also straddles the rivers Sone, Gandak and Punpun. The city is approximately 35 km long and 16 km to 18 km wide. In June 2009, the World Bank ranked Patna second in India (after Delhi) for ease of starting a business. As of 2011-12, Patna had the highest per capita gross district domestic product in Bihar, at 63,063. Using figures for assumed average annual growth, Patna is the 21st fastest growing city in the world and 5th fastest growing city in India by the City Mayors Foundation. Patna registered an average annual growth of 3.72% during 2006-2010.
Patna best place to witness solar eclipse
The Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain pilgrim centres of Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, and Pawapuri are nearby and Patna City is also a sacred city for Sikhs as the last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, was born here.
History
The name of this city has changed with time. It is one of the oldest cities of India. There are several theories regarding the source of the modern name Patna (Devanagari:????) :
Legend describes the origin of Patna to a mythological King Putraka who created Patna by magic for his queen Patali, literally "trumpet flower", which gives it its ancient name Pataligrama. It is said that in honour of the queens first-born, the city was named Pataliputra. Gram is Sanskrit for village and Putra means son. Legend also says that the Emerald Buddha was created in Patna (then Pataliputra) by Nagasena in 43 BCE.
Geography
Patna is located on the south bank of the Ganges River. A characteristic of the geography of Patna is its confluence of rivers. The Ganges River is the largest.A narrow strip of somewhat high land about 8 kilometers in width along the southern bank of the Ganges having very fertile soil.
Alluvial fertile plains in the remaining portions. After creation of the new district of Patna does not contain of any hilly regions. It has an entirely alluvial and flat region. The land in the district is too fertile to be left for wild growth. The district is devoid of any forest wealth of consequences. The alluvial text of land yields rice, sugarcane and other foodgrains. The area under cultivation is studded with mango orchads and bamboo clumps. In the fields adjoining the Ganges weeds such as ammannia, citriculari, hygrophile and sesbania grow. But palmyra and date palm and mango orchards are found near habitations. Dry shrub jungles are sometimes seen in the villages away from the rivers. Trees commonly met with are bel, siris, jack fruits and the red cotton tree It is joined by four other rivers: Ghaghara, Gandak, Punpun and Sone. Patna is unique in having four large rivers in its vicinity. It is the largest riverine city in the world. The bridge over the river Ganges named Mahatma Gandhi Setu is 5575m long and is the longest river bridge in the India.
Economy
Patna has long been a major agricultural center of trade, its most active exports being grain, sugarcane, sesame, and medium-grained Patna rice. There are multiple sugar mills still in existence in and around Patna. It is an important business and luxury brand center of eastern India.
Culture
Patna’s native dialect is Magahi or Magadhi. The ancestor of Magadhi, from which its name derives, Magadhi Prakrit, was created in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, the core of which was the area of Patna south of the Ganges. It is believed to be the language spoken by Gautama Buddha. It was the official language of the Mauryan court, and the edicts of Ashoka were composed in it.
The name Magahi is directly derived from the name Magadhi Prakrit, and the educated speakers of Magahi prefer to call it Magadhi rather than Magahi.
Patna shares many cultural roots with neighbouring Bengal. Patna has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures"; others are in various stages of decay. Established in 1917 as the Bihar’s first museum, the Patna Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art. The Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library and Sinha Library are historic public libraries of Patna.
Several theatres are located in or near the central part of the city, including the Bhartiya Nritya Kala Mandir, the Rabindra Parishad, Premchand Rangshala and the Kalidas Rangalaya, which is home to the Bihar art theatre. Kalidas Rangalaya also hosts the Patliputra Natya Mahotsav, a dance festival. But in the last two decades, the popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined.
The Patna School of Painting or Patna Qalaam, some times also called Company style, is an offshoot of the well-known Mughal Miniature school of painting, which flourished in Bihar during the early 18th to the mid-20th centuries. The practitioners of this art form were descendants of Hindu artisans of Mughal painting who facing persecution under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and who found refuge, via Murshidabad, in Patna during the late 18th century. The Patna painters differed from the Mughal painters, whose subjects included only royalty and court scenes, in that they included as subjects bazaar scenes, scenes of Indian daily life, local dignitaries, festivals and ceremonies, and nature scenes. The paintings were executed in watercolours on paper and on mica, but the style was generally of a hybrid and undistinguished quality. It is this school of painting that inspired the formation of the College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, under the leadership of Shri Radha Mohan, which is an important centre of fine arts in Bihar.
A regular Bihari meal consists of daal, bhaat (rice), roti, tarkari (vegetables) etc. Bihari cuisine is predominantly vegetarian because traditional Bihar society, influenced by Buddhist and Hindu values of non-violence, did not eat eggs, chicken, fish and other animal products. However there is also a tradition of meat-eating, and fish dishes are especially common due to the number of rivers in Bihar. There are also numerous Bihari meat dishes, with chicken and mutton being the most common.
Some dishes which Bihar is famous for include Sattu Paratha, which are Parathas stuffed with fried chickpea flour, chokha (spicy mashed potatoes), fish curry and Bihari Kebab, Postaa-dana kaa halwaa, Malpua, Dal Pitha (Bihari version of momos), Kheer Makhana (fox nut), Thekua/Khajuria (type of snack) etc.
Street foods such as Samosa, Chaat, litti chokha, phuchka (a deep-fried crepe with tamarind sauce), South Indian and Chinese cuisine are favorite among Patnaites.
Though Bihari women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women. Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Chhath, also called Dala Chhath, is an ancient and major festival in Bihar. It is celebrated twice a year: once in the summer, called the Chaiti Chhath, and once about a week after Deepawali, called the Kartik Chhath. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Patnas another important festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations. Among the citys other festivals, are Saraswati Puja, Eid, Holi, Christmas, Vismkarma Puja, Makar Sankranti, Raksha Bandhan and Rath Yatra. Cultural events include the Patna Book Fair, Patna Sahib Mahotsav, the Patna Film Festival, Bihar Diwas and the Rajgir Mahotsav, Vaishali Mahotsav and the Sonepur Cattle Fair in neighbouring cities.
Tourism
Patna is home to many tourist attractions and it saw about 2.4 million tourists (including day visitors) in 2005. Tourists visiting the city accounted for 41% of the total for Bihar province, although Bodh Gaya was the most popular destination for foreign visitors.
The cultural heritage of Bihar is reflected in its many ancient monuments. Kumhrar and Agam Kuan are the sites of the ruins of the Ashokan Pataliputra. Didarganj Yakshi remains as an example of Mauryan art.
Takht Sri Patna Sahib is one of the Five Takhts of Sikhism and consecrates the birthplace of the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Gobind Singh. There are five other Gurdwaras in Patna which are related to different Sikh Gurus; these are Gurdwara Pahila Bara, Gurdwara Gobind Ghat, Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh, Gurdwara Bal Leela and Gurdwara Handi Sahib.
Padri Ki Haveli, High Court, Golghar and Secretariat Building are examples of British architecture.
Recently, the Bihar government announced plans to build a state-of-the-art art landmark museum in Patna at a cost of approximately 530 crores on a site of 13.9 acres at Bailey Road. 5 firms have been shortlisted for the architectural design.