About

Bihar's antiquityis evident from its name , which is derived from the ancient word " VIHARA" (Monastery). It is indeed a land monasteries .Hindu , Buddhist,Jain ,Muslim , and Sikh Shrines abound in this ancient land where India's first major empires rose and fell.Where the ruins of the world's earliest university slumbers in the void of time . The passage of Ganga , flowing wide and deep enrich the plains of Bihar before distributing in Bengal's deltoid zone.

Among all Indian state, Bihar is the one most intimately linked to the Buddha's  life, resulting in  a trail of pilgrimages which have come to be known as  the Buddhist circuit . The Buddhist trail begins at the capital city , Patna , where a noteworthy museum contains a collection of Hindu and Buddhist sculpture as well as a terracotta urn said to contain the ashes of Lord Buddha .

The Khuda Baksh Oriental Library has rare Muslim manuscripts including some from the university of Cordoba in spain . 40km away , Vaishali , was the site for the second Buddhist council is the  presence  of ruins testify . 90km South of  Patna  is Nalanda Which translate as the place that confers the Lotus ' (of spiritual knowledge  ). A monastic university  flourished here from the 5thto the 11th century . It is said to have contained nine million books , with 2,000  teachers to impart knowledge to 10,000  students who came from all over the Buddhist  world. Lord Buddha himself taught here and Hieun Tsang, the 7th century Chinese traveler , was a student . Ongoing excavations have uncovered temples , Monastries and lecture halls . Rajgir ,' the royal palace', 12km south , was the venue for the first Buddhist Council.

The Buddha spent five year at Rajgir after having attained enlightenment  and many remains at Rajgir commemorate various incident related to life of Buddha , the Hill of Gridhrakuta being perhaps the most important , as this is where the Buddha deliverd  most of his sermons . Bodhgaya is the spot where Lord Buddha attained enligtenment, with the Mahabodhi temple marking the precise location.

This landlocked state of Bihar is surrounded by Nepal , Bengal, Orissa , Madhya Pradesh , Uttar Pradesh  and comprises four cultural regions -Bhojpur , Mithila and Magadha and Chotanagpur . River Kosi and Gandak from the north and sone from the south join the Ganga . In the fertiles plains , rice, sugarcane, oilseeds , gram, maiza , jute, barley , and wheet are cultivated.      

Buddha shakyamuni , the founder of buddhismi in this world , was born  as a prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, Which was originaly in northern india but is now part of Nepal.

"Shakya" is the name of royal family into which he was born and "Muni"means 'Able one'. His  parents gave him the name siddhartha and there were many auspicious predictions about his futur.

In his early years he lived as a prince in the royal palace but when he was 29 years old he retired to the forest Where he followed a life  meditation. After 6 years he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, india.
In all Buddha shakyamuni gave eight  four thousand teaching revealing many profound method of spiritual training all of which practical way to purify and control our mind .If we put these methods into practice we shall definitely gain special experience of mental peace.By continuing to improve this experience ,deluded states of mind will gradually diminish and our inner peace will grow.

Eventually , by abandoning delusions altogether we shall attain the permanent inner peace of nirvana, just like Buddha himself . Having overcome our own delusions , such as anger, attachment , and ignorance , and development profound spiritual realizations of universal love,compassion, concentration and wisdom, our ability to help other will be far greater.
In this way we can help other solve their problem not just for a few days or a few years, but forever.We can help them find an inner peace and joy that nothing ,not even death, can destroy.This unchanging inner peace is the final goal of the Buddhist path.