Nalanda
The oldest residential university in the world, and the ruins are still the size of a town.
Nalanda belt
Places around Nalanda
- Nalanda Mahavihara: The world's oldest residential university
- Archaeological Museum, Nalanda: Pilgrims and students come to see the Buddha and Bodhisattva images recovered from the mahavihara...
- Xuanzang Memorial Hall: Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Indian Buddhists come to venerate the relics of the pilgrim-scholar who...
- Black Buddha: Buddhists come for the ancient image itself; local Hindus have worshipped the same figure as Bhairav...
- Shvetambara Jain temple, Nalanda: Nalanda is where Mahavira spent fourteen rains retreats and where Indrabhuti Gautama, his chief...
- Surya Mandir, Surajpur Bargaon: It is one of Bihar's largest Chhath sites outside the river ghats; devotees come to offer arghya to the...
- Statue of Buddha, Jagdishpur: It is a living local shrine where an ancient Buddha image continues to receive Hindu worship, and a...
- Telhara monastery: It is the third great Magadhan mahavihara after Nalanda and Vikramshila, named in the Chinese pilgrims'...
- Aashapuri Maharani Temple, Ghosrawan: Local and regional devotees come to the goddess; the village is also a stop for the Pala-period...
More to see and do
Sattu sharbat in summer
What Bihar drinks against the heat: roasted gram, water, lemon and salt, sold from carts on every corner.
Sattu stirred into water with cumin, coriander, green chilli and black salt, salty or sweet.
Magahi paan
The betel leaf of old Magadh, soft enough to melt in the mouth, grown under thatch in Nawada, Gaya, Aurangabad and Nalanda.
Leaves grown in bareja, hut-like shelters against heat and cold, by Chaurasia families around Deuri in Hisua block. Folded with fennel and cardamom after a meal.
Rajgir Mahotsav
Bihar's festival of classical dance and music, with a food fair, held in Rajgir each year.
Three evenings of national artists in classical dance and music at the Rajgir Convention Centre, with a Vyanjan Mela of Bihar's food alongside.
Silao khaja
A many-layered fried sweet made in Silao, on the road between Rajgir and Nalanda, GI-registered in 2018.
Flour dough folded into fine layers, fried crisp and soaked in sugar or jaggery. The shops line the road through Silao.
Bawan Buti weaving of Nalanda
Fifty-two motifs woven into one cloth, many of them Buddhist, by a few families of Basawan Bigha; GI-registered in June 2026.
Handloom saris and cloth with 52 small motifs (buti). Padma Shri weaver Kapil Deo Prasad and his family keep it alive.
Yatras through Nalanda
- Buddhist Yatra: The road the Buddha walked, in the order he walked it
- Jain Yatra: Mahavira was born here, renounced here and died here
- Sun Temple Yatra: The shrines behind Chhath, Bihar's own festival
- Mauryan and Ashokan Bihar: The capital of an empire that reached Afghanistan, and the pillars it left behind
Experiences
- Walk Nalanda with somebody who can read it: Ten metres of brick is a wall to most people and a lecture hall to a guide
Tirtham can arrange here
A guide who knows the places, a car with a driver we have met, and a stay nearby. Tell us your dates and we call to confirm.
Plan my Yatra. Rather talk to someone? Call or WhatsApp +91 87893 56605, or contact us.