A Pilgrimage Special- Patna

When our guide told us that Patna was the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world, I was surprised. In Syria, I was told it was Damascus but now checking through the Internet, both are said to be among the oldest which is really more like it. Anyway, in ancient time, this is the capital of King Asoka and is known as Pataliputra. It shouldn't be important in our trip even if Gautama Buddha himself had passed through it which he really did several time and in the last year of his life when it was known as Pataligama. Yes, Patna would not be important to us if not for the nearby Buddhist pilgrim centres of Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodhgaya. Patna is the ideal gateway to all these places and we entered it just after nightfall, crossing the 5850 m bridge , Mahatma Gandhi Setu over the river Ganga ...

Our Hotel in Patna, Hotel Chanakya...


Outside our hotel, a statue stands...


and a trishaw rider waits for clients...