Paṭnā ( ) is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar.The modern city of Patna is situated on the southern bank of the Ganges. The city also straddles the rivers Kosi, Sone and Gandak. Patna is approximately 25 km long and 9 km to 10 km wide. Patna is 14^th most populous cities in India with approximately 1.8 million and 168^th most populous agglomerations in world . It's the largest city in Eastern India after Kolkata. Today, all major companies have a base in Patna reflecting the growing importance of the city. The city is growing rapidly with bouyant development in sectors including retail and property. It is also fast emerging as hub of higher education with institutes of national repute being started in Patna.

Apart from being the administrative centre of the state and its historic importance, the city is also a major educational and medical centre. The Economy of patna is based on local service industry. Patna is recording the highest per capita gross district domestic product of Rs 31,441 in Bihar which better than the most of the metropolitan in IndiaPatna is 21^st fastest growing city and urban areas in world and 5^th fastest growing city in India. In June 2009, The World Bank ranked Patna as the second best city in India to start a business, after Delhi.

Patna is one of oldest continuously inhabited places in the world.. Ancient Patna, known as Pataliputra, was the capital of the Magadha Empire under the Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Gupta, Pala and Suri dynasties.Pataliputra was also a famous seat of learning and fine arts. Its population during Maurya period (around 300 BCE), was about 400,000. The walled old area, called Patna City by the locals, is a major trading centre.

The Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain pilgrim centres of Vaishali, Rajgir , Nalanda, Bodhgaya, and Pawapuri are nearby and Patna is also a sacred city for Sikhs. The Sikh Guru, Founder and first Commander-in-Chief of Sikh Khalsa Army, Guru Gobind Singh, was born Here.

Origin of name

There are several theories regarding the source of the appellation Patna (Devanagari:पटना ):

• It is etymologically derived from Patan (Devanagari: पतन), the name of the Hindu goddess, Patan Devi.
• It comes from Pattan (Devanagari: पत्तन) (meaning "port" in Sanskrit), since the city, located near the confluence of four rivers, has been a thriving river port.
• It may be a short form of Patliputra (Devanagari: पाटलिपुत्र ), one of the most ancient names of this city. This name was mentioned by Megasthenes (350-290 BCE), the Greek historian, (calling it Palibothra or Palimbotra in Greek), in his writings during the 4th century, and also appears in the records of the Chinese traveller, Fa Hien as Pa-lin-fou.
• The Greeks called it Palibothra. The Chinese called the place as Pa-lin-fou.
• The city has been known by various names during its more than two millennia long existence — Pataligram, Patliputra, Kusumpur, Pushpapura, Azimabad, and the present-day Patna.
• Patna received its current name during the reign of Sher Shah Suri, whose tomb is at Sasaram, a place near Patna.

History

Legend ascribes 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 first born to the queen, the city was named Pataliputra. Gram is the Sanskrit for village and Putra means son.

Legend also says that the Emerald Buddha was created in Patna (then Pataliputra) by Nagasena in 43 BC.

From a scientific history perspective, it would be appropriate to surmise that the history of Patna started around the year 490 BCE when Ajatashatru, the king of Magadha, wanted to shift his capital from the hilly Rajagaha to a more strategically located place to combat the Licchavis of Vaishali. He chose the site on the bank of Ganges and fortified the area. From that time, the city has had a continuous history, a record claimed by few cities in the world. When founded, it was known as "Pataligrama" and in later years it was "Pataliputra" which is today's Patna. Gautama Buddha passed through this place in the last year of his life, and he had prophesized a great future for this place, but at the same time, he predicted its ruin from flood, fire, and feud. It is said that Buddha made a halt here when he was on the last journey to his native land of Kapilavastu.

With the rise of the Mauryan empire, the place became the seat of power and nerve centre of the sub-continent. From Pataliputra, the famed emperor Chandragupta Maurya (a contemporary of Alexander) ruled a vast empire, stretching from the Bay of Bengal to Afghanistan.

Early Mauryan Patliputra was mostly built with wooden structures. Emperor Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, transformed the wooden capital into a stone construction around 273 BCE. Chinese scholar Fa Hein, who visited India sometime around 399-414 CE, has given a vivid description of the stone structures in his travelogue.

Megasthenes (350-290 BCE), Greek historian and ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, gives the first written account of Patliputra. In his book Indika, he mentions that the city of Palibothra (Pataliputra, modern day Patna) was situated on the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Arennovoas (Sonabhadra - Hiranyawah) and was long and wide.. Michael Wood in The Story of India (2007) describes this city to be the greatest city on earth during its hayday.

Much later, a number of Chinese travellers came to India in pursuit of knowledge and recorded their observation about Pataliputra in their travelogues, including those of a Chinese Buddhist Fa Hien, who visited India, between 399 and 414 CE, and stayed here for many months translating Buddhist texts.

In the years that followed, the city saw many dynasties ruling the Indian subcontinent from here. It saw the rules of the Gupta empire and the Pala kings. However, it never reached the glory that it had under the Mauryas.

With the disintegration of the Gupta empire, Patna passed through uncertain times. Bakhtiar Khilji captured Bihar in the 12th century AD and destroyed many ancient seats of learning, Patna lost its prestige as the political and cultural center of India.

Guru Gobind Singh (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ) (December 22, 1666 – October 7, 1708), the tenth Guru of the Sikhs was born as Gobind Rai in Patna to Teg Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, and his wife Gujri. His birth place Harmandir saheb is a one of most sacred pilgrimage for Sikhs.

The Mughal period was a period of unremarkable provincial administration from Delhi. The most remarkable period during these times was under Sher Shah Suri who revived Patna in the middle of the 16th century. He built a fort and found a town on the banks of Ganga. Sher Shah's fort in Patna does not survive, but the mosque, Sher Shah Suri Masjid, built in Afghan architectural style survives.

Mughal emperor Akbar came to Patna in 1574 to crush the Afghan Chief Daud Khan. Akbar's navratna and state's official historian and author of "Ain-i-Akbari" Abul Fazl refers to Patna as a flourishing centre for paper, stone and glass industries. He also refers to the high quality of numerous strains of rice grown in Patna famous as Patna rice in Europe.

By 1620 the city of Patna, which was revived by Sher Shah Suri in year 1541, was the great entrepot of Northern India - "the largest town in Bengal and the most famous for trade". This was before the founding of the city of Calcutta.

Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb acceded to the request of his favourite grandson Prince Muhammad Azim to rename Patna as Azimabad, in 1704 while Azim was in Patna as the subedar. However, very little changed during this period other than the name.

With the decline of the Mughal empire, Patna moved into the hands of the Nawabs of Bengal, who levied a heavy tax on the populace but allowed it to flourish as a commercial centre. The mansions of the Maharaja of Tekari Raj dominated the Patna riverfront in 1811-12.

During the 17th century, Patna became a centre of international trade. The British started with a factory in Patna in 1620 for trading in calico and silk. Soon it became a trading centre for saltpetre, urging other Europeans—French, Danes, Dutch and Portuguese—to compete in the lucrative business. Peter Mundy, writing in 1632, described Patna as "the greatest mart of the eastern region".

After the decisive Battle of Buxar (1765), Patna fell in the hands of the East India Company which installed a puppet government. Ruled during the raj by a series of ineffectual Viceroys, the most well known was Rahul Gunderjaharagand. During this period it continued as a trading centre.

In 1912, Patna became the capital of Orissa Province and Bihâr when Bengal Presidency was partitioned. It soon emerged as an important and strategic centre. A number of imposing structures were constructed by the British. Credit for designing the massive and majestic buildings of colonial Patna goes to the architect, I. F. Munnings. Most of these buildings reflect either Indo-Saracenic influence (like Patna Museum and the state Assembly), or overt Renaissance influence like the Raj Bhawan and the High Court. Some buildings, like the General Post Office (GPO) and the Old Secretariat bear pseudo-Renaissance influence. Some say, the experience gained in building the new capital area of Patna proved very useful in building the imperial capital of New Delhi. Orissa was created as a separate province in 1935. Patna continued as the capital of Bihar province under the British Raj.

Patna played a major role in the Indian independence struggle. Most notable are the Champaran movement against the Indigo plantation and the 1942 Quit India Movement. Patna's contribution in the freedom struggle has been immense with outstanding national leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, the first President of the Constituent Assembly of India Dr. Sachidanand Sinha, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Bihar Vibhuti Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Basawon Singh , Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, Sri Krishna Sinha, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, Sarangdhar Sinha(Singh), Yogendra Shukla, and many others who worked for India's freedom relentlessly. Shrii Anandamurti formed the Ananda Marga movement in Patna in 1962 to worked for world unity and justice. He moderized the ancient practices of yoga and made the most advanced practices of meditation abvailabe to the general public. He spoke about the inequality of women (both in India and worldwide). As an example, he questioned the morality of the dowry system of marriage and the Indian caste system. His Ananda Marga organization spread worldwide and teaches both neo-humanism (oneness of family of life) and PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) for overall economic development. He is considered a leader in the field of philosophy and morality.

Patna continued to be the capital of the state of Bihar after independence in 1947, though Bihar itself was partitioned again in 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out as a separate state of the Indian union.

Geography

Patna is located on the south bank of the Ganges River, called Ganga locally. An impressing characteristic about the geography of Patna is its meshing of rivers of which the Ganges River is most ascendant and then conjoined by the Four mighty rivers; Ghagra, Gandak, Punpun and Sone. The Ganga is a respectable river in its passing along the district of the city of Patna where it seems to be to the full as large as in any part of its course for the huge flow of the Kosi. Just to the north of Patna across the river Ganga flows the river Gandak making it a unique place having four large rivers in its vicinity. It is the largest riverine city in the world. The bridge over the river Ganga named Mahatma Gandhi Setu, is 5575m long and is one of the longest bridge in the world.

Climate

Patna, as most of Bihar, has a subtropical climate with hot summers from late March to early June, the monsoon season from late June to late September and a mild winter from November to February. The table below details historical monthly averages for climate variables. Highest ever recorded is 55 °C, lowest ever is -6 °C and annual rainfall is 1000 mm.

Economy

From the very ancient time Patna has a rich socioeconomic background. Patna has long been a major agricultural center of trade, its most active exports being grain, sugarcane, sesame, and medium-grained Patna rice. It is also an important business center of eastern India.

In the last few years, the growth in Patna has been quite phenomenal. With the improvement in the law and order after the regime change, all the major companies have set up shop in Patna. The companies have started to recognize Patna's growing upper and middle class's purchasing power. This has led to a boom in the real estate sector and prices for commercial as well as residential complexes have hit the roof despite the global economic meltdown. The modern Patna, though still not comparable to the developed state capitals, is changing for the better. By the end of next year, the city will have four new malls that are coming up in different parts of the capital. This includes the P&M Mall & Multiplex that is being promoted by Prakash Jha's company. A slew of residential properties are also being developed in response to the huge demand for these in Patna. Large-format retailers such as Big Bazaar and the Future Group are planning to set up their stores by next year. A number of restaurants such as Yo China, Moti Mahal, Smoking Joes and Dosa Plaza have established their presence in Patna.

Being the state capital, with a growing middle income group households, Patna has also emerged as a big and rapidly expanding consumer market, both for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), as also for other consumer durable items. A large and growing population, and expanding boundaries of the city, is also spurring growth of service sector. Several multinational companies have also come up at Patna; one example is Tata Consultancy Services.

The hinterland of Patna is endowed with excellent agro-climatic resources and the gains of the green revolution have enabled the older eastern part of Patna (locally called as Patna City) to develop as a leading grain market of the state of Bihar, and one of the biggest in eastern India.

Financial Express reported on April 7, 2008 that even as Bihar has the lowest per capita income in the country at Rs 5,772 against the national average of Rs 22,946, some of its southern districts are much better off compared with those in the north. This disparity within the state is clearly reflected in Bihar's latest economic survey for 2007–08. The survey shows that Patna, Munger, and Begusarai in south Bihar were the three best-off districts out of a total of 38 districts, recording the highest per capita gross district domestic product (GDP) of Rs 31,441, Rs 10,087, and Rs 9,312, respectively in 2004-05. In contrast, right at the bottom of the rank, with the lowest per capita GDP, were the northern districts of Araria at Rs 4,578, Sitamarhi at Rs 4,352, and Sheohar at Rs 3,636.

Demographics

The population of Patna is over 1,885,470. The population density is 1132 persons per square kilometre. There are 839 females to every 1,000 males. The overall literacy rate is 62.9%, and the female literacy rate is 50.8%.

Many languages are spoken in Patna. Hindi and Urdu is the official language. The native dialect is Magadhi or Magahi, named after Magadha, the ancient name of Bihar. Dialects from other regions of Bihar spoken widely in Patna are Angika, Bhojpuri, and Maithili. Other languages widely spoken in Patna include Bengali, Oriya, and English.

Culture

Though geographically located in the Magadh region of Bihar, many residents of Patna are natives of one of the four other regions of Bihar - Bhojpur, Mithila, Vajj, or Ang, which differ only slightly from each other. Intermarriages and cultural intermixing among the people of the five regions has been so common that it may be difficult for an outsider to discern the differences. Intermixing of people is also common at the village level (e.g. resident of Gulni include people from Gaya, Ganga-par and other villages).

People are religious and family-oriented, and their lives are deeply rooted in tradition. The interests of the family take precedence over that of an individual. Families are generally large, though the government is actively encouraging family planning to curb rapid population growth. Extended families often live together in one home because of economic necessity. Although the culture is same among the regions, the dialects spoken are quite different. Many talented people of Bihar have emigrated for better opportunities.

Transportation and Connectivity

Patna was among pioneer selected towns of India having horse-drawn trams as urban transport. Now days, Public transport in Patna is provided by buses, auto rickshaws and a Local trains. Auto rickshaws are the most popular means of public transportation in Patna, as they charge lower . Most run on diesel and are yellow and black in colour. Buses are also one of the popular means of public transportation in Patna.

Public transport is one area where Patna lacks quite a lot. Traffic congestion is another problem. As of now, only private buses ply on city roads and often very crowded and uncomfortable. So if you are looking at comfort, there are many car rentals in Patna that provide A/C & Non-A/C cars on hire at reasonable rates. Recently, the government has appointed a private consultant Mr. Sudeep Arun Kumar (UK based NRI) to overhaul the Traffic and public transport system. The government has also placed orders for over 50 low floor A/C and Non-A/C buses to ease congestion on city roads under JNNURM. This move will improve traffic and public transport facilities in and around Patna.

Patna is also an important transit point of Bihar for the tourists dropping in from the other states of India. Patna is well-connected by air, rail and road transport. Patna has its own airport known as Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Airport or Airport Patna. It is an national airport and it is connected to all major city of India via daily flights.

Patna is well served by a network of well maintained roads. Patna is also connected through National Highway NH 19, NH 30-NH 31 & NH 83. Road distance from other major cities such as from Delhi - 1,015 km North-East, from Mumbai - 1,802 km North-East and from Kolkata - 556 km North-West.

Railways also served as means of public transportation in Patna. However Patna is a major junction in the rail map of India. The five main railway stations are Patna Junction, Rajendranagar Terminal, Gulzarbag Station, Danapur Junction and Patna Shahib Station. Among them Patna Shahib Station is oldest one. The main line of the Eastern Railway passes through the entire length of the district running parallel to the Ganga. There are three railway lines running across the district from north to south viz., the Patna - Gaya Branch line the Fatuha - Islampur Light Railway and the Bakhtiarpur-Rajgir Branch line. Except the Light Railway, the other two are branches of the Eastern Railway. With the opening of the famous Patna-Hajipur Bridge (Mahatma Gandhi Setu), the ferry service connencting the capital with the North-Eastern Railway System has Ceased to function.

Bihar is connected by National Waterways No. 1 which established in October 1986. This National Waterways has fixed terminals at Haldia, BISN (Kolkata), Pakur, Farrakka and Patna. This National Waterways has also floating terminals facilities at Haldia, Kolkata, Diamond Harbour, Katwa, Tribeni, Baharampur, Jangipur, Bhagalpur, Semaria, Doriganj, Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Chunar and Allahabad.

Places of interest

Statue of Babu Veer Kunwar Singh(Hindi: वीर कुँवर सिँह)- The Lion of Bihar.

Patna has a 3,000-year history. The rich culture and heritage of Bihar is evident from the innumerable ancient monuments that dot the region. Patna is home to many tourist attractions. About 2,500,000 (2.5 million) tourists visit Patna every year.

Kumhrar, Agam Kuan is the site of the ruins of the Ashokan Patliputra. Didarganj Yakshi is a fine example of Mauryan art and may be India's most famous piece of art. The famous Hanuman Mandir has the second highest budget in North India after the famous Vaishno Devi shrine. Patan Devi is the oldest temple and Patna's name is derived from Patan (Devanagari: पतन), the name of the Hindu goddess of this temple. Birla Mandir and Kali Mandir are other famous Hindu temples.

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.

Phulwari Sharif, Maner Sharif, Sher Shah Suri Masjid, Pathar ki Masjid, Nagholkothi and Begu Hajjam's mosque are of great religious importance to Muslims and examples of unique Mughal architecture of the Middle Ages.

Padri Ki Haveli, High Court, Golghar and State Secretariat Building are examples of unique British architecture. Darbhanga House, Sadaqat Ashram, Kargil Chowk and Saheed Smarak are monuments and M.G Setu is one of the longest single river bridges in the world. Patna Museum, Patna Planetarium, Sri Krishna Science Centre, Jaivik Udyan, Patna and Qila House (Jalan House) are the different types of infotainment complexes.

Patna is also a gateway to famous locations like Aara, Bodh Gaya, Gaya, Vaishali, Pawapuri, Nalanda, Rajgir, Maner, Vikramshila and Muzaffarpur.

Education

Patna has gradually emerged as one of the major center of learning in East India. Schools in Patna are either run by the state government or run by private trusts, organisations, missionaries. Government schools are affiliated with the Bihar School Examination Board and most private schools are affiliated with the ICSE, CBSE or NIOS boards. Some of the prominent old schools Patna like St Joseph's Convent High School, St Michael's Higher Secondary School, St. Xavier's High School, were established by missionaries during the British Raj. DPS Patna (established in 1998) has turned out to be one of the best schools of Bihar in a short period of time.

In the recent years, Patna has become a hub for imparting quality education in fields like Technology, Medicine, Management, Law and Fashion. In the past few years, many institutions of national repute have opened up in Patna tremendously increasing the opportunities in higher education in the state capital. Colleges such as Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Birla Institute of Technology, Patna and National Institute of Technology, Patna are the prominent engineering college in Patna. Other colleges include the newly opened National Institute of Fashion Technology Patna and medical schools such as Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna Medical College and Hospital and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital. Anugrah Narayan College & B N College are among the best known colleges for commerce & humanities besides for a range of PG courses.

After coming to power, the Nitish Kumar led government opened the Birla Institute of Technology, Patna, Chanakya National Law University, a national law university and a B-school that goes by the name of Chandragupt Institute of Management. These institutes have done tremendously well given that they are still in their infancy. They have been successful in attracting students from not just within Bihar but also students from far flung states. A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute, Bihar Research Institute are the research institutes in Patna. The Patna University, the first university in Bihar, was established in 1917, and was the 7th oldest University of the Indian subcontinent..Patna also houses one of India's world-renowned libraries, the Khuda Baksh Oriental Library and the Sinha Library, which is one of the largest in the region.

Lately, Patna has also emerged as a major center for engineering and civil services coaching. All the major private IIT-JEE coaching institutes have opened up their branches here and this has helped in reducing the number of students who used to got to places like Kota & Delhi for engineering/medical coaching.

Sports

As in the rest of India, cricket is the most popular sport in Patna. There are several cricket grounds (or maidans) located across the city, including the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, which is second largest in eastern India, next only to "Eden Gardens" of Kolkata.. The stadium features a swimming pool and a cricket academy. This statdium has served as venue for two One day international matches and several national sport event. Patna Golf Club situated west of the Government House to the South Bihar Gymkhana Club. It is 165 acres Golf Field. and includes some very tough holes, this well-maintained course will prove interesting to amateur and pros alike. Patna Indoor Stadium also known as Rainbow Field is indoor - outdoor sporting complex and will be renamed after Abhinav Bindra. Patna will be a team in Indian Premier League according to IPL expension plan 2012-13.

Gallery

Image:Patnamuseum1.JPG|Patna Museum (Ajayabghar)

Image:GangacollectorateGhat.JPG|View of river Ganga from Collectorate GhatImage:ShivsagarRamgoolamStatueInPatna.JPG|Sri Seewoosagur Ramgoolam StatueImage:Darbhanga house.JPG|Darbhanga House at Kali GhatImage:Giraffe at patna zoo.JPG|Giraffe at Patna Zoo

Image:Secretariat Building patna.JPG|Secretariat Building.

Notes

1. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/For-Bihar-P-stands-for-Patna-and-prosperity/293289/
2. http://www.deccanherald.com/DeccanHerald.com/Content/Feb72008/scroll2008020750898.asp?section=updatenews
3. http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/urban_growth1.html Fastest growing cities and urban areas
4. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/New-Delhi-Patna-best-cities-to-start-business-World-Bank/articleshow/4720294.cms
5. Populations of Largest Cities in PMNs from 2000BC to 1988AD
6. Omalley L.S.S., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005, pp. 23
7. Patan Devi
8. http://www.hindubooks.org/temples/bihar/patandevi/index.htm
9. http://www.patna.nic.in/html/History.htm
10. http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/asia/index.pl?read=129
11. Of the city Pataliputra Indika, Book II, Frag. XXV, Strab. XV. i. 35-36,--p. 702. Frag XXVI.Arr. Ind. 10. Of Pataliputra..." the greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra, in the dominions of the Prasians, where the streams of the Erannoboas and the Ganges unite,--the Ganges being the greatest of all rivers, and the Erannoboas being perhaps the third largest of Indian rivers, though greater than the greatest rivers elsewhere; but it is smaller than the Ganges where it falls into it. Megasthenes informs us that this city stretched in the inhabited quarters to an extreme length on each side of eighty stadia, and that its breadth was fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed it all round, which was six hundred feet in breadth and thirty cubits in depth, and that the wall was crowned with 570 towers and had four-and-sixty gates...."
12. Ancient Library
13. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/india/gal_india_south.shtml
14. Pataliputra Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms by Fa Hein, tr. by James Legge, Chapter XXVII, Pataliputtra or Patna, in Magadha. King Asoka's spirit-built palace and halls. The Buddhist Brahman, Radha-Sami. Dispensaries and hospitals…… n.1 Pataliputra, The Sanskrit name means "The city of flowers." It is the Indian Florence.
15. Omalley L.S.S., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005, pp. 36, "Sher Shah on his return from Bengal, in 1541, came to patna, then a small town dependent on Bihar, .... In 1620 we find Portuguese merchants at Patna; and Tavernier's account shows that a little more the a century after its foundation it was the great entrepot of Northern India "the largest town in Bengal and the most famous for trade..."
16. Source – District Elementary Education Report Card 2004 of National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi.
17. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/First-ever_book_on_Patna_soon/articleshow/3515588.cms "Trams in Patna" by TOI
18. http://www.mapsofindia.com/driving-directions-maps/nh30-driving-directions-map.html NH 19
19. http://www.mapsofindia.com/driving-directions-maps/nh30-driving-directions-map.html NH 30
20. http://www.mapsofindia.com/driving-directions-maps/nh31-driving-directions-map.html National Highway No. NH 31
21. http://www.mapsofindia.com/driving-directions-maps/nh83-driving-directions-map.html NH 31
22. http://www.mapsofindia.com/distances/patna.html Distance chart of patna
23. http://iwai.gov.in/Waterways.htm National Waterways No. 1
24. http://www.tourism.gov.in/survey/BIHAR%20TOURISM%20ANNUAL%20STATISTICS%20%20REPORT%20Final.pdf Statics Tourism in Bihar on Indian Government's tourism website
25. Kumhrar
26. http://www.buddhist-tourism.com/countries/india/buddhist-sites/patna-bihar.html
27. http://gov.bih.nic.in/depts/YouthArtCulture/Museum.htm
28. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Mandir_trust_submits_Rs_35-cr_budget/articleshow/3017191.cms
29. http://sgpc.net/holy%20takhat/holy_takhat_english.asp
30. Gurdwara Pahila Bara
31. Gurdwara Gobind Ghat
32. Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh
33. Gurdwara Bal Leela
34. Gurdwara Handi Sahib
35. Islamic shrines in Bihar Bihar Tourism Official website
36. http://www.splendidindia.com/destinations/bihar/traveling-to-shershahsurimasjidpatna.html
37. http://www.tsiindia.com/east-india/pathar-ki-masjid-bihar.html
38. http://www.iitp.ac.in/ Indian Institute of Technology Patna
39. http://www.bitpatna.ac.in/ Birla Institute of Technology, Patna
40. http://www.nitp.ac.in/ National Institute of Technology, Patna
41. http://www.niftindia.com/ National Institute of Fashion Technology Patna
42. http://www.igims.org/ Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences
43. http://www.pmch.net/ Patna Medical College and Hospital
44. http://www.ansiss.org/ A N Sinha Institute of Social Sciences
45. http://www.rmrims.org.in/ Rajendra Memorial Research Institute
46. http://www.patnauniversity.ac.in/ Patna University
47. http://www.mapsofindia.com/patna/places-of-interest/moin-ul-haque-stadium.html
48. http://patnagolfclub.com/ Patna Golf Club
49. http://www.golftoday.co.uk/clubhouse/coursedir/world/india/eastindia/patna.html Patna Golf Club
50. http://living.oneindia.in/celebrity/sports/2008/abhinav-bindra-biography-180908.html Patna Indoor Stadium

External links

• Official portal of Patna
• Official site of the Municipal Corporation of Patna
• Official portal of Patna district
• Official portal of Bihar
• Patna Daily
• Bihar times
• Patna.ws