Experience the best of Patna

Patna stretches for kilometres along the Ganges and was once Pataliputra, the capital of the Magadha and Maurya empires. The Kumhrar site holds the remains of a pillared hall from the Mauryan age, and museums in the city hold sculpture and relics from early times. The Golghar, a beehive-shaped granary built in 1786, has stairs spiralling up its outside to a view over the river.

Takht Sri Patna Sahib is a major Sikh shrine marking the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, and the city's other sights include the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library, with rare manuscripts, and bathing ghats on the Ganges. Day trips go to Nalanda, with the ruins of the ancient Buddhist university, and to Rajgir, while Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, lies to the south.

Litti chokha, baked wheat balls stuffed with roasted gram flour and eaten with mashed aubergine and potato, is the dish of Bihar, along with sattu drinks and fried river fish. Chhath, when crowds stand in the Ganges at sunrise and sunset, is the great festival of the state. Summers are very hot, and the best weather comes between October and March.