As I walked along, I could see a number of schools in the area. St.Xavier’s High School, Christ Church Diocesan School and so on. Another major institute in the area is the Institute of Fashion Technology. Patna is a great city and has much to offer its visitors.
I was all set to go for some shopping and visit the major part of the city. Gandhi Maidan as it is called, is the main hub of the city, which is a major market area as well as has most of the government offices, banks and other organizations around it. It was 5km away from the hotel; I hired a rickshaw to get to the place. The city looked much busier and as it was a working day for the offices, I could see many vehicles on the road and people were rushing to get to their work places. Patna has a modern infrastructure and it looked stylish with tall buildings. I was happy to a see a tall building that was towering over the others. It looked majestic from a distance. It is the Biscomaun Bhawan, which is known as the tallest building in the city. It also has Patna’s only revolving restaurant. I walked towards the building to know more about it. It really looked tall and as I walked towards it, I saw a security guard. I wanted to enquire a few things so I walked up to him to gather information about the building. He told me that the building was 71m high had most of State Government offices and Nalanda Open University in the building. Gandhi maidan or Patna lawns is a historical place where several movements of freedom struggle cropped up. It is an extensive ground and has the tallest Gandhiji statue in bronze, which is 70 feet tall. It is a breathtaking sight! The areas around are must see if you are in Patna. I walked along to reach Boring Road that is a popular expensive market in the city. It has shops of all major brands and I could see a large crowd in the area. I did not have much in mind for shopping but got busy clicking photographs of the busy city. As I walked along, I could see a number of schools in the area. St.Xavier’s High School, Christ Church Diocesan School and so on. Another major institute in the area is the Institute of Fashion Technology. Patna is a great city and has much to offer its visitors. Jalmandir Temple Patna : Jalmandir temple at Patna is a very significant place for the Jain community. This temple is dedicated to Lord Mahavira. Visiting this temple in the morning will offer you with a very peaceful environment to pay your homage. This amazing temple is entirely made up of marble. Number of blooming lotus surrounds this marble temple offers a picturesque view for the visitors.
I began to love my days in Patna. After the visit to the fabulous library, I was ready for yet another trip. I love going to botanical parks and zoo as we get a closer view of the nature’s beings. I have a huge collection of photographs and videos that I shot in different places. I enjoy watching the wild animals and colorful birds. Patna has one of the most beautiful biological parks, which is named, as Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park. It was at a short distance of about 5km from the hotel so I decided to hire a rickshaw to reach the Park. I was there in 15 minutes. It is clean and green surroundings, so I thought the animals are provided a natural habitat. I moved on and wow! The location seems vast and beautiful. I kept my camera ready to capture pictures of the beautiful creatures. I wish to share the little information that I gained about the Biological Park. It was established in 1969 and the area spans across nearly 59 acres. It is one of large zoos in the country. There are more than 100 species of animals and birds within. Some of the rare animals that I saw were the Himalayan Bear, Cassowary and white peacock. As I moved on, I saw plenty of animals like leopard, rhinoceros, giraffe, golden cat and hog deer. I spend a quite sometime within the zoo as I read the details of the species of animals that were displayed in front of every cage. The Zoo also has an aquarium with a number of colorful ornamental fishes. It looked fancy and I clicked a lot of pictures. Another interesting but scary thing is the snake house with many species of snakes. After a good stroll in the zoo, I moved on to the botanical garden. It has a great variety of plants and ferns. A nursery for medicinal plants, a colorful rose garden, fern house, and glass house are the other attractions. It is one of the favorite locations for one-day picnics in Patna. Apart from the zoo and botanical garden, families especially with children can enjoy boating in the lake within the premises and alos utilize the facility of Children Park. Over all it is an exciting location..Perfect for a family outing!
I had booked Premium Deluxe rooms at Hotel Buddha Heritage, so as soon as I got off the train I called up the hotel to find if they had sent a vehicle for pickup. The receptionist told me that it was already there and gave me the vehicle number. As I came out of the station, I found the vehicle and waved out to the driver to pick us. After a long journey, we wanted to relax before beginning on the local trips. It was a cold morning and the car drove through the mist, after twenty minutes we were at the hotel. The rooms were excellent with all facilities and timely services. We needed to relax so all of us went to sleep after setting an alarm at 9am. By then, we were fresh enough to go around the city and it seemed much warmer. We got ready and our first journey was to the popular Khuda Baksh Oriental Library. It was my maiden visit and I was curious about the location. It was about 6.5km from the hotel where we stayed. We left with anxiety and within 20 minutes, we arrived at the ancient library. It is one of the oldest National Library established in 1891. Newly renovated buildings were a mansion of huge collection of manuscripts and various other books. The location was serene and a number of visitors had come over for a visit. As we walked in, we could experience the silence and as expected, we reached an ocean books. The library seems to have a collection over 250,000 books. It is also one of the prime locations where ancient manuscripts are preserved. Some of the well-known manuscripts were Timur Nama and Padshah Nama.
We walked through the entire building and the annexe. Beside the collection of books, the library also displayed some interesting samples of calligraphy, ancient Mughal paintings and a few verses of Quran, which is written on skin of deer. It was a fabulous journey into the glorious past where people spent a lot of time in writing about the life and the royal rule. Today, it attracts a number of people from all over the country and abroad. Kumhrar Patna : Most of my good friends are from is from Bihar, so we decided to plan a trip Kumhrar in Patna. As an architect, I am quite fascinated by ancient architecture. So, i was excited about visiting this city which was built in 600 BC. Through a tour to Kumhrar you can learn a lot about the Mauryan culture and various civilization of that particular era.
Being an architect, I always enjoy watching huge, unique and mega structures. Whenever, I plan a vacation trip, I browse through to have an idea about the historical and unique monuments that I could see in the city. This time I was going to be in Patna for the vacation. I had planned the trip along with my family. I had booked my tickets through the online ticket counter and was lucky enough to have confirmed tickets for the journey. I had my tickets in Udyan Abha Toofan Express, which was from Shri Ganganagar to Kolkata Howrah Junction. The train was scheduled to arrive in Agra Cantt. Station at 12:10 hours. My family and I were at the station at around 11:45am and we were thrilled about the trip. The train arrived on time and it had a half of 30 minutes at the station. It stops for loco reversal, as the train reverses direction in this particular station. We comfortably boarded the train and found our way through to comfortable seas in A/C coach. Our journey began as the train was leaving at 12:40 as per the schedule. It would take almost 19 hours to get to Patna. I had sat beside the window and began to look out to enjoy the scenery outside. I had the train schedule on my mobile phone. I quickly referred to have an idea about the stations that it world pass through. The time was past 4pm and the next station we were to arrive was Phaphund. It was tea time for all. I could hear the chaiwala within the coach. As soon as he reached near our seats, I called out for tea. It was refreshing hot tea. The journey went on. Food served within the train was good enough and all of us enjoyed the dinner too. As the journey to Patna was nearing, I was totally thrilled. The train dropped us on time at the Patna Junction at 6:40 am. We had booked hotel via online and I could see the hotel vehicle waiting at the railway station. It was an amazing journey.
Agra, my hometown is always a fascination for me and I keep exploring the historical city in every opportunity I get. Apart from my work, I also enjoy cooking, especially spicy non-vegetarian dishes. Trying new recipes and serving for my family gives me a feel of satisfaction. Here is another interesting and a common flavor, chicken tikka masala. Any time I bump into a restaurant, I look out for this particular item along with hot chapattis…wow! Fantastic combination! I always wanted to try this dish at home; I happened to do this last week, and I am happy that I could impress my friends who visited me. Here is the experience that I would like to share with you. Follow the exact recipe and munch in some spicy chicken!
Ingredients: For Marinating :
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About Me..
A big hello to everyone here... I am 'the' Geeta Sharma, a young, vibrant, and fun-loving girl from Agra. As a kid, tall buildings always inspired me and now as I type, I myself have attained a master’s degree in Architecture and am working on several projects in and around my city. Whenever I feel taxed of my job, I find a way out in the nature, my second habitat for obvious reasons! Meditation, camping, and photography are activities for which Mother Nature inspires me! On my way back, I also make it a point to get my mind and body relaxed at nearby spa centres. That is about me and you will find much more in detail with regular blogs and updates from me. So stay tuned and sit tight for new experiences every day!
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January 2016
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