Bird’s eye view:
A drive of 280 km again, but today it took longer. Purvanchal expressway stayed with us for 100 km, after which we descended to NH31, a crowded stretch of road, then started on the unexpectedly beautiful NH922 after crossing the Ganga at Buxor, got stuck again at Ara, and ran a fairly good stretch for the balance 50 km to North Patna, where my cousin was staying. We left Azamgarh at 7.00 am and reached at 12.00 noon, a well-done 5 hour run, helped by the fact that it was a Sunday.
It was sunny today, but not blistering, around 30-33 degC, so can’t complain.
Leaving Azamgarh (7.00 am):
Checkout was smooth, since we did not take breakfast at the hotel. Thinking that PEx would have scarce food resources, we were carrying cakes and biscuits, to have on the go. In fact, we were pretty flummoxed when, after an hour or so of driving, PEx ran out of steam and we were back in the land of congested traffic and shanty food shops. Nonetheless, we still had our cake and biscuits, while on the run. A plan is a plan.
Reaching Patna (12.00 noon):
Today’s journey was a combination of zippy 100 kmph and limping 20 kmph. What intrigued us mostly was that even on the idyllic NH922, trucks were parked bumper to bumper on the oncoming lanes, and the regular traffic was perforce driving in our lanes in the wrong direction. There would have been at least 500 trucks, inching along. Bihar border checks? Who knows? This phenomenon happened more than once. We wondered how our industrialists got anything delivered on time.
We reached my cousin’s place at 12.00 noon, whereas they were not expecting us before 1.00 pm. As I said, maybe Sunday helped.
After a long time, I gorged on Bengali fare again. Rice and daal as usual, accompanied by stuffed karela, parwal made with paneer bhurji, and…here I go all squeaky with excitement… FISH CURRY! Yo!
We thought we had earned a well deserved rest, but my cousin and co-brother were determined to show us the sights of Patna. So, after a little panting, we pushed off at 3.00 pm for our first destination, one hour away.
Shanti stupa at Vaishali (4.00 pm):
On the way out, we crossed the JP bridge across the Ganges, fully 4.5 km long. This being the dry season, water flows through only a portion of the exposed beds, but we could imagine its impressive size post monsoons.
This stupa was constructed by the Lichchhavis in 5th century BC, and excavated in 1950. Vaishali was the place where Buddha gave his last sermon and achieved Nirvana. Some of his relics have been placed at the top and bottom of the structure, making it especially holy.
On the way back to our car, the ladies got totally enamoured by the mangoes and lichis hanging on surrounding trees, and begged and borrowed a few. Unfortunately they were thoroughly unripe.
Ashoka pillar at Kolhua (5.00 pm):
Close to Vaishali, at a place called Kolhua, there is a 18.5 m Ashoka pillar of stone, constructed in the Mauryan period, adjacent to a stupa called the ananda stupa. The ruins are extremely interesting, right from the thin bricks used for the stupa, to the half-pillar ruins spread around, to the dates inscribed on the pillar, increasing in value downward, as more and more of the pillar became exposed. We saw dates like 1755, 1814, with small sketches (a camel for some reason) and names of Britishers beside them, showing that even then, the pillar was a tourist attraction.
Takt Sri Patna Sahib (6.00 pm):
On the way back from Vaishali, we first crossed the Gandak once again. Just before we boarded the bridge, we could see vendors of vegetables, especially watermelon, lauki and pumpkin, lined up along the roadside. Apparently these are grown on the banks that are exposed now, being the dry season, but the ground moisture impregnates the veggies with a particular sweetness. We bought a watermelon to test it out.
We also crossed the impressive JP bridge again and continued on to JP Ganga Path, locally called Marine Drive, which carried on beside the Ganges for miles and miles. The road is lit all through with neon lights, and my cousin said this is the only necklace-like road visible in Patna as planes come in to land. The initial stretch of a couple of kilometres was chock-a-block with stalls selling litti chokha to pizza, with very imaginative names like “Bewafa kulfi” to “Miss you momo”. The weather was pleasant with a river breeze and the shops had laid out chairs and tables against the railing, giving the scene the look of a Parisian Patna. To continue the comparison, there are many bridges across the Ganges here, just as Seine in Paris has many crossings. It’s just that the bridges here are 4-5 kms long.
The Pant Sahib is a very famous gurdwara, having been founded by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, who was born here and spent his early years here as well, being tutored by his father Teg Bahadur. The original structure was damaged in an earthquake and rebuilt in the 19th century. Made mostly of marble, it is huge and beautiful, with an extensive langar. This being a Sunday, there were many devotees sitting and listening to the chanting.
We returned home through very heavy traffic. I had last visited Patna in 1990, and it has grown considerably since then, becoming a busy, commercial, aggressive city. My cousin said though, that focus on education is still very high, carrying on the ancient studious flavour of Bihar, whose solid upstanding evidence was the Nalanda university. No wonder that a high number of IAS officers are from this state.
My cousin had not ditched her Patna check list yet. Litti chokha made its way to the dinner table, and we closed Patna properly, with a burp.
Tomorrow we travel to Asansol, our last stop before Kolkata.
Photo credits: Panna Rashmi Ray
Pro driving tip:
On long straight roads, like I am driving now, I find that my right leg does not find a suitable side support. If I spread it wide till my right knee touched the right door, it is too wide a sitting stance. So I nowadays insert a neck pillow as shown below, to enable support without swinging out my leg too much.
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