Bihar

Bihar is one of the most important state (Province in India).Jain monks travel bare foot. They are pedestrians and never use any vehicle. This very activity of Jain monks and nuns are called  Bihar. Similarly Buddhist shrines are also called Bihar.

Large number of Jain monks and nuns had been continually traveling through Bihar in ancient India. Similarly Ashoka the great built large number of Buddhist shrines in the then Magadh. Both these causes the place to be named as Bihar.

Ganga, the sacred river flows through the Bihar making the land fertile. Pataliputra, an ancient city was the capital of Magadh.  We know that Magadh was the most powerful state in ancient India through Mourya, Kushan, Shung and Gupta dynasty. Pataliputra (Patna) is the capital of Bihar presently.

Both Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha were from Bihar. Bihar was an important place for both Jain and Buddha religion. Many Jain and Buddhist pilgrimage centers such as Rajagriha, Vaishali, Kshatriyakund, Kundalpur, Buddha Gaya, Mithila  are situated in Bihar along with many Hindu pilgrimage centers.