Current Time in Bihār Sharīf, India

Bihār Sharīf lies in the state of Bihar in eastern India, on the plain south of the Ganges about seventy kilometres from Patna. Low rocky hills rise from the flat farmland around it, and the surrounding countryside is intensively cultivated with rice, wheat, pulses and vegetables, watered by canals drawn from the rivers of the region. Summers are extremely hot, the monsoon brings heavy rain from June, and winters are cool and often foggy.

The city has a population of around three hundred thousand and is the headquarters of Nalanda district. It functions as a trading and administrative centre for a densely populated agricultural region and is one of the larger cities in the state.

Its name carries its history. The word Bihar comes from vihara, the Sanskrit term for a Buddhist monastery, of which this area once held a great many, and the whole state takes its name from them. The addition of Sharif, meaning noble, reflects the city's later importance as a centre of Islamic learning and Sufi devotion. During the Delhi Sultanate it served as the provincial capital of Bihar, and it became known across northern India as the seat of Makhdum Shah Sharfuddin Ahmed Yahya Maneri, a revered Sufi saint of the fourteenth century whose shrine stands on a hill overlooking the city. The annual commemoration of his death draws large crowds of pilgrims, and a second important shrine, that of Malik Ibrahim Bayu, lies nearby.

The district around the city is one of the great historic landscapes of the world. Just twelve kilometres away stand the excavated ruins of Nalanda Mahavihara, the ancient Buddhist university that flourished for some seven hundred years and attracted thousands of students from China, Korea, Tibet, Central Asia and Southeast Asia before it was destroyed in the twelfth century. Its brick monasteries, stupas and lecture halls are protected as a World Heritage site, and a modern university has been founded nearby to revive the tradition. Rajgir, a short distance further, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Magadha and is sacred to both Buddhists and Jains, with hot springs, a hilltop peace pagoda reached by ropeway, cyclopean walls and the peak where the Buddha is said to have preached. Pawapuri, where Mahavira attained final liberation, has a beautiful marble temple set in the middle of a lotus pond.

The city itself offers busy bazaars, old mosques and temples, and a strong tradition of hospitality. Bihari cuisine features litti chaurma, sattu, fish curries and sweets such as khaja and tilkut from the region.

Nalanda Open University and a range of colleges serve local students, and the city has been included in national urban development programmes. A railway line links it to Rajgir and Bakhtiyarpur, and highways connect to Patna and Gaya, both of which have airports.

Bihār Sharīf is important as a Sufi centre, a district capital and the gateway to one of the richest archaeological regions in Asia.