Reaching Patna
Patna is connected to major Indian cities by air and rail. The supplied travel page places Jayprakash Narayan International Airport approximately 43 km from the IIT campus. Allow time for the onward road journey and confirm your arrangements before travel.
Invited speakers
Accommodation for invited speakers will be arranged in the institute guest house or hotels. Contact the accommodation team or track volunteers for booking.
Participants and students
Participants should arrange their own accommodation. Limited hostel accommodation for men and women is expected to be allocated to registered delegates on a first-come, first-served basis. Booking details and charges are not supplied yet.
Do not assume a room is reserved until the organisers confirm your booking.
A list of nearby hotels will be posted here once confirmed by the organisers.
Ask about accommodation ↗
Welcome to the land of Buddha.
The land of knowledge.
Bihar carries one of India’s deepest historical legacies — the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment, and where the world’s oldest residential university once stood. If your schedule allows, these sites are all within a half-day’s reach of the IIT Patna campus.
In Patna · the conference cityPatna
- Golghar — an 18th-century beehive-shaped granary overlooking the Ganges
- Patna Museum — Buddhist relics and a fossilised tree over 200 million years old
- Mahavir Mandir — one of India’s most-visited temples
- Takht Sri Patna Sahib — a Sikh Gurudwara marking the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh
- Buddha Smriti Park — a relic stupa and memorial museum
- Kumhrar — excavated remains of Pataliputra, capital of the ancient Mauryan empire
Photo: Himanshu Manne / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Learn more about Patna ↗
Nalanda · about 90 km, 2 hrs from PatnaNalanda
- Nalanda Mahavihara — ruins of the ancient university, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2016
- Nalanda Archaeological Museum — artefacts recovered from the site
- Xuanzang Memorial Hall — honouring the Chinese scholar-monk who studied here
- Nalanda University — the revived international campus nearby
Photo: Sumitsurai / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · UNESCO listing for Nalanda Mahavihara ↗
Rajgir · about 100 km, 2.5 hrs from PatnaRajgir
- Gridhakuta (Vulture’s Peak) — where the Buddha delivered several sermons
- Vishwa Shanti Stupa, reached by the Rajgir ropeway
- Brahmakund hot springs
- Venu Vana — a bamboo grove gifted to the Buddha, his first monastery
Photo: Photo Dharma / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · Learn more about Rajgir ↗
Gaya & Bodh Gaya · about 100–110 km, 2.5 hrs from PatnaGaya
- Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya — a UNESCO World Heritage Site marking where the Buddha attained enlightenment
- The Bodhi Tree, a direct descendant of the original tree
- Great Buddha Statue, Bodh Gaya — an 80-foot seated statue
- Vishnupad Temple — an ancient temple on the banks of the Falgu river
Photo: Bpilgrim / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5) · UNESCO listing for Mahabodhi Temple ↗
Distances and travel times are approximate road figures; confirm current conditions before planning a trip.
