Bihar is a state in northern India and in bounded by Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, and by Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two parts by the river Ganges which flows from west to east. State day is observed on 12th December. The economy of Bihar is largely service-oriented, but it has a significant agricultural base. Chhath, also called Dala Chhath, is an ancient and major festival in Bihar. In earlier days, tourism in the region was purely based on educational tourism, as Bihar was home to the ancient universities of Nalanda University (established in 450 CE), Odantapurā (established in 550CE) and Vikramaśīla University (established in 783 AD).
Education Status
According to the Census 2011, Bihar has a literacy rate of 63.82% (male literacy rate 73.39% and female literacy rate 53.33%).
Some centers of high learning established by the British rule are Patna College (established in 1839), Bihar School of Engineering (established in 1900; now known as National Institute of Technology, (NIT) Patna), Prince of Wales Medical College (1925; now Patna Medical College and Hospital), Science College, Patna (1928).
After independence Bihar lost the pace in terms of establishing a centre of education and modern Bihar has a grossly inadequate educational infrastructure creating a huge mismatch between demand and supply. At present there are 7 government engineering colleges and 12 private engineering colleges in Bihar, besides government aided BIT Patna and Women's Institute of Technology. Bihar is pioneer in the field of yoga with its internationally renowned institute Bihar School of Yoga in Munger.