Bhagalpur
The silk city on the Ganges.
Ancient Anga capital, home of Vikramshila University and the tussar silk weavers whose looms have been running since long before the British ever named a district.
Places.
Vikramshila Ruins
Sister university to Nalanda, ninth-century, on the Ganges.
Kuppaghat Ashram
A caved-out spiritual retreat carved into a Ganges bluff.
People.
A shepherd’s son turned self-taught flautist who has carried Chaita, Nirgun and Bhajan traditions across four decades of village fairs.
Third-generation weaver of tussar and mulberry silk in Bhagalpur — the city that has been sending silk down the Ganges since the Mauryas.
Food.
Wheat-milk pancakes fried in ghee and dipped in rosewater syrup.
Beaten rice, thick yogurt, jaggery. What Bihari kitchens reach for in July.
Music.
A spring song sung during the harvest of wheat and mustard.
