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The Travel Edit
East India
Tea country, temples and rivers, and the forests and coast in between.
East India, in these guides, means four states: West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand. Between them they hold the tea slopes of Darjeeling and the mangroves of the Sundarbans, the city of Kolkata, the temple coast of Puri and Konark, the places in Bihar where the Buddha lived and taught, and the waterfalls and forests of the Chota Nagpur plateau. These guides help you choose where to go, when to travel and how to move between them. (The eight states of the Northeast have their own collection.)
From the Himalaya
to the Bay of Bengal.
Find your kind of trip
Explore the destinations
Four states, from the Himalayan foothills to the Bay of Bengal. Start with a state, then follow its guide into the places worth your time.
Mountains to mangroves in one region.
West Bengal
Kolkata, the tea hills of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, the Sundarbans mangroves and the terracotta temples of Bishnupur.
Odisha
The temple cities of Bhubaneswar and Puri, the Sun Temple at Konark, Chilika Lake and a long Bay of Bengal coast.
Bihar
Bodh Gaya, the ruins of Nalanda, the hills of Rajgir, Vaishali and the old river city of Patna.
Jharkhand
Waterfalls around Ranchi, the Netarhat plateau, the forests of Betla and the temple town of Deoghar.
LegendWest BengalOdishaBiharJharkhandGrey: neighbouring states and countries, not part of this collection
Choose by what you want
Hills and tea country
The tea estates and toy train of Darjeeling, quieter Kalimpong and the Netarhat plateau in Jharkhand. Cool when the plains are hot.
Temple towns
The temple triangle of Bhubaneswar, Konark and Puri, the terracotta temples of Bishnupur and the pilgrim town of Deoghar.
Buddhist heritage
Bodh Gaya and the Mahabodhi Temple, the ruins of Nalanda, the hills of Rajgir and Vaishali.
Mangroves, lakes and coast
The tidal creeks of the Sundarbans, dolphins and winter birds on Chilika Lake and the beach at Puri. Best from October to March.
City life and food
Kolkata: the Hooghly at dusk, the lanes and temples of the north, and plenty to eat. Durga Puja, in autumn, is the city’s biggest festival.
Waterfalls and forests
The waterfalls around Ranchi, the Patratu valley and the sal forests of Betla in Jharkhand, fullest just after the monsoon.
How to plan an East India trip: regions, gateways and pacing
Find your kind of trip
Browse by travel mood
Six ways into the region, each linking to the guide that fits.
Featured story · West Bengal
Darjeeling’s tea country: estates, the toy train and the long view of Kangchenjunga
A few unhurried days in the hills: tea estates and tastings, the UNESCO-listed Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, early-morning mountain views and a side trip to Kalimpong.
Latest from East India
Plan a little better
Before you go
Practical starting points for a short break or a longer journey.
Plan around the monsoon and the festivals.
When to visit
A cool, dry winter, a hot summer and the monsoon, plus cyclones on the coast. Compare the plains, the hills and the coast.
Getting around
Flights from Kolkata, overnight trains, hired cars, the Darjeeling toy train and boats in the Sundarbans and on Chilika.
Build your itinerary
Four suggested routes, from a week in Kolkata and Darjeeling to two weeks across the region.
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Kolkata and the hills
City neighbourhoods, tea estates and the toy train
In the Works
Lifelately Travel Guide
Odisha’s temple coast
Bhubaneswar, Konark, Puri and Chilika
In the Works
Lifelately Travel Guide
The Buddhist circuit
Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Vaishali
In the Works
The Lifelately Edit
Ways into East India
Editor’s picks drawn from our own guides and stories.
From the travel journal
Stories from the road
Original Lifelately guides, researched and written for planning a real trip.
West Bengal
A first few days in Kolkata: the river, the old neighbourhoods and the food
The Victoria Memorial and the Maidan, the Hooghly at dusk, north Kolkata’s lanes and temples, and what to eat.
Jharkhand
Jharkhand’s waterfalls and the Netarhat plateau
Waterfalls around Ranchi, the Patratu valley, Netarhat’s viewpoints and the forests of Betla.
Bihar
Nalanda and Rajgir: ancient ruins and the hills where the Buddha taught
The UNESCO-listed ruins of Nalanda Mahavihara, the Vishwa Shanti Stupa and Vulture Peak.
Image credits · Via Unsplash, under the Unsplash License: Ashish Kumar Senapati (a carved chariot wheel, Konark), Sumeet Singh (Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir), Tapan Kumar Choudhury (a waterfall near Ranchi), Dilip Poddar (Jagannath Temple, Puri), Prashanth Karnam (Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya), Peggie Mishra (Patratu valley), Nayan Bhalotia (meditation in the Mahabodhi Temple grounds), Anish Mathew Jose (Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar), Maitheli Maitra (mangrove forest, Sundarbans), Ujjval Verma (Konark Sun Temple complex), Neeraj Pramanik (Kalijai Island, Chilika Lake), Bipin (Trikut hills, Deoghar district), Rish Kumar (a stupa in Patna), Anirudhya Show (forest at Netarhat). Via the WordPress Photo Directory, CC0: Mehraz Morshed (Victoria Memorial, Kolkata), Neeraj Jangid (the hills around Darjeeling), erkrish (Kangchenjunga from Darjeeling), Bigul Malayi (Prinsep Ghat, Kolkata). Stock images, not the author’s own. Map drawn by Lifelately from DataMeet India state boundaries (CC BY 4.0), with neighbouring countries from Natural Earth (public domain).
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