Bhagalpur

Bhagalpur is a Ganges-side city famous across India for its silk — Bhagalpuri or Tussar silk, hand-woven by generations of local weavers, remains one of the city's defining industries and a distinctive craft tradition worth seeking out in its markets and weaving quarters. The city also sits close to the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, one of the few protected habitats for the endangered Gangetic river dolphin.

Historically significant as a centre of Buddhist and Jain learning, with Vikramshila University's ruins nearby, Bhagalpur today functions primarily as a regional commercial and educational hub, with its riverfront ghats and older neighbourhoods offering a quieter, more textured counterpoint to Bihar's larger cities.

Referenced in ancient texts under earlier names, Bhagalpur grew in importance through the medieval and colonial periods as a trading centre on the Ganges, with its silk industry developing into a major economic activity by the 18th and 19th centuries.

Bhagalpur has its own airport with limited connections, and is a major railway junction on the eastern network.