April 2025 | 1505 words | 6-minute read
Modern Marvel in an Ancient City
Patna, the capital of Bihar, now boasts its first Taj hotel, the Taj City Centre, enhancing the city's hospitality scene previously served by the budget-friendly Ginger hotel. This new addition aligns with IHCL's vision to introduce world-class hospitality in economically growing state capitals. The hotel, located in the heart of Patna on Budha Marg, offers luxurious accommodations with views, local decor, and modern amenities, promoting the essence of 'Tajness'. Guests can enjoy local and international cuisine at the hotel's restaurants, Shamiana and House of Ming, and experience wellness therapies at the J Wellness Circle. The hotel's location encourages exploration of Bihar’s rich history, culture, and spiritual sites, making it a strategic spot for both tourists and business travellers. The Taj City Centre aims to attract more visitors to explore the historically and culturally significant areas around Patna, enriching travel itineraries across the state.
Modern Marvel in an Ancient City
For years, Patna and Bihar lacked a premium hospitality experience, which has now been addressed with the opening of the Taj City Centre. This marks the Taj brand's entry into Bihar, reflecting IHCL's vision to introduce world-class hospitality to economically burgeoning state capitals. The hotel is situated in the heart of Patna, making it a hub for exploring the city's rich historical and cultural tapestry.
Patna, known historically as Patliputra, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and has served as a significant hub for various empires, spiritual movements, and social revolutions. The Taj City Centre encapsulates this heritage, greeting guests with the traditional 'Pranaam' and incorporating local elements like sujni needlework and Chaitya-style architecture into its decor. The hotel offers luxurious accommodations, including rooms with open-air jacuzzis and panoramic views.
Dining at the Taj City Centre is a culinary adventure with options like Shamiana and House of Ming, offering both international favorites and local delicacies such as Litti Chokha and Ahuna Mutton. The hotel also features a wellness center called J Wellness Circle, which combines traditional Indian therapies with modern wellness practices, and a rooftop fitness center and swimming pool with views of the Ganges.
The hotel's event spaces cater to both corporate and social gatherings, providing a variety of settings suitable for different occasions. Additionally, the Taj City Centre is an ideal base for exploring Patna and the surrounding areas, including the Bihar Museum, which showcases the region's heritage and history.
The Taj City Centre not only elevates Patna's hospitality offerings but also aims to boost tourism by facilitating travel itineraries that highlight Bihar's cultural and historical significance. This initiative is expected to enhance the travel experience in Bihar, making it a more attractive destination for both domestic and international tourists.
Modern Marvel in an Ancient City
For years, Patna, the capital of Bihar, lacked a premium hospitality experience, only hosting the budget-friendly Ginger hotel from the IHCL portfolio. This gap has now been filled by the opening of the Taj City Centre, which marks the entry of the esteemed Taj brand into Bihar. This new venture aligns with IHCL's vision to extend world-class hospitality to economically emerging state capitals across India. The introduction of the Taj in Patna is expected to enhance travel circuits around the city’s historically rich sites.
Patna, previously known as Patliputra, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It has a rich history as the center of the ancient Magadh empire and has been a witness to various spiritual movements and social revolutions since 6 B.C. The Taj City Centre embodies this historical and cultural essence, greeting guests with traditional Indian hospitality.
Located centrally on Budha Marg, the hotel offers luxurious accommodations, including rooms and suites with open-air jacuzzis and impressive views. The interior decor features local sujni needlework and photographs of Bihar’s attractions, while the architecture inside the hotel draws inspiration from the historic Chaitya style. The hotel aims to provide an experience of 'Tajness,' a blend of timeless elegance and modern comfort.
Dining at the Taj City Centre is a culinary journey. Shamiana, the all-day dining restaurant, and House of Ming, which specializes in Chinese cuisine, offer a mix of international favorites and local delicacies. Local dishes such as Litti Chokha and Ahuna Mutton provide guests with a taste of Bihari cuisine in a luxurious setting.
The J Wellness Circle at the hotel offers a tranquil escape with traditional Indian therapies and modern wellness practices. The rooftop fitness center and the temperature-controlled swimming pool provide panoramic views of the city and the Ganga river, adding to the serene experience.
The hotel also boasts a variety of event spaces suitable for different occasions, from corporate meetings to grand weddings. These venues are designed to cater to various needs, ensuring a memorable event for guests.
Beyond the confines of the hotel, Patna and its surroundings offer numerous attractions. The Bihar Museum is a notable destination, showcasing the region's heritage and a vast collection of historical artifacts. The museum is part of a broader effort to foster pride and connection to Bihar's storied past.
The Taj City Centre not only enhances the hospitality landscape of Patna but also serves as a gateway to explore the rich cultural tapestry of Bihar. Siddharth Jain, the GM of the hotel, is keen on helping guests create memorable experiences during their stay, with various travel circuits like the Jain, Sufi, and Sikh circuits showcasing the religious and historical diversity of the region.
In conclusion, the opening of the Taj City Centre in Patna is a significant development in Bihar’s hospitality sector, promising to boost tourism and offer guests a luxurious base to explore the deep cultural roots and historical wealth of the region. The hotel perfectly combines traditional elements with modern luxuries, providing an authentic yet comfortable experience for travelers.
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For far too long, Patna and the state of Bihar have been lacking a Taj hotel; yes, there is the budget-friendly Ginger (part of the IHCL portfolio of hotels) in the busy Fraser Road area close to the railway station and bus stop and not too far from the Patna airport making it an ideal location for the business traveler but the city was lacking the iconic Taj.
The sparkling new property, the Taj City Centre, marks the debut of the Taj brand in Bihar, the vibrant, bustling capital of this important state. The opening of this new property is entirely in keeping with IHCL’s vision to bring world-class hospitality to India’s state capital cities with growing economic prominence. Taj’s entry into Patna hopes to open new avenues to develop travel itineraries and circuits to the culturally significant locations in and around the capital.
This land of ancient temples, stupas and viharas, the seat of the erstwhile Magadh empire and the modern state of Bihar boasts of thousands of years of history, culture and tradition waiting to be fully explored both by domestic tourists and foreign travelers.
The oldest continuously inhabited city, Patna (earlier known as Patliputra) sits at an important cross-section of history and trade occupying a crucial place in India’s civilisational timeline. Going back to 6 B.C., it has been the seat of mighty empires, spiritual movements, social and political revolutions. This is the pride and essence that the Taj City Centre, Patna carries within its spaces and through its service. Quite appropriately, everyone – from the doorman to the GM – greets you with a ‘Pranaam’, the gracious, warm greeting with folded hands and bent forehead.
Nestling in the heart of the city, on the bustling Budha Marg, Taj City Centre, Patna, offers luxurious rooms and suites, some with open-air jacuzzis and each with a superlative view. Corridors and soft furnishings are amply adorned with sujni, a form of local needlework, and photographs of the state’s many attractions while the hallways evoke the Chaitya style of architecture. Each space is meticulously designed to blend timeless elegance with modern comfort, providing guests with a unique experience best summed up as ‘Tajness’.
Guests can embark on a culinary adventure at two of the Taj’s much-loved dining options: Shamiana, the all-day multi-cuisine restaurant, or House of Ming featuring the finest Cantonese, Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. Shamiana offers several Taj favourites such as Keema Pao and the famous club sandwich as well as local delicacies like Litti Chokha and Ahuna Mutton that transport you almost instantaneously into the heart and soul of Bihari cuisine. Litti (baked wholewheat dumplings stuffed with a spiced gram mixture) served with chokha (a tangy tomato or aubergine chutney generously spiked with green chillies and pungent mustard oil) is a rustic delight made all the more interesting when served in 5-star surroundings. As also the Ahuna mutton (also known as Champaran meat) which is melting-off-the-bone meat simmered in clay pot bearing a sharp red curry redolent with the mingled aromas of pure ghee and mustard oil.
The J Wellness Circle at Taj City Centre offers a haven of tranquility with traditional Indian therapies and contemporary wellness practices. Guests can choose from an array of treatments and signature therapies and also enjoy the state-of-the-art fitness centre located on the rooftop offering panoramic views of the city. The temperature-controlled swimming pool on the top terrace is spectacular not least because it offers the most amazing view of the Ganga river as it winds its way leisurely past the city. Swollen after a generous monsoon rain, it cuts a wide swathe, wider than any river one can imagine and as majestic as only India’s holiest river can be. While the front desk can arrange a car for darshan to the river ghats, those unable to go as often as they might want to can offer their salutations and prayers from this vantage point.
Then there are the meticulously curated multiple event spaces that are ready to set the stage for grand weddings and corporate soirées. Depending on the size and occasion, one can choose from the Ganga Boardroom for executive meetings, Magadh Multipurpose Room, Mithila for intimate meetings and brainstorming sessions, and Vaishali with its soaring ceiling, glittering chandeliers and velvet interiors making it a perfect venue for grand weddings, receptions, or conferences.
While the Taj City centre holds multiple delights, so does the city of Patna and the neighbouring countryside. So, whether you are here for business or pleasure remember to take some time off for sightseeing. Chief among these delights is the marvelous Bihar Museum partially opened in 2015 with new chapters being added over the years. Quite unlike any state museum, this world-class ambitious and multi-faceted museum is a marvel of design and ingenuity not to mention immaculate research and scholarship. Spread over an area of more than 13 acres, the beautifully designed building showcases the region’s rich heritage housing a vast collection of historical artifacts from the earliest years of recorded history up to the year 1764. The event and education spaces help nurture a new-found sense of pride and connection to Bihar’s storied past. Also on display are the finest traditional, folk and contemporary art forms along with a special Children’s Gallery and a souvenir shop with a thoughtfully curated selection for visitors to take back and cherish a slice of Bihar’s soul.
If time permits, be sure to soak in the unique blend of religion and culture, spirituality and history that only Bihar can offer. Siddharth Jain, the suave young GM of Taj City Centre, is brimful with ideas to help make his guests stay as memorable as possible offering you a gamut of things to do. Of the many circuits one can choose from, there is the Jain Circuit with excursions to Kamaldah in Patna district; Kund Gram and the oldest Jain temple in Bawan Pokhar in Vaishali district; the pristine Jal Mandir located in a serene lily pond in Pawapuri, Veerayaran in Rajgir, Samavasarna, Kundalpur which is considered to be the birthplace of Lord Mahavira a short distance from the historic Nalanda university, the rock-cut caves of Son Bhandar with meticulously carved figures of Jain Tirthankaras, the historically rich Maniyar Mat, the sacred Shri Digambar Jain temple traditionally regarded as the site of Lord Mahavira’s salvation – all in Nalanda district. More Jain pilgrim sites are to be found in Jamui, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Banka and Nawada.
The Sufi Circuit begins with a visit to the dargah of Maner Sharif on the outskirts of Patna. A small mosque built in the 13th century, a pillared courtyard and the graves of Hazrat Kamaluddin Ahmad Yahya Maneri and his disciples and descendants make it Bihar’s most revered Sufi khanqah. Also in Patna is the hospice, madrasa and library at Phulwari Sharif and the double-storied mosque, the Jama Masjid Mulla Mitan and the dargah of Hazrat Munem Paakbaz worth a visit just as, further afield, the Jamia Rahmani Khanqah in Munger, the Hazrat Bibi Kamal ka Maqbara in Jehanabad and the Hajipur Karbala in Vaishali give a glimpse of the state’s multicultural tapestry.
The Sikh Circuit begins with the Takht Shri Harmandir Sahab ji in Patna Sahab where the ninth guru, Gobind Singh Ji was born on 22 December 1666 and spent his childhood years. Then there is the Prakash Punj with its four doorways named after the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Gurudwara Guru ka Bagh where Guru Tegh Bahadur first met his son Gobind Singh, Gurudwara Bal Leela Maini Sangat established on 28 August 1668, Gurudwara Pahila Bara (also known as Gurudwara Gai Ghat) where Guru Nanak first stayed during his visit in 1500 – all in Patna. Further afield are Gurudwara Handi Sahab in Danapur, Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurudwara in Katihar, Gurudwara Guru Nanak Sheetal Kund in Rajgir, Gurudwara Chacha Phaggu Mal in Sasaram and other sacred sites in Gaya, Munger and Bhagalpur.
Other such itineraries can be crafted – such as Ramayana Circuit, Buddhist Circuit and Gandhi Circuit – given the rich history of this region not to mention its equally rich wildlife and the many national parks and sanctuaries a short distance away. Taj City Centre offers the perfect perch for you to make many excursions and day trips into this vibrant state as long as you come home to the undeniable charms of this bright new hotel that offers you the finest amalgam of tradition and modernity.
