Gaya

Also known as Gyah

Holy City in Bihar, India

OverviewAI-generated

Gaya is a city and big city located in Gaya district, Bihar, India. It serves as the capital of both Gaya district and the Magadh division. The city has a population of 474,093 and covers an area of 90.17 square kilometers. Situated at an elevation of 111 meters above sea level, Gaya shares borders with Ranchi and Giridih. Its postal code is 823001, and the local dialing code is 631.

The city is described in sources including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, The Nuttall Encyclopædia, and the 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. An OpenStreetMap entry identifies a residential area within Gaya as Bodhgaya, with the postal code 823005. The official website for the city is apnagaya.com.

Synthesized by Vinony from 44 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Firecrawl, Open Meteo, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

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7-day forecast

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Place details

Region: Bihar
Country: India
Population: 474,093
Timezone: Asia/Kolkata

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

85US AQIModerate

PM2.5: 48.0 µg/m³
PM10: 48.7 µg/m³

As of 2026-08-11 05:30 · Open-Meteo

Official website

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apnagaya.com →

Link to the official site · 1,322 chars · not written by Vinony

Travel guide

Understand

Gaya is a ritual place and it is famous for Pind daan. People from all over the country, as well as Hindus from abroad, come here to perform pind daan puja for their deceased ancestors. This rituals brings peace to the wandering souls. Many people come here during the monsoon months (September - October) for the pitripaksh tarpan (prayers offered for the dead). The pilgrims take a dip in the seasonal holy river 'Phalgu' during this season. There is huge gathering of people for 2 weeks for pitripaksha mela.

Nowadays it is an ordinary district headquarter of India and bears a polluted, not so clean and dusty look though it still draws thousands of Hindu pilgrims as a pilgrimage and place for a compulsory piṇḍ dān (funeral offerings to the deceased) for Hindus.

Get in

Gaya is well connected through air, rail and road.

Do

Worship in Vishnupad temple of lord Vishnu. Worship in Mangla Gauri (first wife of lord Shiva) Asthan.

Eat

thumbnail|Khajur or Thekuwa is made up of wheat flour, maidha, sugar and dry fruits. The main sweets are Enursa, Tilkut and Lai all of which are exclusive to the city. One can easily get these in shops at Tekari Road and Ramna Road. Two of the famous sweet stores are Kaveri and Pramod misthan bhandar.

Go next

Barabar and Nagarjuni Hill Caves ( N of Gaya) — the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, mostly dating from the Mauryan period (322–185 BCE), and some with Ashokan inscriptions. Bodh Gaya — the main attraction in the area is the Buddha Temple in Bodhgaya, here Buddha acquired the Power of Knowledge. Buses are common from Gaya to Bodh Gaya during peak season. Auto rickshaws cost about ₹200 and an air conditioned taxi costs ₹300-₹350. Bramhjauni Hill Kakolat Falls Nalanda - The famous Nalanda University was situated here, and its remains are the city's main attraction. Pawapuri Rajgir

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~20 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Gaya (IAST: Gayā) is a city, municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Gaya district and Magadh division of the Indian state of Bihar. Gaya is 116 kilometres (72 mi) south of Patna and is the state's second-largest city, with a population of 470,839. The city is surrounded on three sides by small, rocky hills (Mangla-Gauri, Shringa-Sthan, Ram-Shila, and Brahmayoni), with the Phalgu River on its eastern side.

It is a city of historical significance and is one of the major tourist attractions. Gaya is sanctified in the Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist religions. Gaya district is mentioned in the great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It is the place where Rama, with Sita and Lakshmana, came to offer piṇḍadāna for their father, Dasharatha, and continues to be a major Hindu pilgrimage site for the piṇḍadāna ritual. Bodh Gaya, where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, is one of the four holy sites of Buddhism.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gaya” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.