Bihar Tourism Content Writing Contest Entry for 2023

Ghora Katora, Nalanda

Aradhye Ackshatt

Like a newly discovered gemstone, Ghora Katora lake is a unique addition to Bihar’s ecotourism sites. Native Hindi speakers will know it literally means ‘horse bowl,’ due to the lake’s perceived shape. For our family, it was a delightful trip, especially due to the pedal boats that make for a truly immersive - pun intended - experience. The flock of ducks added to the natural charm.

Reaching Ghora Katora is quite convenient. We simply hired one of many e-rickshaws from the base of the Rajgir Vishwa Shanti Stupa for the hundred-rupees round trip. The entry ticket is a very reasonable ten rupees per adult. Four of us [me, spouse, in-laws, and baby daughter] went at the start of December, and were awed by the immense statue of Buddha as it soared into our view as our ‘toto,’ as the battery-powered vehicles are called colloquially, approached the lake.

The access road is through dense jungle, but there is no risk of wild animals, as per the driver. It was true - we only spotted a few cattle on our way to and fro, even though it was gathering dusk on our return. An anti-poaching camp is right before the designated parking for the totos. A short walk along the lakeshore brought us to the boating ticket counter, plus a refreshment hut built a little way up the slope. Surrounded by the Rajgir mountains, Ghora Katora is open to the setting sun on the west, which makes late evenings an excellent time to drink in the delight of this site.

Our turn on one of the boats came after some waiting, since some groups tend to overspend time on the pristine water. Common civility needs to improve among tourists in India, because our natural wonders suffer the brunt of our thoughtless littering. Thankfully, Ghora Katora is still quite clean, and we hope Bihar Tourism will continue its valiant efforts to propagate responsible tourism. Their boats are either 2-seaters or 4-seaters, and some of them needed a little bailing out by the very jovial boating staff. We requested one that did not take on water so that our dry shoes wouldn’t get wet, and thankfully, our patience and politeness were rewarded by the staff!

Once on the water, we pedaled around for a few minutes, heeding the warning not to get too close to the staggeringly huge Buddha statue [the water is shallow near its base, so the boats run the risk of running aground]. Shooting our Bihar travel vlog in a moving boat was a whole new mode! There is a small tree-laden island in the middle of the lake, and we went around it.

Coming back to our toto, we were very satisfied with the 80-rupee per person boating facilities. Our minds held our memories, while our cameras held our very cathartic experience at such a different kind of tourist site, wholly unexpected and completely novel. The red sun set.