History:
Legend ascribes the origin of Patna to a mythological King Putraka who created Patna by magic for his queen Patali, literally "trumpet flower", which gives it its ancient name Pataligrama. It is said that in honour of the queen's first-born, the city was named Pataliputra. Gram is Sanskrit for village and Putra means son.
Legend also says that the Emerald Buddha was created in Patna (then Pataliputra) by Nagasena in 43 BC.
From a scientific historical perspective, it would be appropriate to surmise that the history of Patna started around the year 490 BCE when Ajatashatru, the king of Magadha, wanted to shift his capital from the hilly Rajagaha to a more strategically located place to combat the Licchavis of Vaishali. He chose the site on the bank of Ganges and fortified the area. From that time, the city has had a continuous history, a record claimed by few cities in the world. When founded, it was known as "Pataligrama" and in later years it was "Pataliputra" which is today's Patna. Gautama Buddha passed through this place in the last year of his life. He prophesied a great future for this place, but at the same time, he predicted its ruin from flood, fire, and feud. It is said that Buddha made a halt here when he was on the last journey to his native land of Kapilavastu.
Patna played a major role in the Indian independence struggle. Most notable are the Champaran movement against the Indigo plantation and the 1942 Quit India Movement. Patna's contribution in the freedom struggle has been immense with outstanding national leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, the first President of the Constituent Assembly of India; Dr. Sachidanand Sinha; Dr. Rajendra Prasad; Bihar Vibhuti (Anugrah Narayan Sinha); Basawon Singh (Sinha); Loknayak (Jayaprakash Narayan); Sri Krishna Sinha; Sheel Bhadra Yajee; Sarangdhar Sinha (Singh); Yogendra Shukla; and many others who worked for India's freedom relentlessly. Shrii Anandamurti formed the Ananda Marga movement in Patna in 1962 to work for world unity and justice. He modernized the ancient practices of yoga and made the most advanced practices of meditation available to the general public. He spoke about the inequality of women (both in India and worldwide). As an example, he questioned the morality of the dowry system of marriage and the Indian caste system. His Ananda Marga organization spread worldwide and teaches both neo-humanism (oneness of family of life) and PROUT (Progressive Utilization Theory) for overall economic development. He is considered a leader in the field of philosophy and morality.
Patna continued to be the capital of the state of Bihar after independence in 1947, though Bihar itself was partitioned again in 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out as a separate state of the Indian union.

Geography:
Patna is located on the south bank of the Ganges River, called Ganga locally. An impressive characteristic of the geography of Patna is its confluence of rivers. The Ganges River is the largest. It is joined by the four mighty rivers: Ghagra, Gandak, Punpun and Sone. The Ganga is a respectable river as it passes through the district of Patna where it seems to be fully as large as in any part of its course for the huge flow of the Kosi. Just to the north of Patna across the Ganges River flows the Gandak. Patna is unique in having four large rivers in its vicinity. It is the largest riverine city in the world. The bridge over the river Ganga named Mahatma Gandhi Setu is 5575m long and is one of the longest (single river) bridges in the world.

Weather:
Patna is the capital of the state of Bihar and is situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. The summer in the city are quiet warm and dry with temperature soaring up to 43 'C and the winters see the temperature drop up to 5 'C. The best time to visit the city is during the months of October to February when the city is experiencing light winds and a cool climate.