People with an interest in history and relics have a treat in store this month.

Heritage Society, an NGO in Patna, has planned a heritage tour this Independence Day at Vaishali and Muzaffarpur. Those willing can register themselves over the phone, or the organisation's website by August 10, and would be able to visit the Raja Vishal Ka Garh, the Asokan pillar and Buddha's relic stupa.

The trip will be different from any usually taken because a team of researchers and guides would accompany the tourists telling them about the folklore associated with the sites. All they have to do is pay Rs 1,000 for transportation and food.

"The heritage tour to be organised on Independence Day in Vaishali and Muzaffarpur districts will be unique because the participants would be told about the various folklore. The importance of heritage sites is gauged not only by findings of excavations but also by folklores," said Heritage Society secretary Anantashutosh Dwivedi. "The heritage tour that we are organising will highlight the historical importance of the heritage sites through the excavation finding and the folklores. Experts would accompany the participants on the heritage tour and share information with them."

One of the folklores say Lord Buddha was once offered a bowl of honey by a group of monkeys.

Dwivedi said: "In Vaishali, the participants will be taken to Buddha's relic stupa, Raja Vishal Ka Garh and Abhishek Pushkarini (coronation tank that anointed the elected representatives of Vaishali, birthplace of the world's first republic), and to Kolhua in Muzaffarpur.

"They will also be taken to the Asokan pillar in Vaishali - king Asoka became a great follower of Buddhism after the Kalinga massacre and established the famous pillar to memorialise the Lord Buddha's last sermon there."

Dwivedi said a relic casket - believed to contain the remains Lord Buddha - was found during an excavation in Vaishali and kept at the Patna Museum. "The site is known as Budhha's relic stupa. Raja Vishal Ka Garh is the ruins of the fort of Lichhavi king Vishal. Vaishali is supposed to have got its name from Raja Vishal. Apart from the pattern of settlement, the site assumes special significance as several Mauryan pillars, relic stupas, mud stupas and ponds have been found in the vicinity. Kolhua is one of the most revered Buddhist sites and an integral part of ancient Vaishali," he said.

Apart from this heritage tour, the Bihar Heritage Development Society, an autonomous body under the art, culture and youth affairs department, is also organising heritage walks as part of the Champaran Satyagraha's centenary celebration. Weekly heritage walks will be held in Patna, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran and West Champaran districts from October 2017 to April next year.

"The participants would not only be told about the importance of the Champaran Satyagraha in the freedom movement but also about the importance of each historical site they visit," said Bihar Heritage Development Society executive director Bijoy Kumar Choudhary.