Clay birds ride through Darbhanga in bamboo baskets each November, carried by girls singing Maithili songs for Sama Chakeva. The festival honors a sister turned into a bird and the brother who won her back, just as migrating birds arrive from the Himalayas. On the full-moon night the figurines go into the water.
Beyond the festival, the old Raj quarter keeps fort walls, palaces full of students and temples clustered around Shyama Mai. Ponds appear at almost every turn, where people fish and makhana grows. Winters are mild and dry, and the monsoon brings most of the year's rain. A Local Friend opens doors you would not have knocked on, like a courtyard where clay birds are made.
