“As the place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, Bodh Gaya is the spiritual home of Buddhists. Located in Bihar, 115kms from Patna, the land is rich and fertile, dotted with green fields and watered by the river Phalgu – the same ancient Nairanjana river where the Buddha bathed after attaining enlightenment. A range of low forested hills silhouette the small hamlets flanking the glistening, sandy banks of the river. Monks and nuns rub shoulders with tourists and believers from all over the world. An all-pervading calm envelops the town, giving visitors a sense of peace”. (from the IncredibleIndia.org website).
As sacred and important as it is to millions of Buddhists worldwide, Bodhgaya is definitely a small town, and will hopefully always remain so. It is filled with color and spirit. In it you can find beautiful Buddhist temples of every tradition and style, representing the many cultures in which Buddhism took hold throughout history. Tibetan, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Indonesian, and Sri Lankan are some of the cultures represented. Various Stupas (commemorative mounds) and statues, including an impressive 80 ft. high Buddha, are some of the sites to be visited in Bodhgaya. Most important to Buddhists is the Mahabodhi Temple, the beautiful temple with its surrounding gardens, constructed next to the Bodhi Tree, where Buddha sat when he attained his enlightenment.
On the streets of Bodhgaya you will find international tourists, bicycle rikshaws, monks and nuns from around the world with their maroon, saffron, gray or brown robes, Indian women in colorful sarrees, sworms of bedraggled beggars, hungry children, and hungry dogs. It is a place where beauty, sadness and spirituality are intertwined.
For more information on Bodhgaya feel free to ask us or check out the following links:
www.tourismofindia.com/hibuddh/buddh_bodhgaya.htm
