Buddhist Tourism in Bihar
Buddham Sharanam Gachchhami !
The 1200 year old Mahhabodhi Shrine, the seat of buddha’s enlightenment, is the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage place as it is associated with the attainment of enlightenment of the lord, his brush with ultimate truth and the cause of human suffering and misery. Buddha also offered the prescription for reducing pain and misery.
The realization dawned on Buddha after six long year of self deprivation, meditation and wandering. It was under a “peepal” tree that the wandering prince received enlightenment. One of the descendants of the original tree still exists at the place where Siddhartha got transformed into Buddha, the enlightened one. Footprints under the tree are said to be those of Buddha.
Before reaching Uruvela or modern Bodh Gaya, Siddhartha trekked long distances and stayed at vaishali and Rajgir, the other important links of what has come to be known as Buddhist circuit. The temple that exists at the place of enlightenment was built about 1500 years back. The shrine finds mention in the travelogue of Chinese visitor Xuanzang, who visited Bodh Gaya in the year 637. It was excavated by Lord Cunningham in the second half of 19th Century.
Located about 500 km to the west of Calutta, the old city of eastern India, Bodh Gaya is the ultimate tourist cum pilgrimage destinations of peace loving souls from east and west. In the year 2002, the UNSECO included Mahabodhi Temple in the list of world Heritage sites and the world cultural body is now actively engaged in the preservation and maintenance of the temple and committed to preserving its originality.
The Bodhi tree, where Buddha got enlightenment, is the main attraction as people from far off places, in their search for peace, find solace in the serene environment of the sacred place. The Sri Lankans have erected a golden canopy at “Vajrasan”, the seat of enlightenment.
Buddha spent about six years at a place called Dhungeshwari, 10 kms to the north of east of Bodh Gaya, in endless meditation. It was here at Dhungeshwari that Buddha realized the significance of “Madhhyam Marg” or the middle path, the hall mark of Buddhist philosophy.
The revelation about middle path, interestingly, dawned on Buddha from a folk song which meant that do not loosen the Veena ( a musical instrument) so much that no sound comes out of it and do not lighten it so much that it gets snapped, The place in Dhungeshwari where Buddha spent six years of his meditation is also a very important tourist destination of the Buddhist Circuit.
After receiving enlightenment at the age of 35, Buddha spent seven weeks 
at the seven different points in the vicinity constantly gazing at the enlightenment tree from different angles. Muclind Sarovar, to the south of the main shrine, is the point where Buddha spent the sixth weeks after his enlightenment.
Besides the main shrine, Bodhgaya has around 30 foreign monasteries depicting life and times of Buddha through paintings and other visual art forms. The monasteries include those of Japan, Koreaa, Thailand, Taiwan, Srilanka, Nepal and Tibet. These monasteries are managed by people from that particular country.
A 80 ft statue of Buddha erected by the Diajokyo sect of Japanese Buddhist is also a major attraction for the tourists. The monasteries have their own guest houses providing a home away from home feeling to the visitors from abroad.
The place has got air link with direct flights from Colombo, Bangkok and Bhutan. In the tourist season, chartered flights carrying tourists and pilgrims land at Gaya airport.
The place also symbolises inter-faith harmony and essential unity of religion as a Hindu temple and mosque exist close to the temple. The intermingling of Azan, Buddham Sharnam Gachchhami and Om Srinavahah makes a unique convergences of different faiths. Meditation centres have also come up in Bodhgaya where the visitors get training and counselling in meditation. International Meditation Centre is one such place where the visitors go for spiritual growth and for the development of a new understanding.
CHAMPARAN LEG OF THE BUDDHA CIRCUIT
Champaran lies at a tri junction of the Buddhist trail. Buddha, as archaelogical evidence suggest, travelled from Vaishali to Champaran enroute to trans - Gandak Kusinagar where he attained pari - nirvana. He stopped to camp for the night roughly after every 10 kms, Mohammad K K of the Archaelogical Survey of India said, adding that a reluc remains at each such camping spot.
...Contact us for further details
Sonepur Mela - India's largest cattle fair :