Bodh Gaya

History

Buddhist tradition places the Buddha’s enlightenment at this spot beside the Niranjana (Phalgu) river. Emperor Ashoka is credited with early memorials; the present Mahabodhi Temple evolved through Gupta and later restorations, with major modern conservation under ASI and international Buddhist communities.

The complex includes the main temple, subsidiary shrines, meditation gardens and monasteries built by Thailand, Japan, Tibet, Sri Lanka and others. Incredible India and Bihar Tourism list Bodh Gaya as the anchor of the Bihar Buddhist circuit.

Stories

The night under the Bodhi tree

Buddhist tradition says that Siddhartha Gautama, after years of austerities, sat under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya, accepted a bowl of rice milk from a village girl, Sujata, and vowed not to rise until he understood the cause of suffering.

On the night of the full moon of Vaishakha he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. The tree is the Bodhi tree, the 'tree of awakening'.

A brick tower from the Gupta age

Tradition says the emperor Ashoka visited Bodh Gaya in the 3rd century BCE and built a shrine. The Mahabodhi Temple standing today, a tall brick temple about 50 metres high, is dated to the 5th–6th century CE, from the Gupta period.

UNESCO listed the Mahabodhi Temple Complex as a World Heritage Site in 2002. The present Bodhi tree is believed to descend from the original.

Forgotten, restored and reclaimed

With the decline of Buddhism in India, Bodh Gaya fell into neglect and the temple came under Hindu priests. In the 19th century the British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham restored the temple.

The Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala campaigned from 1891 for Buddhist control of the site. The Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949 set up a committee with both Hindu and Buddhist members to manage it.

A town of monasteries from many nations

Buddhist communities from Thailand, Japan, Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and other countries have built monasteries in Bodh Gaya. A 25-metre statue of the Buddha, inaugurated in 1989 by the Dalai Lama, stands nearby.

Buddha Purnima and the winter teaching sessions by the Dalai Lama and other lamas draw large gatherings.

Good to know

Mahabodhi Temple UNESCO World Heritage Site

Bodhi Tree and Vajrasana (Diamond Throne)

International monasteries around the temple complex

Getting there

Air: Gaya Airport (~17 km) with seasonal links; Patna (~110 km) for more flights. Rail: Gaya Junction, then taxi/auto to Bodh Gaya (~13 km). Road: NH links from Patna, Varanasi and Ranchi.