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Visit
the quiet little
village
of
Bodhgaya
. It is here that the Buddha is said to have attained Nirvana. Once here,
you can visit the Bodhi Tree (the fifth in succession of the original tree)
under which the Buddha had attained Enlightenment. Other places of interest
are the spectacular
Mahabodhini
Temple
, ( The Mahabodhi
Temple being given the status of a World Heritage site),
Vajrasana and the ancient railings that surround the temple.Rajgir, where
the Buddha spent five years after attaining enlightenment. |
The
remains at Rajgir commemorate various incidents, the hill of Gridhrakuta
being perhaps the most important, as this is where the Buddha delivered most
of his sermons.
Patna
is the gateway to Buddhist centres across
Bihar
. The Kumrahar excavations south of
Patna
city, revealed the foundation of the brick Buddhist monastery known as Anand
Bihar. Lord Buddha himself taught here and Hieun Tsang, the 7th century Chinese
traveller, was a student. Ongoing excavations have uncovered temples, monasteries
and lecture halls.
To the south
of
Patna
is Nalanda, which translates as ‘the place that confers the lotus’ (of
spiritual knowledge).
Vaishali,
bound by the hills of
Nepal
on the north and the river Gandak on the west, is renowned as the place where the
Buddha delivered his last sermon.
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India
