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India is to the Buddhist world what Saudi Arabia is to the Muslims and the Jerusalem is to the Christian brotherhood. Scattered far and wide in entire India, amidst several monuments, shrines, relics, stupas and ruins, one can still rediscover and relive the life and times of Buddha. After more than 2550 years, Buddhism still resonates in the soul of India.
Come, walk step-in-step in the footsteps of Buddha to the places where he was born, grew up, attained enlightenment, preached, and left behind a legacy of love for the entire mankind.
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Buddhist Trails
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Nalanda
Site of the ruins of the monastic university of Nalanda, believed to be the oldest university in the world. First established in the 5th century BC, it reached the zenith of its fame and glory in the beginning of the 9th century. At one time, it had over 3,000 teachers and philosophers, attracting students from countries as far away as Java, Sumatra, Korea, Japan and China. Admission was coveted and only two of every ten scholars who applied were admitted. In the 7th century Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese traveller, spent twelve years here, both as a student and a teacher. The Buddha came to Nalanda often. Two of his chief disciples, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, came from the
vicinity of Nalanda.
Today, Nalanda is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
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Patna
Today the capital of the state of Bihar, it was known as Pataligram in the days when Buddha visited it. Situated on the banks of the river Ganga, it was a thriving township during the Buddha's lifetime, with the river traffic providing endless trade opportunities. The Magadha monarchs moved their capital here (from neighbouring Rajgir) in the 6th century BC, and that saw Pataligram blossoming into Pataliputra, which reached its zenith under two major dynasties, the Mauryas and Guptas. During the reign of Emperor Ashoka, it was the focus from which the Buddha's message of peace and non-violence, compassion and love, was spread far and wide. The third Buddhist Council was held here.
Patna Museum, established by the British in 1917, is house to more than 50,000 rare and valuable antiquities and art objects, including narrative panels and stone sculptures of the Buddha and Bodhisattva figures. The most prized exhibit here is the Holy Relic Casket containing the sacred ashes of the Buddha, unearthed in Vaishali.
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Rajgir
The meandering river Banganga and five hills ensconce picturesque Rajgir, ancient Rajagriha (literally, the abode of kings). During the lifetime of the Buddha this was the capital of the powerful Magadhan kingdom, ruled by the virtuous King Bimbisara. The surrounding hills and caves were home to many spiritual teachers, and like many others in search of Truth, the former Prince Siddhartha came to this city to seek the path of salvation after renouncing his royal heritage. Later, as The Buddha, he often visited Rajagriha to retreat at the Jivakamaravana monsastery, and preached and meditated on the Gridhakuta Hill, where he delivered the Lotus Sutra (which promises salvation for all beings) and the Prajnaparamita or Perfection of Wisdom Sutra . Rajagriha sank into oblivion when the Magadha monarchs decided to move their capital to Pataliputra
(modern Patna ).
Rajgir is also sacred to Jains as Lord Mahavira , the 24th Tirthankara, studied and
mediated here.
Here, the Nipponza Myohoji sect of Japan has built Vishwa Shanti Stupa - standing on the summit of the hill where Buddha preached and meditated.
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Rumtek & Pemagyantse
Nestled in the lap of the Himalayas, the North Eastern Indian state of Sikkim is famous for its gompas and their fascinating monastic ceremonies.
Rumtek is the seat of His Holiness, the XVIth Gyawla Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism. On the 28th and 29th day of the tenth lunar month (July) the cham dance is performed by monks wearing grotesque masks and colourful dresses, culminating in a ritual dismembering of an effigy symbolising evil.
The monastery at Pemagyantse, at an altitude of 2085 meters, is where the arrow shot by Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) looking for a place to meditate, landed. On its top floor, the monastery houses a wooden, intricately crafted structure, depicting Guru Rinpoche's abode. The annual cham festival is held in February.
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Vaishali
Bound by the hills of Nepal on the north and the river Gandak on the west, Vaishali, once the capital of the Lichchavis, is where the Buddha preached his last sermon and announced his impending Mahaparinirvana (final extinction). Emperor Ashoka erected one of his famous pillars here to mark the spot of the last prayer meeting. A century after the Mahaparinirvana, the second Buddhist Council was held in Vaishali. As a result of this Council, missionaries were dispatched to different parts of the world for the propagation of the Dharma. Women were ordained into the Buddhist Sangha for the first time in Vaishali.
Vaishali also finds mention in the Hindu epic, Ramayana.
Here, one can visit the Relic Stupa, where one of the eight portions of the Buddha's relics is encased, and the Vishwa Shanti Stupa (World Peace Pagoda) built by the Nipponzan Myohoji sect of Japan.
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Sanchi
Sanchi was once situated on the major north-south trade route, and this was one of the reasons why kings and merchants continued to patronise it till well into the 6th century AD. The complex at Sanchi has some of the oldest and finest examples of Buddhist architecture, including, of course, The Great Stupa built by emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BC. It's intricately carved gateways are a masterpiece of both architecture and sculpture, with a fascinating array of images that seem to exude life at its fullest, reflecting the agrarian prosperity of the times (2nd century BC to 7th century AD) when Sanchi was at the height of its glory. The Ashoka Pillar near the southern gateway of the stupa is considered to be one of the finest examples of Ashokan pillars. The 5th century AD Gupta Temple is one of the earliest known examples of temple architecture in India .
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Lumbini
Lumbini, the sacred site of Lord Buddha's birth is today a small village in Nepal , 27 kms from Sonauli on the Indo-Nepal border.
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Kapilavastu
Today the little village of Piprahwa, 93 kms from Lumbini via Sonauli, is the kingdom that Prince Siddhartha once gave up in his search for enlightenment. If Lumbini is remote, then Kapilavastu seems to be caught in a time warp.
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Varanasi
Also known as Benaras and Kashi, Varanasi, one of the oldest living cities in the world, is more associated with Hinduism (it is the Hindus' holiest city). But more than twenty five centuries ago, the Buddha travelled 200kms from Bodh Gaya to Varanasi looking for five Hindu ascetics, old companions from whom he had parted, because they had insisted that the only path to salvation was through self-mortification. He found them, gave them the gift of his newly acquired spiritual knowledge, and they became his first followers,
and the first members of the Sangha .
While Varanasi is a holy city, it is also center for music and craft. Great Hindustani classical musicians like Ustad Bismillah khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and Siddeshwari Devi, have come from these lanes. The weavers of Varanasi have been creating exquisite silks and brocades for centuries.
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Sarnath
Sarnath, only 10 kms from Varanasi , is where the Buddha founded the Sangha with his five old companions as his first disciples. It was in the Deer Park at Sarnath that the Buddha gave his first significant sermons on the Middle Way, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Sarnath gained eminence during the reign of Emperor Ashoka. However in the 12th century both Varanasi and Sarnath faced the onslaught of Muslim invasion. After Qutbuddin Aibak's attack in 1194, the thriving monastery in the Sarnath lay in ruins, and the few monks who survived, fled. Sarnath never rose again. Its ruins still carry the presence of the Great Teacher.
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Bodhgaya
Bodh Gaya (once Uruvela village) is the place where, 2500 years ago, Siddharth attained enlightenment and become known as Buddha, and founded Buddhism. As the spiritual home of Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is a magnet for believers from all over the world.
The Mahabodhi Temple Complex, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, houses all the major pilgrimage spots. The famous Mahabodhi temple, which stands in the centre of the complex, has been restored and rebuilt over the centuries. A large circular stone with the Buddha's footprints is kept in a small shrine. The Vajrasana (diamond throne), a rectangular slab of polished red sandstone covered with a gold canopy, is kept at the exact spot where Buddha is believed to have been sitting when he attained enlightenment. It is covered by a descendant of the original Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment.
Bodh Gaya is quite an international town. Over the years Buddhists of different countries ( Burma or Myanmar , Sri Lanka , Japan , Tibet , China , Thailand , Bhutan ) have built temples, stupas, monasteries, guest houses, and meditation centres in their own particular architectural styles.
Every year, The Kalachakra ceremony is held at Bodh Gaya for about ten days, presided over by his Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal head of Tibetan Buddhists.
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Kushinagar
Kushinagar, or Kushinara as the capital of the Malla republic was then known, is where the Buddha chose to make his Mahaparinirvana, or final exit from earth. He was 80. It was here, while entombing the relics of the Buddha, that the architectural form of the stupa was created.
Today, Kushinagar is identified with the modern village of Kasia, 51 kms from Gorakhpur city, in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Visit the Mahaparinirvana temple (which enshrines a giant 6 meter long statue of the Buddha in the reclining position), Rambhar Stupa (built at the spot where the Buddha is believed to have been cremated), and Mathakuar shrine (built on the spot where the Buddha delivered his last sermon).
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Amravati
Amravati , once a bustling port on the Andhra coast, is one of the places from where Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka and Burma . Most of the vast archaeological findings from here - magnificent sculpted friezes, medallions and railings - are now exhibited in the British Museum, London, and the National Museum, Delhi . There is a Great Stupa, the foundation of which was laid by an emissary of Emperor Ashoka, who went to propagate Buddhism in the region.
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Ajanta & Ellora
The Jataka tales depicting the life of Lord Buddha form the main theme of the famed cave paintings of Ajanta, which began in the 2nd century BC, and continued for 900 years. Walls of twenty-six caves, chipped out of a horseshoe shaped cliff, form the canvas for an endless kaleidoscope of colour and motion painted in detail.
The nearby caves at Ellora, which start from the 7 th century AD, carry on the great legacy of Ajanta in sculptures that, though massive in form, pulsate with life and energy.
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Ladakh
The once independent kingdom of Ladakh, in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, is a land of passes, a high-altitude desert. Ladakh has a number of palaces and ancient Buddhist hilltop monasteries, including the ones at Hemis (which has the largest tangkha in India), Stok (with a collection of rare paintings), Spituk (with a collection of ancient masks), Shankar (with innumerable statues of pure gold), Thikse (one of the finest examples of Ladakhi architecture) and Alchi (with thousands of miniature pictures of the Buddha ). The region is one of the best living traditions of Tibetan Buddhism in the world today.
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Dharamsala
Often called Little Tibet, the hill resort of Dharamsala has been home to the 14th Dalai Lama and the base of his Tibetan Government in Exile since 1959. The Namgyal monastery or the Dalai Lama's temple is the main monastery. At the beautiful monastery of Norbulingka, Tibetan culture is kept alive in the form of art, paintings, handicrafts and tangkhas .
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Tabo Monastery
Set in the magnificently isolated Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh, Tabo is more than 1000 years old, making it the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist enclave in India . The 9 temples here, known for their murals and life-size statues, make Tabo one of the most significant art collections of the Tibetan Buddhist world. A small community of monks resides here.
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Tawang Monastery
This 17th century monastery of the Mahayana Buddhists, one of the largest monasteries in India, has a huge (10 meters) statue of Buddha, and a large collection of priceless manuscripts, old scriptures, beautifully illustrated religious books (some of them in Sanskrit), and tangkhas.
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Sravasti
Sravasti (ancient Savatthi), the biggest town in the Gangetic plains during the Buddha's lifetime, hosted the Buddha for 25 annual rain retreats.
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Nagarjunakonda
One of India's richest Buddhist sites, and perhaps the least known, Nagarjunakonda, named after the monk who founded Mahayana Buddhism, now lies almost entirely under the Nagarjunasagar Dam, touted as the world's largest masonry weir. About 1,700 years ago, the lush jungles here sheltered a flourishing city, Vijayapuri, the capital of the Ikshvaku kingdom and a major centre of Buddhist learning. Numerous monasteries dotted the region. There was also a Buddhist university. The excavated remains of Buddhist civilisation found at the site have been meticulously reconstructed and carefully preserved at Nagarjunakonda, a unique island museum situated on top of a hill which rises from the middle of the Nagarjuna lake. Buddhist Vihara, the island museum houses a stupendous collection of relics of Buddhist art and culture. Famous exhibits include a small tooth and an earring believed to have belonged to the Buddha.
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