India is filled with thousands of spiritual journeys which one can walk any time in the wake of finding themselves amidst the chaos of the world or to reconnect themselves with the supreme deity. You go to any state of India, Spiritual spots simply follow you and same holds very much True for the State of Bihar .
The captivating state of Bihar got its name from the word "Vihara" which means monastery or a place occupied by monks . The region has significant Spiritual sites of all major religions - be it Hinduism , Jainism , Buddhism , Sikhism and Islam. Among various religious & spiritual destinations, Bodh Gaya holds a very special place of its own , thanks to Gautama, The Buddha . Lets know Bodh Gaya better :
Bodhgaya
Bodhgaya is one of the ancient towns of Bihar, India and it is believed to the town which gave birth to the Buddhist religion. It is famous as the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment under a Tree which eventually came to be known as the Bodhi Tree or the Maha Bodhi Tree. It is still there, more on it later in the post .
Since ages, Bodh Gaya has remained as the symbol of pilgrimage and veneration, both for Hindus and Buddhists. Infact , for Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath.
Bodh Gaya has got a number of monasteries and temples, few glimpses of which can be caught below :
Mahabodhi Temple
Mahabodhi Temple deserves a special mention. The immensely popular Maha-Bodhi Tree mentioned earlier, lies in the complex of the very famous of all temples, the Mahabodhi temple where people pay their respects. The tree is believed to be 2600 years old and is the place where Prince Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha) attained his spiritual enlightenment and thereafter, lived his life in teaching people about the secrets of the universe.
It is a UNESCO World Hertiage site.
Budha Statue :
The Giant Buddha Statue is one of the many stops in Buddhist Pilgrimage & tourist routes in Bodhgaya. The statue is about 20 meters in height whereby Buddha is sitting in Lotus position or the "Dhyan Mudra".
While there are many monasteries in Gaya/Bodh Gaya, we could visit three of them - Chinese, Japanese and Thai Monastery. The clicks from Japanese monastery have been shared here :
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Japanese Monastery :
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We are sure that by now , you have already made up your mind to visit Bodh Gaya & Gaya very soon so allow us to share the status of connectivity & ease of reaching there.
How to reach Gaya & Bodhgaya ?
Gaya is about 100 km from Patna, the capital city of Bihar and 1085 km from New Delhi. You can reach Gaya by Air , by Rail or by Road as it is vey well connected by all three means. Bodhgaya is hardly 15 Km from Gaya and can be easily driven to .
Food & Stay
Gaya /Bodh Gaya being immensely popular tourist destinations, there are some very good Hotels & Restaurants to choose from .
We ourselves preferred a rather peaceful ambiance and hence stayed at a Hotel with in-house restaurant called Hotel Oaks . It was a comfortable stay.
Anything & Everything about Bihar
Know more about Food, Culture and traditions of Bodh Gaya, Gaya and Bihar as a whole at very well maintained & informative website of Bihar Tourism Department .
Hope you all would have liked this effort of ours to bring another informative post for our readers.Meanwhile , till we come up with something equally interesting next , do enjoy reading our unique Travelogues here :
Travel Inside Out with Rahul Yuvi
Namaste & Take Care !
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Source : Official Website of Bihar Government & Personal Observation 🙂