At Bodh Gaya, in Bihar, Siddhartha Gautama sat beneath a tree and attained enlightenment. UNESCO describes its temple complex as the holiest place of Buddhist pilgrimage in the world.
History
Emperor Ashoka built the first temple in the 3rd century BCE, with the Vajrasana, the diamond throne. The present temple dates from the 5th–6th centuries CE and is one of the earliest surviving brick temples in India.
The Bodhi Tree
West of the temple grows a large tree believed to descend directly from the original under which the Buddha awoke.
The temple
About 50 metres high, it houses a large gilded statue of the seated Buddha.
A practice to take home
Sit quietly for a few minutes, like the Buddha under the tree, and simply watch the breath. Awakening begins in a moment of presence.
Source: UNESCO – Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya.
Image: Bpilgrim, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5.
