Just 13 Km from the well-connected Gaya town, Bodhgaya is the paramount pilgrimage destination for Buddhist followers from India and abroad, and it has many Buddhist temples and monasteries.

Bodhgaya lies in sylvan solitude and is situated on the bank of river Niranjana (Modern Falgu). The best time to visit is from October to March.

Lord Buddha meditated under a pipal tree in Bodhgaya and attained enlightenment. The tree is called "Bodhi Tree". A descendant of the same tree, still flourishes here. Gaya is also an important Centre of Hindu Pilgrimage where people go to pray for the salvation of their ancestors.
Buddhism as a religion was born and evolved here through his preaching. Several centuries after Buddha's passing away, the Maurya Emperor Ashoka (234-198 BC) revived, consolidated and spread the Buddhism.

He built monasteries for the Buddhist monks and the pillars to commemorate numerous historical sites associated with the Buddha's life. Most of these are intact helping scholars and pilgrims alike to trace the life events and spreading of the religion not only in India but also outside the country.

An architectural wonder and world heritage site, Mahabodhi temple signifies truth. While its architecture belongs to Gupta era, there are later ages inscriptions describing visits of pilgrims from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and China between 7th and 10th century AD. Hieuen Tsang visited this temple in 7th century.

This is where Prince Gautama attained enlightenment under the sacred Asvatta tree (Bodhi tree) and became known as Lord Budha. This is one of the four most sacred pilgrimage places for the Buddhists.

The other three important places are his place of birth at Lumbini, Nepal; the site of his first lecture at Sarnath, near Varanasi; and the place where he left his body at Kushinagar, near Gorakhpur. Buddhists from all over the world have built temples here in Bodh Gaya.

The Dalai Lama often spends time here. Tibetan pilgrims come here for the winter from Dharamshala. Bodh Gaya is located about 13 km from Gaya, 450 km west of Calcutta, and 90 km south of Patna.

Bodh Gaya is a place which should be visited or seen by a person of devotion and which would cause awareness of the nature of impermanence.

Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha-to-be, had been dwelling on the banks of the Nairanjana River with five ascetic followers for six years practicing austerities. Realising that austerities could not lead to realisation he abandoned them. His five ascetic companions disgusted at his seeming failure, deserted him and left for Sarnath.

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