The navel of the Buddhist world — where Siddhartha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree
Bodh Gaya is the most sacred site in Buddhism — the place where Siddhartha Gautama sat under the Bodhi fig tree and attained enlightenment around 500 BCE, becoming the Buddha. The Mahabodhi Temple Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, marks the spot with a soaring 55-metre tower and the direct descendant of the original Bodhi tree. The site draws pilgrims from Tibet, Japan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and every Buddhist nation on earth, who come to meditate under the tree, circumambulate the temple, and join chanting sessions that go around the clock. The nearby Niranjana River is where th…
Buddhist tradition holds that Siddhartha Gautama, a prince from the Shakya clan in what is now Nepal, renounced his royal life, practiced extreme asceticism for six years, then sat under the fig tree at Bodh Gaya with a vow not to rise until he understood the nature of suffering and liberation. His enlightenment — the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path — became the foundation of a religion that spread across most of Asia. Emperor Ashoka, who converted to Buddhism after the brutal Kalinga War (261 BCE), built the original Mahabodhi Temple and the Diamond Throne (Vajrasana) that marks the sp…