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As you might have guessed, the main point of interest in Bodh Gaya is its Buddhist heritage, and hence an interest in Buddhism is reason enough to go.
The Mahabodhi Temple:
There are uncountable amounts of temples in Bodh Gaya, and whilst this one is by no means the most beautiful, it is the biggest at 55 metres tall. It is also the oldest as there has been a temple on this site since 250 BC, with the current temple being dated around 500 AD! Along with the Taj Mahal, is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites.
The Bodhi Tree:
In the Mahabodhi Temple garden stands the Bodhi Tree. Legend states that around 530 BC an Indian prince (Siddhartha Gautama), who later becamed the enlightened Buddah, meditated under a Peepul Tree – a scared fig tree. Is believed that under this tree he gained enlightenment, and that this tree became the Bodhi Tree. Of course this is not the same tree, but is reputedly descended from the original Bodhi Tree. Due to this a visit to this tree gives an unequivocal sense of attachment to the Buddha who meditated under it more than 500 years before time began.
The international Buddhist temples:
Buddhism is now a religion that is practiced in almost every country of the world. Hence Bodh Gaya is an important place and a place of pilgrimage for a huge number of people, being the root of all the different Buddhist practices in the rest of Asia, and more recently in Europe and America.
Some of the other major Buddhist countries have built their own Buddhist temples in Bodh Gaya, bringing their modern, international Buddist ways back to their roots. There are temples built by the nations of Bhutan, China, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam. If you are visiting Bodh Gaya as a tourist, rather than a pilgrim, then these temples are beautiful and fascinating, and also educational.
Prayer beads:
Even if you aren’t converted to the Buddhist way of life, you may want to bring back some memorabilia, that you can wear at home and look at in a time of gap-year tragedy.
Nalanda and Patna are two other major visitor sites in Bihar, the state where Bodh Gaya is located. However, Bihar is considered one of the more dangerous states to travel in India. Whilst it has become much more safe and stable in the past decade or so, it is worth remembering that just because you are travelling from one Buddhist town to another, not everything in Bihar is so peaceful.
You’ll encounter a strange mix of travellers in Bodh Gaya. There are the Buddhist monks and nuns, on pilgrimages from Ladakh, Tibet, and all around the world, meditating in the Mahabodhi Temple garden in their saffron robes, with their shaven heads. There are tourists paying short visits to the home of Buddhism, strolling in and out of temples, cameras to hand, perhaps attempting to meditate, but not quite reaching nirvana.
There are also the tourists who came for a short visit, found themselves, and stayed. It can at times feel rather silly to fit into the middle category wanting to find yourself and to find inner peace, worshipping under the Bodhi Tree like those around you. It seems true however, to say that no traveller goes to Bodh Gaya and comes away indifferent. The place will either convert you to a better, peaceful way of life, or you will leave it wishing that you had been fully put under its spell.
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