Bodhgaya,
in the state of Bihar, reckoned as the most important Buddhist pilgrimage
centre, is the place where Lord Sakyamuni (Gautam Buddha) entered into
meditation after being moved by the suffering s of manking. The giant Bodhi
Tree (Peepal) that we see today is believed to have grown from the original
Bodhi Tree under which, sitting on the raised paltfrom, Prince Siddharth
meditated and finally attained Nirvana. Then there is Chaukramana, the Jewel
Walk, where it is believed that the Buddha strolled while in deep thought.
The magnificent Maha Bodhi temple in Bodhgaya in an architectural
amalgamation of many cultures. The temple bears the stamp of the
architecture of the gupta Dynasty and subsequent ages. On the walls of
temple, one sees Buddha carved in different aspects, and in the sanctum
sanctorum, a colossal Buddha, is seen touching the ground, which has
mythological significance in the Buddhist lores. The temple carries
inscriptions recording the visits of pilgrims from Sri Lanka, China and
Mayanmar in the 7th and 10th Centuries A.D. Hieun Tsang, the Chinese
traveller, also visited the temple in the 7th Century.