Bodh Gaya

Located: Bodhgaya is situated 16 Km from Gaya and 105 km from Patna, Bihar.
Main Tourist Attractions: The Bodhi Tree, Mahabodhi Temple, Ancient Railings, Animeshlochana, Gaya, The Karan Chaupa cave, Tibetan Monastery, Myanmar Monastery, Chinese Monastery.
Best Hangouts: The Monasteries
Best Activities: Yoga & Meditation
Best Buys: Tilkuta (a sweet)
Best Time To visit: October to March
Nearest Tourist Destination: Vaishali, Nalanda, Gaya, Patna

About Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gaya is the place where Gautama Buddha attained unsurpassed, supreme Enlightenment. It is a place which should be visited or seen by a person of devotion and which would cause awareness and apprehension 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.
He then moved towards the village of Senani where he was offered rice milk by a Brahmin girl, Sujata. Accepting from a grass-cutter a gift of kusa grass for a mat, the Bodhisattva took a seat under a pipal tree facing east. Here he resolved not to rise again until enlightenment was attained.
As Gautama sat in deep meditation, Mara, Lord of Illusion, perceiving that his power was about to be broken, rushed to distract him from his purpose. The Bodhisattva touched the earth, calling it to bear witness the countless lifetimes of virtue that had led him to this place of enlightenment. When the earth shook, confirming the truth of Gautama's words, Mara unleashed his army of demons. In the epic battle that ensued, Gautama's wisdom broke through the illusions and the power of his compassion transformed the demons' weapons into flowers and Mara and all his forces fled in disarray.
The historical place at which the Enlightenment took place became a place of pilgrimage. Though it is not mentioned in the scriptures, the Buddha must have visited Bodh Gaya again in the course of his teaching career. About 250 years after the Enlightenment, the Buddhist Emperor, Ashoka visited the site andis considered the founder of the Mahabodhi Temple. According to the tradition, Ashoka, as well as establishing a monastery, erected a diamond throne shrine at this spot with a canopy supported by four pillars over a stone representation of the Vajrasana, the Seat of Enlightenment.
Since 1953, Bodhs Gaya has been developed as an international place of pilgrimage. Bodha in Bodhi TempleBuddhists from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Tibet, Bhutan and Japan have established monasteries and temples within easy walking distance of the Mahabodhi compound. The site of the enlightenment now attracts Buddhists and tourists from all over the world.

Major Tourist Attraction

The Bodhi Temple
The temple's architecture is superb but its history is shrouded in obscurity. It was constructed with the main intention of making it a monument and not a receptacle for the relics of the Buddha. Several shrines were constructed with enshrined images for use as places of worship.

Best Time to Visit
October-March. December and January is the time when the place is filled with tourists from all around the world.