Enlightenment in Bodhgaya
On August 5th, we travelled from the big city of Delhi to Patna in the state of Bihar in the eastern side of India. The state of Bihar lags behind most any other area of India in terms of human, social, and economic development. Its a pretty tough place stricken with poverty and this year, the monsoons were not kind to Bihar and families couldn’t grow the volume (or any) rice that they need to feed themselves and earn (small) incomes for themselves. We heard lots about this on our travels, even outside the region later as we ventured west across India. During our 4-5 hour journey by car from Patna to Bodhgaya we travelled through part of the state and saw the countryside first hand. It was our first experience on the intense roads of India.
Our journey through the state was focused on arriving in Bodhgaya to see the Mahabodhi Mahavihara, the temple and site where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment over 2,000 years ago. The Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya is an important destination for Buddhist pilgrims throughout the world.
The photos show a few of the sites around Bodhgaya and give a sense of this amazing place that was well worth the hours of transport along the dusty roads of Bihar though dry rice plains and many small rural villages. It was an amazing and memorable part of our adventure!! :-)
Don’t forget you can see all our photos best if you click the first one and navigate through them in their full larger sizes!
- Arriving at Patna airport in the state of Bihar, India
- Leaving Patna in the car we hired
This was quite a hectic 4 or 5 hour drive through rice fields, 1.5 lane dusty roads, and numerous shanty towns in rural Bihar.
- Leaving Patna
- Mahabodhi Mahavihara entrance
- The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya on a beautiful blue sky day
- Mahabodhi Mahavihara
- Brodie chatting with a young Buddhist monk
- Sign describing 'the diamond throne' beneath the bodhi tree
- Pilgrims underneath the bodhi tree
- The diamond throne, where Buddha attained enlightenment underneath the bodhi tree
- Monk under the bodhi tree
- Gazing up the Mahavihara under the bodhi tree
- Walls along the temple covered in gold leaf
- Mahabodhi Mahavihara
- Leaving the Mahabodhi temple complex later that afternoon :-)



























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