Bodhgaya: where buddha achived enlightnment

Bodhi tree

                     
Buddha grew up and experienced a comfortable youth. But he continued to ponder about religious questions, and when he was 29 years old, he saw for the first time in his life (an old man, a sick person, a corpse and an ascetic) what became known as the four sight in Buddhism.

Shortly after, Prince Siddhartha woke up at high and decided to leave the palace behind in the middle of the night against the will of his father, to live the life of an wandering ascetic, leaving behind his just-born son Rahula and wife Yasodhara. He travelled to the river Anomiya with his charioteer Chandaka and horse Kaṇṭhaka. 

Buddha cut his hair

According to Buddhist text, when buddha left his palace, he shaved his head, clothed himself in humble garments, and, in his hermitage, he undertook severe  austerities including food starvation and mortification.

Bodhi tree

In 528 BCE, after six year of learning under different teachers, prince Siddhartha arrived on the outskirt of small village which is situated by the bank of river Niranjana  the place was then known as uruvella in magadh. Like most Indian villages even today. Uruvella had a tree shrine at which people would worship in the hope of having their wishes fulfilled, and it was under this tree that prince Siddhartha sat and began his meditation. Buddha realized that the physical pain is not to get enlightenment but the way of truth is that of middle “  if you tighten the string to much, it will snap, if you leave it to slack, it won't play. 

Buddha under bodhi tree(gandhara)

                          He probably choose this particular locality because, unlike the fearless forests where he had lived in the recent past, the environment around uruvella was Sylvan and non- threatening. And he probably choose to mediate at the foot of this particular tree because he knew that, sooner and later  someone would come to worship, see him,and probably bring him food. Buddhism or the philosophy of  middle way, thus begin in bodhgaya in the state of bihar in india. It is now has then 300 followers from all over the world. Bodhgaya along with Kusinagar, Lumbini and sarnath is one of the four holiest Buddhist pilgrimages.

Worship of Bodhi tree

                                  

               

                              A jataka describes the bodhimanda, the area around the bodhi tree, to the buddha's enlightenment as being a smooth silver sand without a blade of grass growing on it and with all surroundings trees are flowering shrubs bending, as if in homage, towards the bodhi tree, As he sat mediating, his mind disciplined and purify by years, even lifetimes, of practicing and perfections he exerted himself one final time to over come  the last trace of doubt,ignorance and  desire. 

                               The buddha spend the next seven weeks in the vicinity of the Bodhi tree experiencing the joy of enlightenment and contemplating the implication of truth he had realised, after which he set off for sarnath. He returned later the year and converted three eminent ascetics who lived in the area, gaya kassapa, nandi kassapa, uruvela kassapa after that he set out  to proclaim his dhamma  to the world, apparently never to return to uruvela again.

Buddhist text describes that how the seven weeks are  important for buddha's enlightenment—

1st week buddha started meditation under the bodhi tree.

The second week he stood and started uninterruptedly at the bodhi tree without blinking.

The third week buddha practiced a walking meditation called cankamana. It is said that lotus flower emerged at every step of buddha, is called ratnacankama cetiya.

Ratnacankama

The fourth week, buddha meditated on the‘ patthana’ or law of causality in the ratnaghara northwest the bodhi tree.

Near the entrance of mahabodhi temple, there is a puller which marks the place where  buddha spend the 5th week in meditation under the Ajapala Nigridha banyan tree. 

At southeast of the mahabodhi temple is a pond(Muchalinda pond ) where buddha spent the six week in meditation. 

The buddha spent the 7th and the last week of meditation under the rajayatna  tree situated at the south of the temple.

                                  

Buddha's first sermon

Sujata kuti  –   Sujata kuti or  Temple is dedicated to the lady who is said to fed milk and rice to Gautama Buddha when he became extremely weak and starved. Later Gautama realised that one cannot attain enlightenment by Immoderation, after that he continued his journey and reached Bodh Gaya where he finally attained enlightenment.

Sujata kuti

Mahabodhi temple    :    According to Buddhist tradition the bodhi tree(ficus religiosa) under which the buddha sat when he attained enlightenment at bodhgaya in bihar. The mahabodhi temple which marks the place of Buddha's enlightenment feature a decedents of the original bodhi tree as a major site of pilgrimage. It is surrounded by a railings and contains a vajrasan(diamond throne) built in 3rd century by emperor Ashoka. 

Diamond throne of buddha

Mahabodhi temple

In the 1st and 2nd century BC, the stone railing around the bodhi tree was donated by sungas rulers. A monetary and a stupa were also built.  The present tree is not the one where the buddha mediated the original tree was destroyed  four times and has been replant each time from a cut of descendants of the original tree which is currently growing in sri lanka. Inside the temple there is a large Golden statue of sakyamuni buddha. The effigy is believed to be more than 1700 years old.

                               According to pali commentators, uruvella took its name from the large amount of sand in the area. However so momentous was the event that took place here that this name was soon discarded replaced by several other names ecocating of the events speaking of his pilgrimage to the place in 260 BCE, king Ashoka says‘ went to sambodhi’. In later time it was known as mahabodhi, Bodhimanda or Diamond throne, while the name bodhgaya seems to have been used for the first time in 18th century.

                            

Buddhapada

Buddhapada