Mahabodhi Temple

Around 500BC Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under a pipal tree on the banks of the Phalgu River. Two hundred and fifly years after that the Emperor Ashoka built a temple at the site, which was replaced by a bigger one built by the Kushan ruler Huvishka in the 2nd century BC. Later with the decline of Buddhism in the region, the temple was forgotten, inundated by flood and covered with sand and foliage for centuries.

Around 1879 Alexander Cunningham of the Archeological Survey had the temple excavated and restored to its present shape. In 2002 the Mahabodhi Temple was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bodhi Tree

The original Bodhi Tree was destroyed by the iconoclastic King Sasanka of Karnasuvara (Bengal) some years before Huan Tsang’s visit in 537 CE. Later, at the same spot a cutting was planted that had been brought from the pipal tree growing in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. This tree in Sri Lanka had been taken there as a cutting from the original at Bodh Gaya by Ashoka’s daughter, Sangamitta in 288 BC.

The Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya is old and massive, and venerated by millions. It is believed to mark the center of the world.

Distance from Maksudpur: 26 km