BODHGAYA.

FRONT PORTION OF TEMPLE MADE BY ASOKA.

Siddhartha, Gautama THE Buddha (563 BC - 483 BC) has always been a historical figure who fascinated me since I was a small girl. I read about him in my History book and was quite intrigued to know that he was kept away from the sight of old age, illness and death, as they were reasons for sorrow and  it had been predicted that he would leave the splendors of the palace if he experienced  sorrow.  It was similar to the story of  Sleeping Beauty, a fairy tale read by me around the same time. A bad fairy had cursed that  the princess would be pricked by a spindle and would fall asleep for a 100 years, so spinning wheels were banned in the kingdom by  the King.

THE GARDEN AT BODHGAYA TEMPLE

My love for Fairy tales made me visualize the story of Siddhartha also as a fairy tale until I realized that Siddhartha actually existed in real life. It was a real story and not a tale at all.

Living in Bihar in my childhood, I had visited Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Patna a couple of times.

THE BUDDHA AT THE MAIN TEMPLE

I knew the places, yet recently when an opportunity came my way I quickly planned a trip down the path traversed by Siddhartha Gautam. Our journeys were separated by more than 2500 years. I was excited beyond words. I desired to go to all the places visited by Prince Siddhartha and by Buddha after attaining enlightenment.

I planned my trip by convenience and not as per the route of The Buddha.

BODHGAYA TEMPLE

My journey started from Bodhgaya. The place where Siddhartha became THE Buddha.

Gaya as almost everyone knows is a very religious place or a teerth sthal for Hindus. This town is situated on the banks of the river Phalgu. The old and more beautiful name of the river is Niranjana.

VISHNUPAD TEMPLE AT GAYA

Gaya as we understand in Hindi means"gone."Gaya is the place for salvation of all Hindus. The last rites of a person are performed by his family to enable him to get salvation or freedom from the eternal cycle of life and death. It is understood that when the last rites or Shradh is conducted in Gaya, the soul rests in peace forever. Shradh at Gaya is said to absolve all the sins of all the ancestors of the person performing the Shradh. According to the Ramayana, Ram accompanied by Sita had also gone to Gaya to perform Shradh of his ancestors.

BODHGAYA ACROSS NIRANJANA RIVER FROM SUJATA'S STUPA

It therefore was quite interesting to realize  that Siddhartha freed himself from the bondages of life at Gaya, close to the banks of the River Phalgu then called Niranjana. He absolved himself from all the various desires and feelings that a person has which can lead him into temptation. He took on the mantle of a teacher whose only mission in life was to teach people the right way to live.

They say he got enlightened, he got gyan, he became the Buddha, sitting under the Peepal tree.

I don't think it is as simple as that. His enlightenment evolved. It was realization, it was a process that took its own time

THE PHALGU & PILGRIMS PERFORMING SHRADH

After leaving Kapilvastu, the city where the Shakyas headed by Shudhodhan his father ruled, Siddhartha wandered from place to place for six years. His first teachers were Alara Kalam, and Udaka Ramputta who taught him yogic meditation. They lived in Rajgrih, which was the capital of Magadh and was ruled by King Bimbisar. Having learnt what they taught him, he moved onwards on his quest. He  joined a group of five ascetics led by Kaundinya and tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, and practicing self mortification. He tried penance, he starved himself, existed on roots and did all the things possible to torture his body to attain knowledge and salvation.

THE TREE 

One day as he sat under the Peepal tree meditating for almost 49 days, a lady named Sujata who lived in  Village Senani near Uruvela( Old name of Gaya) across the river Niranjana came to offer Kheer to the Vriksh Devata. Siddhartha who had been fasting, ate the offered Kheer and then they say enlightenment dawned upon him. He  realized that extreme asceticism did not work. He discovered the Middle path, which is called the "Ashtanga Marg" or the eight fold path. The five other ascetics had meanwhile left him as they thought that Siddhartha had abandoned his search and had become undisciplined, because he partook of the kheer. 

SUJATA'S STUPA AT SENANI

Siddhartha discovered a path of moderation away from extreme self indulgence or self mortification. After becoming enlightened,Buddha looked for the five ascetics who had left him. They were in Sarnath near Kashi (Varanasi). He found them, shared his thoughts with them and that was the place where his first Sermon took place and those five became his first disciples.

STONE RAILING

My journey to Bodhgaya took me straight to the Temple where the Bodhi Vriksh(tree) is located. The original tree was destroyed long ago but the present one planted at the same spot is a sapling of the original tree. A sapling of the original tree was sent to Srilanka(then called Tamraparni)in 288 BCE by Emperor Asoka( 304-232 BCE), and so now what we have in more places than one are all saplings from the tree at Srilanka. 

METAL RAILING

The tree is enclosed by a metal railing and is kept safe. 

Emperor Asoka had built a stone railing all around the tree. That  railing is now preserved in the Archeological Museum at Bodhgaya. A replica has since been erected around the tree.

 

SITTING SPACE

All around the temple and the tree the courtyard is cemented and there is a marble parapet all around. One can sit down comfortably and allow peace to descend upon us.

What I felt under the shade of this huge magnificent tree cannot be really described by me.  There were a lot of people, and yet there was no noise, no dust, no dirt, no disturbance. Everyone was sitting in peace. I didn't want to get up from there. It was a surreal feeling. It had a very soothing and calming effect. I felt the centuries disappear and all the commotion, confusion, pollution, stress of my daily life seemed like a thing of some imaginary world. Peace, compassion, calm, and a feeling of kindness, camaraderie and co existence enveloped everyone. There was no jostling or pushing, everyone had enough space under the all encompassing tree.

80' STATUE

After leaving the temple we visited the tallest sitting Buddha statue( 80') and some other Buddha temples constructed by other countries in the neighbourhood. But the feeling that I got at the original site could not be replicated anywhere else.I also visited the Museum where I could see the original Asoka railings. 

ASOKA'S RAILING

Bodhgaya is easily reachable. There is an airport at Gaya and the major trains going towards Kolkata or Ranchi also stop at Gaya. One is not allowed to take mobile phones inside the Temple. There are lockers outside the temple where one can deposit the phones and any other possession that one does not want to carry inside. There are no charges for this and are secure, as the locker key is given to us. For taking the video camera inside one has to pay Rs. 250. 

THE ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE

The next day we were to leave for Rajgir. I couldn't  leave without taking another look at the Bodhi tree. What I saw was a visual treat. There were about 200 Srilankan pilgrims at the temple. They had decorated the entire boundary of the Temple with the Buddhist five colored flag. They were now in the process of adorning the walls with marigold garlands. All the 200 people were in white clothes and walked quietly around the temple in a procession. They then sat down and meditated quietly.

It was a very peaceful & beautiful sight of total devotion.

Sitting under the tree I also dwelt on a lot of thoughts. Buddha advised us to follow the Middle path where  everything is in moderation. "The Ashtang Marg" briefly is Right belief, right thought, right speech, right action,right livelihood,right effort, right mindfulness, right meditation. 

I felt that in the real world we give importance to so many feelings which are really very un-important in hind sight. We allow anger, hurt, stress, guilt, rat race, competition, envy to rule our lives. Does it really get us anywhere? Perhaps following the eight fold path shown by Buddha would be a path which would make life simpler and happier. Sounds very simple, doesn't it? But then Buddhism was never meant to be a religion. The Teacher only taught us the correct way of living.

"WITH FIRM RESOLVE, GUARD YOUR OWN MIND"-BUDDHA.