Bodhgaya
BODHGAYA / BODHGAYA Syn: Budh-Gaya; Buddha-Gaya.
Bodhgaya: The bodhimanda of the Buddha’s enlightenment located in North-eastern India in the state of Bihar. One of the four pilgrimage sites mentioned in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
A place near the bank of the Nairanjana River in Central India (Bihar), where the Buddha attained enlightenment. It came to be regarded as a holy place by Hindus in later days.”
Dait: 27
Bodh-gaya is located near the town of Gaya, which can be easily reached by overnight express train from Calcutta. The Maha Bodhi temple (located on the very spot where the Buddha achieved enlightenment) and the Bodhi Tree are today under joint Buddhist-Hindu management.
“Rabindranath Tagore, when he visited the Maha-bodhi temple at Bodh-Gaya wrote: ‘Why was I not born when He, at the touch of whose feet the whole universe was sanctified, personally walked through Gaya; why did I not directly feel the sacred impact of His presence, with my body and soul?’ (Buddha-deva, Rabindra Rachanavali Vol. II, p.469.)”
see also; Buddhagaya
