26.10.2018
Everybody had a relaxed short lunch break and at 14:30 we got ready to visit Bodhgaya. With our bus it took some 15 min to reach the town from our hotel.
Bodhgaya is a very religious site and place of pilgrimage in Bihar – basically, this small town full of temples is to Buddhists what Mecca is to Muslims. It is famous as it is the place where some time around 528 BC Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. In Pali, the widely studied sacred language of some religious texts of Hinduism and all texts of Theravāda Buddhism, enlightenment means Bodhi. Buddha means “enlightened one”.
For Buddhists, Bodhgaya is the most important of the four main pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha – the other three being Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, where Buddhists believe he attained Parinirvana after his death, Lumbini in Nepal, where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 563 BC, and Sarnath near Varanasi, where Buddha gave his first sermon.
The history of Bodhgaya is documented by many inscriptions and pilgrimage accounts. The area was at the heart of a Buddhist civilization for centuries, until it was conquered by Turkic armies in the 13th century. The name Bodhgaya, however, did not come into use until the 18th century. Historically, it was known as Uruvela, Sambodhi – “Complete Enlightenment” in one of Emperor Ashoka’s Major Rock Edicts, Vajrasana – the “Diamond Throne” of the Buddha – or Mahabodhi – “Great Enlightenment”.
Bodhgaya is situated by the bank of River Neranjana and Emperor Ashoka was the first to build a temple here. According to Jatakas – the earliest Buddhist literature, with metrical analysis methods dating their average contents to around the 4th century BC – Bodhgaya is the navel of the earth.
When we arrived, the center of town around the main temple was fenced off for anything bigger than E-rickshaws and tuktuks. Our bus therefore dropped us off at the barricade and we took E-Rickshaws for the last 2 km. The guests left everything in the bus – there are serious security checks at the temple entrance – and they only took the camera and some rupees for the camera fee. I took my bag anyway, because there are cloak rooms.
The rickshaw ride was quick and we all paid our Rs 100 fee per camera to take inside. At the first security check – make sure gentlemen use the left lane and ladies use the right lane! – my bag went thru with no problem. It was a short walk around the enclosure to the real entrance of the complex and there was another security check – a real one with an x-ray machine. There were no mobile phones allowed on the premises and they did see my mobile under all this camera gear, but more concerned the guy was about my power bank. Apparently those are not allowed inside either ….. OK, no problem, I will go back to the cloak room! – Of course, they also found Mr. R’s cigarettes and matches and Mr. N’s mobile phone. The guests dropped those in my bag and I went to drop it off, after I told our guide Mukund not to wait for me, I would find the group later.
The locker was free of charge and I was called inside to put my – rather heavy bag – into the locker myself, then they locked it and made me check, if it is really closed securely. They gave me the key and had me sign the registration book. I then more or less ran through the security checks again – Hey, you remember me, I was just here and you sent me back!
The Mahabodhi Temple – which literally means “Great Awakening Temple” – is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002. It is an ancient, but many times rebuilt and restored Buddhist temple, marking the exact location where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
It has been a major pilgrimage destination for Buddhists for well over 2000 years and some elements probably date to the period of Emperor Ashoka who died in 232 BC. What has survived until now essentially dates most likely from the 7th century and has seen several major restorations since the 19th century. The temple complex has 2 large straight-sided shikhara towers, the largest over 55 m high. This is a stylistic feature that has continued in Jain and Hindu temples to the present day and influenced Buddhist architecture in other countries as well.
At the main entrance to the premises it was shoes off again. I could not see my group – not even our nice turquoise flag – there were too many people. Funnily enough I found – amongst all those shoes – the shoes of my group! Do not ask me why, but somehow I recognized them and parked my shoes next to them. Since I could not see them walking around I supposed they had gone in the main temple and sure enough I found them lining up to go inside.
It was around 589 BC that the young prince Siddhartha Gautama saw the suffering of the world and wanted to end it. He sat in meditation under a peepul tree – Ficus religiosa or Sacred Fig – which later became known as the Bodhi tree. After 3 days and 3 nights, he attained enlightenment – the state beyond existential restlessness – and found the answers that he had sought. The disciples of Gautama Siddhartha began then to visit the place during the full moon in the month of Vaisakh (April–May) as per the Hindu calendar and over time, the place became known as Bodhgaya, the day of enlightenment as Buddha Purnima and the tree as the Bodhi Tree.
The place was then known as Uruwela and the Mahabodhi Temple was built by Emperor Ashoka around 260 BC directly to the east of the Bodhi tree, which supposedly is still a direct descendant of the original Bodhi tree.
The current pyramidal structure of the main temple dates most likely from the Gupta Empire, in the 5th or 6th century. It boasts a tall spire that houses a colossal gilded image of Lord Buddha. Inside the sanctum the huge image of Buddha looks mesmerizing. He is sitting in a Bhumisparsh Mudra – touching the ground position. It is stated that the image is 1700 years old and positioned in a manner that Lord Buddha faces to the east.
We were shuffled through quite quickly by temple guardians, because there was a long line up of devotees and tourists. A monk was busy with blessing lengths of special clothes – Buddhas robes – by dressing the statue with one of a pile and touching the rest to the statue and then handing them back to the devotees.
Coming out of the inner sanctum we walked around the temple clockwise and passed the Holy Bodhi Tree. It is said that Buddha after his enlightenment spent the next 7 weeks at 7 different spots in the vicinity meditating and considering his experience. Several specific places at the current Mahabodhi Temple relate to the traditions surrounding these 7 weeks.
The first week was spent under the Bodhi tree. In approx 250 BC, about 200 years after Buddha attained Enlightenment, Buddhist Emperor Asoka visited Bodhgaya in order to establish a monastery and shrine on the holy site, which have today disappeared. Ashoka was most diligent in paying homage to the Bodhi tree, and held a festival every year in its honor. His Queen Tissarakkhā was jealous of the Tree and 3 years after she became queen, she had the tree secretly cut down. Emperor Asoka’s daughter, Sanghamittra, brought a piece of the tree with her to Sri Lanka where it is continuously growing to this day in the island’s ancient capital Anuradhapura.
Every time the tree in Bodhgaya was destroyed, a new tree was planted at the same place. It is said it is now in the 6th or 7th generation and was originally a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi tree in Sri Lanka, itself grown from what is claimed to be a sapling of the original Bodhi tree. The tree stands mystical more than 15 m high, its branches thick with leaves and extending over an ancient balustrade, its larger limbs supported by painted steel poles.
The Vajrasana – or diamond throne – is thought to have been placed by Emperor Ashoka between 250-233 BC at the exact location where Buddha had reached enlightenment some 200 years earlier. It is the bodhimanda – seat or platform of enlightenment. Beneath the Bodhi Tree, there is a platform embracing the footprints of Lord Buddha carved in stone.
During the second week Buddha remained standing and stared uninterrupted at the Bodhi Tree. This spot is marked by the Animeshlocha Stupa, that is the unblinking stupa or shrine, to the north-east of the Mahabodhi Temple complex. There stands a statue of Buddha with his eyes fixed towards the Bodhi Tree.
Buddha is said to have then walked back and forth between the location of the Animeshlocha Stupa and the Bodhi Tree. According to the legend, lotus flowers sprung up along this route – it is now called Ratnachakrama or the Jewel Walk. Along the northern wall of temple this Jewel Walk is now a raised walkway. We saw a group of maybe Korean devotees walking in Buddha’s footsteps.
Buddha spent the fourth week near Ratnagar Chaitya, to the north-east side.
During the fifth week, he answered in details to the queries of Brahmins under the Ajapala Nigodh tree, now marked by a pillar. This blink-and-you-miss-it Ashoka Pillar is a part of the bigger pillar which was found in Gaya and consequently moved into the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in 1956. It is very common to find Indian tourists tossing coins onto the pillar for good luck – if the coin settles on top of the pillar it is a very lucky sign.
Buddha spent the sixth week next to the Lotus pond. It is said that after Buddha began meditating under the Bodhi Tree, the heavens darkened and rain descended. However, the mighty king of serpents, Mucalinda, came from beneath the earth and protected with his hood the one who is the source of all protection. When the great storm had cleared, the serpent king assumed his human form, bowed before Buddha, and returned in joy to his palace. The subject of Buddha meditating under the protection of Mucalinda is very common in Lao Buddhist art. He spent the seventh week under the Rajyatna tree.
We had some free time so everybody could walk around the complex and take photos. Everytime I have come here before – and I visited quite a few times already and not only accompanying groups – there are devotees from different countries here. There are always many people praying here, no matter what the weather is. There were Tibetans in maroon, Thais in mustard yellow, Sri Lankans in bright orange, Koreans and Vietnamese in grey …..
And the temple is always differently decorated with many of those marigold chains, sometimes more and sometimes less. Probably this is depending on how many pilgrims are here and from which direction they come.
There is an entire section for Tibetan Buddhists set up with wooden platforms for prostration. A prostration is a gesture used in Buddhist practice to show reverence to the Triple Gem – comprising the Buddha, his teachings, and the spiritual community – and other objects of veneration.
Spending time at the Mahabodhi Temple Complex is always interesting. Actually, you could spend days there – soaking up the special atmosphere and observing people – and I did before. Unfortunately, on such a group program there is never enough time. But we did have enough to get at least a good glimpse.
Coming out of the complex I had to first get my bag, which was not much of a problem. I am in my uniform and with my stature very noticeable and rememberable in Asia. The lady at the cloak room just smiled at me and wanted me to sign the book. But I wanted to get my bag first before signing it out. She smiled even more and nodded waving me off.
Additionally to the main temple, many other monasteries and temples dot the town. They are all built in their national style by foreign Buddhist communities. If there is time, the whole world can be visited here. The ambience of the town is a mix of monastic tranquility, pilgrims comforts and small-town hustle, underpinned by an intensity of devotion that makes it endlessly interesting. We did not have so much time and therefore, outside the temple jumped into our E-Rickshaws to go to the Great Buddha, which was next on our program.
It was only a few minutes ride to get there. The Giant Buddha statue is one of the many stops in the Buddhist pilgrimage and tourist routes in Bodhgaya. The statue is 19.5 m high in meditation pose or dhyana mudra seated on a lotus in open air. It took 7 years to complete out of 12000 blocks. It is a mix of sandstone and red granite. It might possibly be the largest Buddha statue built in India and was consecrated in 1989 by the 14th Dalai Lama. We walked as close as possible to the statue, but unfortunately it was not allowed to walk around it. But it sure was impressing to visit.
From there we walked a few meters along the road and passed the Daijokyo Buddhist Temple, which was established in 1983. The guests opted not to visit this Japanese Temple, because we would have to go pretty high up the steps to get to the temple entrance – too many steps for this group … The Main Hall on the first floor enshrines the principal images of Daijokyo – the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha – we did not see it from the road below.
Right next to this temple is the Kadgyu Karma Tibetan Temple located. This temple was opened some fifteen years ago and it’s walls are finely depicted with the paintings of the event of the Buddha’s life.
“These paintings preach a unique mixed view in the sense that the theme is Indian, the style is Tibetan and the painter has given western influence through their brush-work.” is what they say. In any case, the decorated pillars and double-dragon brass door knockers along with the colorful murals outside and inside make it a beautiful temple to visit.
Of course, some of the guest were already all templed-out and did not even want to take their shoes of to look at the stunning inside of the main hall. And we had only visited a couple of all the temples in Bodhgaya. On the original itinerary we always came here on a day trip from the ship visiting like 8 or more of the most interesting temples as well as the Archeological Museum. Not this time, though, and I doubt those guest would have appreciated it either.
We took the E-Rickshaws back the short way to the bus parking and got on our way to the hotel. The conference was in full swing so the hotel itself was quiet. We had short of 1.5 hrs time to relax before dinner and I decided to have a massage at the hotel’s spa. I took a long deep tissue aroma therapy and it was fantastic. The best after 2 days of spending on busses! I did skip the 15 min steam bath in the end, though, and rather ran up to my room to get ready for dinner. I had to be down well before the guests to make sure they found the right restaurant and everything was set up.
This evening we got the entire restaurant for ourselves. The rest of the hotel was all occupied by the participants of the conference and they had their program in the convention hall. There was buffet style dinner ordered, but for this small group they had decided to serve at the table. We had ordered especially mild food and got mainly Chinese fare. It was good food, but of course some had to complain again … After dinner everybody went to sleep soon.
27.10.2018
I slept well this night and got up early to enjoy the view from my window. At 08:00 I went for breakfast, which was a huge buffet and really busy. The food was good Indian style, but they did have a small corner of toast and jam as well as cereals, fruits and yoghurt and an omelet station. The guests are always happy, when they can get eggs for breakfast.
I had ordered the porters to pick up our luggage from the rooms at 08:45 and by 09:00 we left the hotel and Bodhgaya towards Varanasi. There were approx 270 km to cover today and we estimated again 8 hrs with our big bus.
Leaving town we reached the main road south soon enough. I still remember this junction when I arrived here the first time in 2011 on public bus from Varanasi. Back then this junction was in the middle of nowhere with only a few tuktuks hanging about when the bus just dropped me off. Now there were buildings around and hotels being constructed there.
The country road led about 30 km south past villages and fields and then connected to the National Highway 19 to Varanasi. NH 19 is often referred to as Delhi–Kolkata Road and is one of the busiest National Highways in India. The highway has a total length of 1435 km and runs through the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. We had already driven about 100 km on NH 19 on our way from Farakka to Kolkata Airport.
The highway today constitutes a major portion of the historical Grand Trunk Road, which is one of Asia’s oldest and longest major roads. Research indicates that the Grand Trunk road predated even Buddha’s birth and was called Uttara Path, meaning road to the North. For more than 2000 years, it has linked South Asia with Central Asia by running from Chittagong in Bangladesh west to Howrah in West Bengal/India, then across Northern India through Delhi, passing Amritsar and from there continuing towards Lahore and Peshawar in Pakistan, finally terminating in Kabul in Afghanistan. The predecessor of the modern road was rebuilt by Sher Shah Suri, who was the founder of the Suri Empire in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He renovated and extended the ancient Mauryan route in the 16th century. The road was considerably upgraded in the British period between 1833 and 1860.
The NH 19 felt more like an autobahn – compared to the country roads – and we made good time heading along to Varanasi. The road falls under the National Highways Development Project, which is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard. It is part of the Golden Quadrilateral, which is 5846 km long and connects the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The project was initiated in 1998 and in January 2012, India announced the four-lane GQ highway network as complete. Now, it was a good high way, bit it seemed far from completed. There were many unfinished sections. Initially it was probably planned to have pedestrian or small traffic underpasses near villages. The concrete tubes for those had obviously been set and were partly used, but the highway had not been constructed across those underpasses. The road always bypassed single lane on either side of those abandoned construction sites and water buffalo grazed on the unfinished sections. There was much traffic anyway, many trucks carrying all kinds of goods.
There were regular toll station where our driver had to pay for our passage. Everytime he would argue with the staff there, because he said the bus counts as mini bus because it has only 24 seats and it is not as a regular big bus. The price is approx half for a minibus and with so many toll station … every little bit counts … He got away with it pretty much all the time, because he showed the receipts from the stations before.
We did our regular pee pee stops and one longer lunch break at a local restaurant. It was behind a gas station and catered obviously to bus groups. It had an open kitchen and the set menu was Veg Thali.
Thali refers to an Indian-style meal made up of a selection of various dishes which are served on a platter. The idea behind a Thali is to offer all the 6 different flavors of sweet, salt, bitter, sour, astringent and spicy on one single plate – technically the last two are actually forms of chemosynthesis rather than true flavors, though. According to Indian food custom, a proper meal should be a perfect balance of all these 6 flavors. Thalis are a popular lunch choice. The actual thali is a platter – most often a steel tray with multiple compartments. Typical dishes include rice, dal, vegetables, roti, papad, curd, small amounts of chutney or pickle and a sweet dish to top it off. Only 4 of the guests, me and our guide took lunch. It was good value for Rs 200 per Thali and very delicious.
In early afternoon we passed the bridge over the mighty Ganges and we reached the outskirts of Varanasi.
With the big bus we had to take the ring road around the south and southwestern side of the city which took quite a while since traffic was heavy and the road was narrow. There was much to see, however. Kids were selling marigold chains to drivers – the holy city is close.
School was finished for the day and the kids went back home. We saw many in their smart school uniforms. Uniforms are compulsory in India in both public and private schools. The boys’ uniforms are often made of a light-colored shirt, long trousers usually blue, white or black, and those of the girls are often a shirt and a skirt. Many schools require students to wear shoes, ties and ID cards, and comb their hair down and keep it clean and short. Uniform is one of the most important components of school life and is taken very seriously in India.
We passed great murals along the way, met not only overloaded tuktuks, but also ox carts in the middle of the city.
We reached our Hotel Amaaya in Varanasi Cantonment located approx 5 km northwest of the main ghats of the River Ganges around 16:45. It is a great hotel, check-in was super quick, WIFI was not free, but I got it complimentary. I had the luggage sent to the rooms and then went to change quickly. I brought the passports back to the guests and then went for a walk. I had told the guest already about the small shopping mall nearby and also some handicraft shops. Dinner would be at 19:00. Our guide Mukund went home – he lives in Varanasi and would pick us up tomorrow morning again.
I had stayed in the hotel next door a few times already and knew the surroundings. Last time I was here we had come by train and our train guide had walked with me to find the beer shop. We had located a few in walking distance and since I remembered where, I went to buy beer. A couple of the shops had closed down, but then I found one of the hole-in-the-wall shops in a dark corner with beer ad posters around it.
How to identify a beer shop in India? It’s relatively easy – there is always a bunch of men hanging around, any time of the day. You will never see women there. Women cannot go and buy alcohol – but they can privately drink. There is no written law against women beer shopping, but it’s just not proper. A woman has to care for her reputation. Since as a Western woman I am somewhat not losing a reputation – or do not care – I am taller than the average Indian man and I am not blond – I never have cared about this etiquette and have always bought alcohol in those shops. Let’s face it, it is cheaper than in the fancy hotels …
Since Indian women do not frequent beer shops, there is a big advantage to the courageous female traveler in search of alcohol – there is no reserved Lady queue and you can just jump the line and go directly to the desk and buy! This shop was a bit scary, because the young men would not move out of my personal space at the counter. Everybody stared and definitely thought, I should not be there, but it was not dangerous. I put my elbows out and by bag between me and them. The guy behind the barred window was friendly enough, but only had Haywards 5000 Beer. He dug the cans out of his fridge and asked Rs 150 per can. An obstrusive guy outside kept saying Rs 200 – sure he wanted the guy to charge me more – always charge the tourists more! – so he could get his “commission” afterwards. But not with me! I paid my 4 cans, packed them in by backpack – never carry alcohol around openly – and got out of there. Do not get me wrong – I have visited beer and wine shops in India plenty of times – but it is always the same story! Last year, at least they still had Kingfisher in the Varanasi beer shop …. Not that Haywards 5000 is not good, but I prefer Kingfisher ….
On the walk back to the hotel I found more interesting murals along the way. The wall with the murals enclosed the premises of Lal Girja – The Red Church or St. Mary’ Church. It was built in the late 18th century for missionary work done by the British. Lal Girja is still a place of worship. I just walked around it, though. I did not find or look for the entrance. The red brick building with the white edging looked very pretty. The murals with Hindu themes were contrasting, nevertheless, they were impressive.
I hung out in my nice room, watched TV, had a beer and a shower and then it was already time to go down to sort out the dinner table. The restaurant had a huge buffet dinner with so much selection that everybody found something. Everybody was happy – at last! The hotels around here – there is a whole bunch clustered together in this section of town – all cater to tourists and groups visiting Varanasi. They are used to foreigners. We were early – most of the other guests would come later after returning from their visits. But we had a very early start ahead of us tomorrow – visiting Varanasi, a major religious hub and the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism and Jainism, which also played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Therefore we all went to sleep early.
