Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment (Pali: bodhi) under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. Since antiquity, Bodh Gayā has remained the object of pilgrimage and veneration for Buddhists. In particular, archaeological finds, including sculptures, show that the site was in use by Buddhists since the Mauryan period.

For Buddhists, Bodh Gayā is the most important among the four main pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gayā, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Bodh Gayā is considered the holiest site in Buddhism. Known as Uruvelā in the Buddha's time, it is by the bank of the Lilājan River. The first temple at the site was built by Maurya Emperor Ashoka.

Traditionally, it is believed that the Buddha was born in 563 BCE on the next Baisakhi purnima (second full moon in calendar years that do not themselves start during full moon) in Lumbini, Nepal. As Siddhartha, he renounced his family at the age of 29 in 534 BCE, and travelled and meditated in search of truth. After practising self-mortification for six years at Uruvela (Buddhagaya) in Gaya, he gave up that practice because it did not give him liberation. Then he discovered the Noble Eightfold Path of his own and practised it, finally reaching enlightenment: complete freedom from lust (Rāga), hatred (Dvesha), and delusion (Mohā), also known as the Three poisons.

At this point, the Buddha was abandoned by the five men who had been his companions in his earlier austerities, as all they saw was an ordinary man; mocking his well-nourished appearance, they said, "Here comes the mendicant Gautama, who has turned away from asceticism. He is certainly not worth our respect." When they reminded him of his former vows, the Buddha replied, "Austerities only confuse the mind. In the exhaustion and mental stupor to which they lead, one can no longer understand the ordinary things of life, still less the truth that lies beyond the senses. I have given up extremes of either luxury or asceticism. I have discovered the Middle Way." This is explained as the path that is neither easy (his former life as a rich prince) nor hard (living in austere conditions, practising self-denial). Hearing this, the five ascetics became the Buddha's first disciples in Deer Park, Sarnath, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northeast of Varanasi.^{[citation needed]}

Gautama's disciples began to visit the place during the full moon in the month of Vaisakh (April–May), as per the Hindu calendar. Over time, the place became known as Bodh Gayā, the day of enlightenment as Buddha Purnima, and the tree as the Bodhi Tree.

Bodh Gayā's history is documented by many inscriptions and pilgrimage accounts. Foremost among these are the accounts of the Chinese pilgrims Faxian in the 5th century and Xuanzang in the 7th century. The area was at the heart of a Buddhist civilisation for centuries, until it was conquered by Turkic armies in the 13th century.

From the 11th to 13th centuries, Bodh Gayā was under the control of local chieftains known as the Pithipatis of Magadha. One of their rulers, Acarya Buddhasena, has been recorded as making a grant to Sri Lankan monks near the Mahabodhi temple. In the 12th century, Muslim Turk armies led by Delhi Sultanate's Qutb al-Din Aibak and Bakhtiyar Khilji invaded and destroyed Bodh Gayā and nearby regions.