Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Rajgir

From Varanasi we took another overcrowded night train to Rajgir to see some other Buddhist places. Nowadays only a small percentage (less than 1%) of the Indian population is Buddhist, but India is the country of origin of this religion. Gautama Siddharta (Buddha) was born in a place which lies now in Nepal, but afterwards he lived and learned in India.

The main tourist spot Bodhgaya (near Gaya), where Buddha found the enlightenment. This place is full of tourists, mainly coming from other Buddhist countries and visiting the sites by coach. Here in Bodhgaya is the main temple and the Bodhi tree, below this one Buddha was sitting when he had the enlightenment.


Around the main temple, many Buddhist countries built modern monasteries (photo of the Tibetan and Bhutanese monastery) and also a big Buddha.


Rajgir is another place on the Buddist pilgrimage, but there are nearly no remainings of a once big town. The main attraction is a big stupa on a hill, as interesting as the stupa is however the ropeway ride (only 1 person fits inside) up and down.


Nalanda, close to Rajgir, had once a very big and old Buddhist university. Nowadays only a lot of ruins of the university buildings and temples remain. The landscape around the place is also very nice, many rice fields and palm trees around.