Buddhist Yatra

The road the Buddha walked, in the order he walked it

What it is

Six years of one man's life, laid out across four districts of Bihar. He left a palace at Vaishali's edge, starved himself in a cave above Dungeshwari, gave that up, ate rice pudding from a village girl at Bakraur, crossed the river and sat under a tree at Bodh Gaya until he understood something. Then he spent forty-five years walking back and forth across this same ground teaching it.

Why it matters

Almost every visitor sees Bodh Gaya and leaves. Bodh Gaya is one morning of it. The hill he preached from, the cave where the first council wrote down what he said, the university that taught it for seven hundred years and the stupa raised where he announced he was going to die are all within three hours of each other, and hardly anybody joins them up.

You will understand

Why he rejected extreme fasting, and where
What the first sangha actually was, and where it met
How a teaching became a university, and how the university ended
Why eighteen countries each keep a monastery at Bodh Gaya

Best season: Oct - Mar
Days for the whole yatra: 5

The stops

Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya: The tree. Everything else on this route is before it or after it.
Muchalinda Sarovar: The lake he sheltered beside in the weeks after, a few minutes' walk from the tree.
Sujata Stupa: Across the river, where the village girl gave him rice milk and he gave up starving himself.
Dungeshwari Cave Temple: The cave where he nearly died trying. The emaciated statue inside is the point of the stop.
Great Buddha Statue: Twenty-five metres of sandstone, and the one thing in Bodh Gaya you can see from outside it.
Rajgir (Griddhakuta): Griddhakuta, the vulture's peak. He taught here for years; the ropeway runs to the stupa above it.
Venuvana: The bamboo grove a king gave the sangha. The first property Buddhism ever held.
Saptaparni Cave: Where five hundred monks met after his death and recited everything he had said, to fix it.
Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir: The white stupa on the ridge, and the view that explains why Rajgir is ringed by hills.
Nalanda Mahavihara: The university that taught what began under the tree, to ten thousand students, for seven hundred years.
Vaishali: Where he preached his last sermon and announced he would die in three months.
Kesariya Stupa: The largest Buddhist stupa in the world by base, raised where Vaishali's people turned back after following him.
Ruins of Vikramshila: Nalanda's rival, founded when Nalanda was already old. Almost nobody comes here.
Lauria Nandangarh: Ashoka's pillar, lion still on top, standing where he put it.
Giriyak Stupa: A brick stupa on a ridge above the Panchane, reached on foot. Empty most days.

Experiences on this yatra

Ten-day Vipassana course: Ten days of silence, taught free, in the state where it was taught first
Sit with a monastery: Eighteen countries keep a monastery here, and several teach anybody who walks in
Dawn under the Bodhi tree: The courtyard opens at five, and for an hour it is almost empty
Sit in a cave: People have gone to these rooms to be alone for two thousand two hundred years
The Jethian to Rajgir walk: The valley road the Buddha and King Bimbisara are said to have met on
Walk Nalanda with somebody who can read it: Ten metres of brick is a wall to most people and a lecture hall to a guide

Know before you go

Mahabodhi restricts phones in the inner compound
Rajgir's hill is a ropeway or a climb
Kesariya and Lauriya are a long day north of Patna, not a side trip

Questions pilgrims ask

How many days does the Buddhist Yatra take?

5 days is right for most families. It can be done in 2, or stretched to 10.

When is the best time for the Buddhist Yatra?

Oct - Mar.

Which places are on the Buddhist Yatra?

Mahabodhi Temple, Muchalinda Sarovar, Sujata Stupa, Dungeshwari Cave Temple, Great Buddha Statue, Rajgir (Griddhakuta), Venuvana, Saptaparni Cave, Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Nalanda Mahavihara, Vaishali, Kesariya Stupa, Ruins of Vikramshila, Lauria Nandangarh, Giriyak Stupa.

What should I know before the Buddhist Yatra?

Mahabodhi restricts phones in the inner compound. Rajgir's hill is a ropeway or a climb. Kesariya and Lauriya are a long day north of Patna, not a side trip.

Plan my Yatra. Rather talk to someone? Call or WhatsApp +91 87893 56605, or contact us.