X-Nico

8 unusual facts about Bodh Gaya


Anagarika Munindra

Munindra was the superintendent of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya from 1953 to 1957, the first Buddhist to hold this position in modern times.

While in Burma he also studied the Pali canon thoroughly, before returning to India where he taught vipassana for many years in Bodh Gaya.

Buddhism and Christianity

The history of Buddhism goes back to what is now Bodh Gaya, India almost six centuries before Christianity, making it one of the oldest religions still practiced.

Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama

It is interesting to note, in the light of the 16th Karmapa's prediction letter, that the abbot of the Buddhist monastery at Bodh Gaya, in India, the place of the Buddha's enlightenment, sent a conch shell to Dusum Khyenpa at Tsurphu, as a token of the latter's significance for buddhadharma.

Huvishka

Decorated coins of Huvishka were found at Bodh Gaya together with other gold offerings under the "Enlightenment Throne" of the Buddha.

Lumbini

Lumbini is one of four magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha, the others being at Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.

North Indian culture

The Mahabodhi Temple complex at Bodh Gaya, Bihar built by Emperor Ashoka in 260 BC, marks the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautam Buddha.

Surai Sasai

Sasai is one of the main leaders of the campaign to free the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya from Hindu control.


Buddha's Birthday

Though the birth of Birth of Buddha is Nepal Buddha Purnima or Tathagata is celebrated in India, especially in Sikkim, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bodh Gaya, various parts of North Bengal such as Kalimpong, Darjeeling, and Kurseong, and Maharashtra (where 6% of total population are Buddhists) and other parts of India as per Indian calendar.

Laxmangarh

The fictional character Balram Halwai from the bestselling novel The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga came from a village by the same name, but it isn't be the same village, because the book is actually set in the Gaya District in the vicinity of Bodh Gaya in the state of Bihar.


see also