What would you do if you have a business meeting in Bihar - Patna that ends Saturday evening and your flight back home is only next late evening. My one and only trip to Bihar made me face the dilemma of spending Sunday in a boring (though) best hotel there! or head out to explore the city.
Bihar is a place where at any time I found very few females out side on road, and a single girl alone was kind of rare. It could be a wrong observation or right... I decided not to take a chance of exploring Patna alone - but see if anything is close by. A little search on net told me of nearby Nalanda University and Bodhgaya. My eyes popped out on my search - as I never thought I could ever be anywhere near the ruins of Nalanda in my life.
A quick check with the hotel people told me it's doable - I can catch my flight in time only if I start early by 6 am. How excited I was! The feeling was similar to having a wish (you never imagined) come true.
Along with my colleague, started early morning - the first stop was to be Nalanda.
The distance was approx 80 km from Chanakya Hotel - however, the driver told us that it will take approx 2 hours or more to reach there. This was confusing as the terrain is plain - though we were made wiser once the journey started. The roads to such an important historical spot were full of pits, small narrow unkept roads...hence the time taken despite the less distance. Very disheartening! people from across the world come here and to have the driver tell us, that it is one of the good roads in the state!
My fascination with Nalanda has been since childhood. Been brought up on stories of ancient India, Chanakya, golden era of Indian civilization - my mind had Nalanda as the ultimate, mystical destination for knowledge and learning. It has been mentioned in the writings of the Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang, acknowledged as one of the world's first residential university that flourished from 5th cen. AD to approx 1100 AD. Known for its impressive architecture and brilliant library - the university attracted students from as far as Japan, China, South East Asia, Greece, Persia, Tibet and many other countries. To more on this, please Click Here
This beautiful bell right outside in the gardens of Nalanda Museum is a Dharma Bell and is a gift from BuddhaDharma Foundation.
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| At Nalanda Entrance |
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| Dormitories from top |
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| Walking thru the monastery. |
What a systematic layout! Also as per Wikipedia - Nalanda had three main large buildings. One of The main building was Ratnadadhi, meaning the Ocean of Gems. It was nine stories high and housed the most sacred manuscripts. The towers were supposedly immense, bejeweled & gilded to reflect the rays of the sun! What a fascinating fact... stuff of what real good stories are made of!!
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| Stupa at Nalanda |
Thereafter, we moved to Bodhgaya - it was another approx 2 hr drive. At entrance of Bodhgaya, one doesn't feel one is in India - as everywhere you see banners of Japan Support. Wherever I turned I saw - funded and aided by Japan flags / banners and no doubt the place was better kept than others in Bihar! Here the pavement, entrance was better, neater. Its now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bodhgaya is a site of pilgrimage and in the top four sites of importance to Buddhists. This is the place where Lord Gautama Budhha is said to have attained enlightenment. The Mahabodhi Temple as the guide told us was buried under layers of sand and mud, and was excavated only in late 19th century by Sir Alexander Cunningham - the same man who is also responsible for Harrappa excavations.
The entrance of the temple is marked by Ashoka Symbol - Emperor Ashoka is said to have visited the temple 250 years after Lord Buddha.
The weather had become cloudy and indicated rains when we reached there which was quite pleasant. The temple as you can see below is quite like a pyramid, typical of Gupta architecture. The place dates as back as 250 BCE, however, temple's current structure is believed as to be 5th - 6th Cen. AD construction. Many other structures like stupas, railing around the temple are older than that - dating around 1st Cen. BC or older. In 2013, the tip of the temple was covered with gold as gifted from the King and devotees from Thailand. (The pic was taken in 2011) The temple is completely made of bricks and is one of the oldest brick structure to have survived in India.
The main sanctum, as you can see, doesn't have the image of Buddha with folded hands. The right hand here is shown touching the earth - this pose is representative of the moment of his enlightenment. It is also known as "Bhumi Sparsha" Mudra - symbolic of determination, confidence and steadfastness.
Again as usual, it was difficult for me to get away from here. It's a place where you feel the peace and the history. Yes, the history too! the whole area has a pulse of ancientness that is hard to miss.
Inside the temple, there is a lotus pond, and the Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment.
There was a Sri Lankan team of approx 100-150 people visiting when I was there. A single leaf of the tree is considered a relic by the devotees - one is not allowed to pluck the leaves, so one stands for hours waiting for the air to make one leaf drop!
Apart from the lotus temple, the temple has beautiful stupas around, walls inscribed with Buddha's life incidents, and a row of stones known as Chankranama, this is the sacred spot right next to the main temple, its believed that wherever Buddha kept his feet, a lotus sprung up. I tried matching the steps on the side, my colleague with me was around 6 ft. tall, he could match the steps but still fell short by few inches... so Lord Buddha had to be really tall!
Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira were contemporaries. Although as per history, they never had a chance to meet, the guide showed us a carving around the walls of the temple that shows Lord Mahavira seeing lord Buddha as a child. This is a recent drawing, and can be an artistic expression.
Thereafter, we headed to airport before making a final stop at 80 ft statue of Buddha. Due to rain, could only take one quick picture.
Bodhgaya and Nalanda are beautiful places - and despite there isn't much one can do in Patna - I would not mind revisiting it for going back to these places. Better roads and better infrastructure from government would have helped in making it a top tourist destination for historical enthusiasts. However, should you be around the place, take out time to visit the old lanes of Indian history.
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