Bodhgaya is home of the Mahabodhi Temple, a shrine dedicated to the location where the Buddha achieved enlightenment in 623 BC. The original Bodhi tree that the Buddha sat under was poisoned by a King Ashoka's jealous wife a few hundred years after the Buddha achieved enlightenment, but luckily, a sapling from the original tree was taken to Sri Lanka and therefore recovered and planted back in the same place that the original tree stood.
Bodhgaya is located in the Indian state of Bihar, which is also one of the poorest states. All levels of wealth are represented here; from the devote monks and poor beggars (most of which are disfigured from untreated cerebral palsy) to middle class to wealthy pilgrims. Tibetan, Sri Lankan, Indian, Thai, Japanese, & Chinese monks, travelers from France, Turkey, Thailand and Myanmar; all flock here to witness the power of the location and many are here to mourn the dead. This is also the first location where we met another American. The Hindus believe that the Buddha was a reincarnation of the Lord Vishnu, so there were many Indian tourists as well.
The place we stayed (Mohammad's Guest House) was very nice and comfortable. But at a humid 95 deg F with no AC and frequent power outages, we are ready for a different, less sweaty, locale.
Due to recent terrorist activity in the area, cell phones where not allowed near the temple so all of our photos are on the camera. We tried to take pictures of our camera's LCD screen so you can at least get an idea of what the area was like. When we get back home we will update these with the actual, higher quality, photos.
A monk meditating at the Mahabodhi temple.
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