By road
~135 km from Patna, ~252 km from Varanasi
East India · Bihar
Bodh Gaya, Bihar
The tree where the Buddha woke · ~135 km from Patna, ~252 km from Varanasi
Getting there
By rail
Gaya Junction, ~15-17 km, a major junction with direct trains to Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai
By air
Gaya Airport, ~5-12 km, though it runs mainly seasonal flights for Buddhist pilgrims; Patna's Jay Prakash Narayan International (~110-135 km) is the reliable year-round option
Best time to visit
October to March — pilgrimage season, Dalai Lama teachings often in winter
Don't miss
Mahabodhi Temple (UNESCO)
The Bodhi Tree
Great Buddha statue
National monasteries
Things to do
Meditation under the Mahabodhi tree
Monastery-architecture trail
Sujata village walk
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY-SA 2.0
What to pack
Modest quiet-toned wear, socks for hot marble, meditation cushion if you sit
A quieter corner
Pre-dawn chanting under the Bodhi tree before the gates crowd
Before you go
The site of the Buddha's enlightenment -- the holiest place in Buddhism -- while neighbouring Gaya is Hinduism's chief place for ancestral rites (the Pitru Paksha mela, Sept-Oct). Winter (Nov-Feb) is the pilgrimage season.
About Bodh Gaya
- Inland
Where it is
Bodh Gaya is a town in Bihar on the Gangetic plain, beside the Niranjana River, known locally as the Lilajan, a short way south of the city of Gaya and about 110 km from Patna.
History
It was here, under a pipal tree, that Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha, around the 5th century BCE. The emperor Ashoka built a shrine at the site in the 3rd century BCE, and the Mahabodhi Temple, rebuilt and restored over the centuries, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.
People
Local people speak Magahi and Hindi and farm the surrounding plain, while Tibetan, Bhutanese, Thai, Burmese, Sri Lankan and Japanese monks and nuns live in the town's many monasteries. Winter brings pilgrims from across the Buddhist world, and nearby Gaya is a major centre of Hindu rites for ancestors.
Known for
- The Mahabodhi Temple and the Bodhi Tree
- Monasteries built by Buddhist countries
- The Great Buddha Statue
- Meditation and Buddhist pilgrimage
- Winter prayer gatherings of Tibetan Buddhists
Did you know?
The Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya is believed to descend from the tree under which the Buddha was enlightened, grown from a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka.
Shrines and sites
- Mahabodhi Temple and the Bodhi Tree
- Great Buddha statue
- Thai, Japanese, Bhutanese and Tibetan monasteries
- Sujata Stupa
Traditions
- Buddhist
- Hindu
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.