Bodhgaya बोधगया, Bihar

Bodhgaya, India


Bodhgaya, also written Bodh Gaya, is a city in the state of Bihar in northeastern India. It is famous for being the site where Gautama Buddha attained Enlightenment.

Bodhgaya has been known under many different names in its long history, including Bodhimanda (which means "ground around the Bodhi tree"), Uruvela, Sambodhi, Vajrasana and Mahabodhi. It only came to be known as Bodhgaya in the 18th century.

The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya


Bodhgaya is one of the four major pilgrimage sites of Buddhists, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini and Sarnath.

The main sight at Bodhgaya is the Mahabodhi Temple, which is inscribed as a World Heritage Site. There are also other Buddhist temples in the vicinity that you can visit when there.

Vajrasana, meaning "Diamond Throne", the very spot where Buddha Sakyamuni is believed to have attained Enlightenment in Bodhgaya

Planning your trip to Bodhgaya

You can fly to Bodhgaya from a number of destinations, arriving at the Gaya Airport. Thai Airways flies there from Bangkok daily. Druk Air also flies there from Bangkok once a week. Indian Airlines flies to Gaya from Kolkata on Fridays with the return trip on Mondays.

You can also take a train to Gaya Railway Station, located 16 km from Bodhgaya. From there, take an auto rickshaw to Bodhgaya.

Devotees from Sri Lanka at the Mahabodhi Temple

Planning your travel within Bodhgaya

The main form of transport is the auto rickshaw. If you get a good driver, consider hiring him for the whole day.

Places of Interest in Bodhgaya

Monlam decorations, Mahabodhi Temple

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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