Buddhist pilgrimage

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The most important places of pilgrimage in Buddhism are located in the Gangetic plains of Northern India and Southern Nepal, in the area between New Delhi and Rajgir. This is the area where Gautama Buddha lived and taught, and the main sites connected to his life are now important places of pilgrimage for both Buddhists and Hindus. However, many countries that are or were predominantly Buddhist have shrines and places which can be visited as a pilgrimage.

Pilgrims, Tsurphu Gompa, Tibet, 1993

Places where Buddha lived

Four main pilgrimage sites

Gautama Buddha is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, saying that they would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency. These are:^[1]

• Lumbini: birthplace (in Nepal)
• Bodh Gaya: the place of his Enlightenment (in the current Mahabodhi Temple).
• Sarnath: (formally Isipathana) where he delivered his first teaching.
• Kusinara: (now Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India) where he died.

The Eight Great Places

Pilgrimage to
Buddha's Holy Sites
The Four Main Sites
Bodh Gaya Kushinagar Lumbini Sarnath
Four Additional Sites
Rajgir Sankassa Sravasti Vaishali
Other Sites
Devadaha Gaya Kapilavastu Kesaria Kosambi Nalanda Pava Pataliputra Varanasi
Later Sites
Ajanta Caves Barabar Caves Bharhut Ellora Caves Lalitgiri Mathura Pandavleni Caves Piprahwa Ratnagiri Sanchi Udayagiri Vikramaśīla

In the later commentarial tradition, four other sites are also raised to a special status because Buddha had performed a certain miracle there. These four places, partly through the inclusion in this list of commentarial origin, became important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in ancient India, as the Attha-mahathanani (Pali for 'The Eight Great Places'). It is important to note, however, that some of these events do not occur in the Tipitaka and are thus purely commentarial.

The first four of the Eight Great Places are identical to the places mentioned by the Buddha:

• Lumbini
• Bodh Gaya
• Sarnath
• Kusinara

The last four are places where a certain miraculous event is reported to have occurred:

• Sravasti: Place of the Twin Miracle, showing his supernatural abilities in performance of miracles. Sravasti is also the place where Buddha spent the largest amount of time, being a major city in ancient India.
• Rajgir: Place of the subduing of Nalagiri, the angry elephant, through friendliness. Rajgir was another major city of ancient India.
• Sankassa: Place of the descending to earth from Tusita heaven (after a stay of 3 months teaching his mother the Abhidhamma).
• Vaishali: Place of receiving an offering of honey from a monkey. Vaishali was the capital of the Vajjian Republic of ancient India.

Lumbini Bodh Gaya Sarnath Rajgir Sravasti Sankasia Vaishali Kusinara The Eight Great Places in Buddhism (Four Great Places are plotted in red.)

Other sites

Tibetan pilgrim, Rewalsar Lake, Himachal Pradesh

Some other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are: Pataliputta, Nalanda, Vikramshila, Gaya, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Amaravati, Nagarjuna Konda, Sanchi, Varanasi, Kesariya, Devadaha, Pava and MathuraMandaver(Bijnor U.P),Hapur(ghaziabad U.P). Most of these places are located in the Gangetic plain.

Other pilgrimage places

Other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage in various countries include:

• Afghanistan: the Bamiyan Buddhas.
• Cambodia: Angkor Thom, Silver Pagoda.
• China: Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes. The Four Sacred Mountains namely Wǔtái Shān(五台山), Éméi Shān(峨嵋山), Jiǔhuá Shān(九华山), Pǔtuó Shān(普陀山)
• Tibet: Potala Palace, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso.

Elderly pilgrim, Tsurphu Gompa, Tibet, 1993

• India: Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta, also see Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India
• Indonesia: Borobudur, Mendut, Sewu.
• Japan: Kyoto, Nara, Shikoku Pilgrimage, Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage
• Laos: Luang Prabang.
• Myanmar: Bagan, Sagaing Hill, Mandalay Hill, Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, Shwedagon Pagoda.
• Nepal: Boudhanath, Swayambhunath, Kapilavastu.
• Sri Lanka: Anuradhapura (the Atamasthana or 'eight places'), Mihintale, Polonnaruwa, the Temple of the Tooth (Kandy), Sri Pada.
• South Korea: Bulguksa, Three Jewel Temples
• Thailand: Phra Phutthabat District, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, Phra Pathom Chedi, Phra Buddha Chinnarat.
• United States of America: City of Ten Thousand Buddhas - Largest Monastery-Nunnery in USA in terms of numbers of ordained monastic Bhikshus and Bhikshunis. First full ordination on American soil.
• Vietnam: Mount Yen Tu

Notes

1. ^ The Buddha mentions these four pilgrimage sites in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. See, for instance, Thanissaro (1998)[1] and Vajira & Story (1998)[2].

External links

• Buddhist Pilgrimage (e-book - the eight major Buddhist sites in India)
• [3] Along the Path: The Meditator's Companion to the Buddha's Land
• Buddhist Pilgrimage in India
• Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour in India or Suggestion to visit buddhist sites.
• The Buddhist Archaeology of India
• Buddhist Pilgrimage in Sri Lanka
• "Buddhist Pilgrimage". Asia.  
• Sample itinerary of a contemporary Buddhist Pilgrimage in India and Nepal [4]