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The most important places of pilgrimage in Buddhism are located the Gangetic plains of Northern India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and Southern Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
, in the area between New Delhi
New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. With a total area of 42.7 km2, New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi and serves as the seat of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi ....
 and Rajgir
Rajgir

Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian States and territories of India of Bihar.The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire....
. This is the area where Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 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.

Places where Buddha lived
Four main pilgrimage sites
Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, saying that they would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency.






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The most important places of pilgrimage in Buddhism are located the Gangetic plains of Northern India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and Southern Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
, in the area between New Delhi
New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. With a total area of 42.7 km2, New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi and serves as the seat of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi ....
 and Rajgir
Rajgir

Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian States and territories of India of Bihar.The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire....
. This is the area where Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 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.

Places where Buddha lived


Four main pilgrimage sites


Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 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:
  • Lumbini
    Lumbini

    Lumbini is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Kapilavastu district of Nepal, near the Indian border. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi is said to have given birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who in turn, as the Gautama Buddha, gave birth to the Buddhism....
    : birth place (in Nepal
    Nepal

    Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
    )
  • Bodh Gaya
    Bodh Gaya

    Bodh Gaya or Bodhgaya is a city in Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India of Bihar. It is famous for being the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of nirvana ....
    : the place of his Enlightenment (in the current Mahabodhi Temple
    Mahabodhi Temple

    The Mahabodhi Temple is a Buddhism temple in Bodh Gaya, the location where Gautama Buddha, the Gautama Buddha, attained Enlightenment . Bodh Gaya is located about 96 km from Patna, Bihar state, India....
    ).
  • Sarnath
    Sarnath

    Sarnath is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna....
    : (formally Isipathana) where he delivered his first teaching.
  • Kusinara: (now Kusinagar, India) where he died (Parinirvana
    Parinirvana

    In Buddhism, parinirvana is the final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete bodhi . It is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice and implies a release from the bhavachakra, samsara, karma and Rebirth as well as the dissolution of the skandhas....
    ).


The Eight Great Places

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
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
 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 Buddha:
  • Lumbini
    Lumbini

    Lumbini is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Kapilavastu district of Nepal, near the Indian border. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi is said to have given birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who in turn, as the Gautama Buddha, gave birth to the Buddhism....
  • Bodh Gaya
    Bodh Gaya

    Bodh Gaya or Bodhgaya is a city in Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India of Bihar. It is famous for being the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of nirvana ....
  • Sarnath
    Sarnath

    Sarnath is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence through the enlightenment of Kondanna....
  • Kusinara
The last four are places where a certain miraculous event is reported to have occurred:
  • Sravasti
    Sravasti

    Sravasti or Savatthi , a city of ancient India, was one of the six largest cities in India during Gautama Buddha's lifetime. The city was located in the fertile Gangetic plains in the present day's Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh....
    : 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
    Rajgir

    Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian States and territories of India of Bihar.The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire....
    : Place of the subduing of Nalagiri, the angry elephant, through friendliness. Rajgir was another major city of ancient India.
  • Sankasia: Place of the descending to earth from Tusita heaven (after a stay of 3 months teaching his mother the Abhidhamma
    Abhidhamma

    Abhidharma or Abhidhamma are ancient Buddhist works which contain detailed scholastic reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications....
    ).
  • Vaishali
    Vaishali

    Vaishali may refer to:*A colony in north west Delhi*Vaishali District, in Bihar state, India.*Vaishali , an ancient democratic city of India, currently located in Vaishali District, Bihar, India....
    : Place of receiving an offering of honey from a monkey. Vaishali was the capital of the Vajjian Republic of ancient India.


Other sites


Some other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 are: Pataliputta
Patna

Pa?na is the capital city of the Indian States and territories of India of Bihar, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world....
, Nalanda
Nalanda

Nalanda is the name of an ancient university in Bihar, India.The site of Nalanda is located in the States and territories of India of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhism center of learning from 427 to 1197 CE....
, Gaya
Gaya, India

Gaya[] is a city in Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar....
, Kapilavastu
Kapilavastu

Kapilavastu is the name of an region of ancient Shakya kingdom that is considered a holy pilgrimage place for Buddhists, located close to Lumbini....
, Kosambi, Varanasi
Varanasi

Varanasi , also commonly known as Benares or Banaras and Kashi , is a city situated on the left bank of the River Ganges River in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, regarded as holy by Hinduism, Buddhists and Jains, and is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities....
, Kesariya
Kesariya

Kesariya is a small city in Bihar, India. It is famous for being the site of the biggest stupa of India, built by King Ashoka. Kesariya used to be called Kesaputta during the time of the Gautama Buddha....
, Devadaha
Devadaha

Devadaha was a township of the Shakya . It is near Kapilvastu. The Gautama Buddha stayed there during his tours and preached to the bhikkhu on various topics....
, Pava
Pava

Pava was a city in ancient India, at the time of Gautama Buddha. It was a city of the Mallas which the Buddha visited during his last journey, going there from Bhogagama and staying at Cunda's mango grove....
 and Mathura
Mathura

Mathura is a holy city in the Indian States and territories of India of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and 150 km south of Delhi; about twenty kilometers from holy Vrindavana....
. All these places are located in the Gangetic plain.

Famous pilgrims


A few influential historical Buddhist pilgrims are:
  • King Ashoka the Great (250 BCE)
  • The Liu Song and Tang
    Tang Dynasty

    The Tang Dynasty was an Dynasties in Chinese history preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire....
     pilgrim monks Faxian
    Faxian

    Fa Xian was a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka to acquire Buddhist scriptures between 399 and 412 . His journey is described in his work A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Sri Lanka in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline....
     (399–412 CE), Xuanzang
    Xuanzang

    Xuanzang [602 ? - 664] was a famous China Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator that brought up the interaction between History of China and History of India in the early Tang Dynasty period....
     (630–646 CE), and I Ching
    I Ching (monk)

    I Ching or Yi Jing was a Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk, originally named Zhang Wen Ming . The written records of his travels contributed to the world knowledge of the ancient kingdom of Srivijaya, as well as providing information about the other kingdoms lying on the route between China and the Nalanda Buddhist university in India....
     (673–687 CE)
  • The Silla
    Silla

    Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the longest sustaining dynasty in Asian history. Although it was founded by King Bak Hyeokgeose of Silla, who is also known to be the originator of the Korean family name Park , the dynasty was to see the Kyungju Kim clan hold rule for most of its 992-year history....
     monk Hyecho
    Hyecho

    Hyecho , , was a Korean people Buddhist monk from the Korean monarchy of Silla.Hyecho studied esoteric Buddhism in Tang Dynasty China, initially under Subhakarsinha and then under Vajrabodhi who praised Hyecho as "one of six living persons who were well-trained in the five sections of the buddhist wiktionary:canon." On the advice of his In...
     (723–727 CE)
  • The Tibetan monk Dharmaswamin (Chag Lotsawa) (1235 CE)
  • The Sri Lankan national Anagarika Dharmapala
    Anagarika Dharmapala

    Anagarika Dharmapala was a leading figure in initiating two outstanding features of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India after it had been virtually extinct there for several centuries, and he was the first Buddhist in modern times to preach the Dharma in three continents: Asia, North Ameri...
     (1891)


Other pilgrimage places


Other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage in various countries include:
  • Afghanistan
    Afghanistan

    Afghanistan , officially the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia....
    : the Bamiyan Buddhas.
  • Cambodia
    Cambodia

    The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
    : Angkor Wat
    Angkor Wat

    Angkor Wat , is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city....
    , Silver Pagoda
    Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh

    The Silver Pagoda is a compound located on the north side of the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh. It features a royal temple officially called Preah Vihear Preah Keo Morakot but is commonly referred to as Wat Preah Keo....
    .
  • China
    China

    China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
    : Yungang Grottoes
    Yungang Grottoes

    The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the Chinese province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites of China....
    , Longmen Grottoes
    Longmen Grottoes

    The Longmen Grottoes or Longmen Caves are located 12 km south of present day Luoyang in Henan province, China. The grottoes, which overwhelmingly depict Buddhist subjects, are densely dotted along the two mountains: Xiangshan and Longmenshan ....
    . The Four Sacred Mountains namely Wutái Shan
    Wutai Shan

    Mount Wutai , also known as Wutai Mountain, located in Shanxi, China, is one of the Sacred_Mountains_of_China#The_Four_Sacred_Mountains_of_Buddhism_in_China in Buddhism in China....
    (???), Éméi Shan(???), Jiuhuá Shan(???), Putuó Shan(???).
  • India
    India

    India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
    : Sanchi
    Sanchi

    Sanchi is a small village in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is located 46 km north east of Bhopal, and 10 km from Besnagar and Vidisha in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh....
    , Ellora, Ajanta
    Ajanta

    Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra, India are Rock cut architecture cave monuments dating from the second century BCE, containing paintings and sculpture considered to be masterpieces of both "Buddhist religious art" and "universal pictorial art"....
    .
  • Indonesia
    Indonesia

    The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
    : Borobudur
    Borobudur

    Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. The monument comprises six square platforms topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddhist art....
    .
  • Japan
    Japan

    Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
    : Kyoto
    Kyoto

    Sorry, no overview for this topic
    , Nara
    Nara, Nara

    is the capital cities of Japan of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture....
    .
  • Laos
    Laos

    Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
    : Luang Prabang
    Luang Prabang

    Luang Prabang, or Louangphrabang , is a city located in north central Laos, on the Mekong River about 425 km north of Vientiane, and the capital of Louangphrabang Province....
    .
  • Myanmar
    Myanmar

    Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia, or Indochina. The country is bordered by the People's Republic of China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest with...
    : Bagan
    Bagan

    Bagan , formerly Pagan, is an ancient city in the Mandalay Division of Burma. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana and also known as Tambadipa or Tassadessa , it was the ancient capital of several ancient monarchy in Burma....
    , Sagaing Hill
    Sagaing

    Sagaing is the chief city and capital of Sagaing Division in Burma. It is located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the southwest of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river....
    , Mandalay Hill
    Mandalay Hill

    Mandalay Hill is a 240 metre hill that is located to the northeast of the city centre of Mandalay in Burma. The city took its name from the hill....
    , Kyaiktiyo Pagoda
    Kyaiktiyo Pagoda

    Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is a famous Buddhist pilgrimage site in Mon State, Burma. A small pagoda sits on top of a golden rock, a granite boulder covered with gold leaves pasted on by devotees....
    , Shwedagon Pagoda.
  • Nepal
    Nepal

    Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
    : Boudnanath Stupa, Swayambhunath
    Swayambhunath

    Swayambhunath is an ancient religious complex atop a hill in the Kathmandu Valley, west of Kathmandu city. It is also known as the Monkey Temple as there are holy monkeys living in parts of the temple in the north-west....
    .
  • Sri Lanka
    Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
    : Polonnaruwa
    Polonnaruwa

    The second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I, who defeated the Chola dynasty invaders in 1070 CE to reunite the country once more under a local leader....
    , Temple of the Tooth (Kandy
    Kandy

    Kandy is the English name for the city of Maha Nuvara in the centre of Sri Lanka. It is the capital of the Central Province, Sri Lanka and Kandy District....
    ), Anuradhapura
    Anuradhapura

    Anuradhapura, , is one of the ancient capitals of Sri Lanka, famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization.The city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka's North Central Province, Sri Lanka, on the banks of the historic Malvathu Oya....
    , Sri Pada
    Sri Pada

    Adam's Peak , is a tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well-known for the Sri Pada "sacred footprint", a 1.8 m rock formation near the summit, in Buddhist tradition held to be the footprint of Gautama Buddha, in Hinduism tradition that of Shiva and in Muslim tradition that of Adam ....
    .
  • South Korea
    South Korea

    South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea , ), often referred to as Korea and the "names of Korea#Revival of the names", is a Semi-presidential system republic in East Asia, located in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula....
    : Three Jewel Temples
    Three Jewel Temples of Korea

    The Three Jewel Temples of Korea are the three principal Buddhist temples in Korea, each representing one of the Three Jewels of Buddhism, and all located in South Korea....
  • Thailand
    Thailand

    The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
    : Sukhothai
    Sukhothai historical park

    The Sukhothai Historical Park covers the ruins of Sukhothai , capital of the Sukhothai kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries, in what is now the north of Thailand....
    , Ayutthaya
    Ayutthaya (city)

    Ayutthaya city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. The city was founded in 1350 by King Ramathibodi I, who came here to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri, and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya kingdom or Siam....
    , Wat Phra Kaew
    Wat Phra Kaew

    The Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most sacred Buddhism temple in Thailand. It is located in the historic center of Bangkok , within the grounds of the Grand Palace....
    , Wat Doi Suthep, Phra Pathom Chedi
    Phra Pathom Chedi

    Phra Pathom Chedi is the highest stupa in the world with a height of 127 m. It is located in the town Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.The name Phra Pathom Chedi means Holy chedi of the beginning....
    , Phra Buddha Chinnarat.
  • Tibet
    Tibet

    Tibet is a Tibetan Plateau in Asia, north of the Himalayas, and the home to the indigenous Tibetan people and its related ethnic groups. With an average elevation of 4,900 metres , it is the highest region on Earth and has in recent decades increasingly been referred to as the "Roof of the World"....
    : Potala Palace
    Potala Palace

    The Potala Palace is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara....
    , Mount Kailash
    Mount Kailash

    Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdis? mountains which is part of the Himalayas in Tibet, the Source of some of the longest rivers in Asia?the Indus River, the Sutlej River , the Brahmaputra River, and the Karnali River ?and is considered as a sacred place in four religions?Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and B?n faith....
    , Lake Nam-tso.


External links

  • (e-book - the eight major Buddhist sites in India)
  • Theory & Practice


lgrim/places.htm", "Buddhist Pilgrimage in Sri Lanka")


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