Apr 15, 2009 10:51 PM
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(Updated Apr 15, 2009 10:52 PM)
The prime objective of this tripwas to complete the rituals for my departed parents in Gaya but since Bodhgaya/Rajgir and Nalandawere places in the vicinity, we decided to club these in our itinerary. Rajgirand Nalanda are places which may enthuse more interest if you are a little bitinclined towards history nevertheless these places give you the taste of Bihar, which is quite different from the political and issue ridden Biharwhich we quite often see in the news channels.
Gaya is approximately 990 Kmsfrom Delhi(via Rail) and the best option is to board any Rajdhani Trains forCalcutta, they leave you in Gaya early in the morning and vice versa or tocatch flights for Bodhgaya. If you are visiting as a tourist then it is betterto reach Bodhgaya and stay there as good hotels are there and they may chargesteep rates in winters which is the season for foreign tourists. Our base was Gaya and we stayed thereat the Bharat Sevashram Shanga Guest house.
In Gayathe main attractions are the ancient VishnupadaTemple the main site forpracticing rituals for ancestors. The Falgu river which as believed flowsbeneath its surface due to the curse of Sita(from Ramayana). It is believedthat if you dig thru the river bed you will find water. We also discovered oneKali temple which is more than a century old and follows the Tantric Custom intheir worship. In Gayayou won’ find any good restaurants and if you could enjoy roadside dhabas thenyou can enjoy the local cuisines mostly vegetarian. One specialty in Gaya is they serve curdin light cooked mustard oil with black pepper which will give you a zingytaste. Spicy food is the norm with local sweets. Beware of the famous GayaMosquitoes.
40 Minutes drive from Gaya and you reachBodhgaya. Lush green fields would greet you along the highway. Bodhgaya hasmany monasteries and pagoda’s dedicated to Buddha from many countries, the mostbeautiful is Japanese and Chinese one’s and was astonished to find oneBangaldeshi Monastary too! However the main attraction is the main Buddha temple of Bodhgaya and the Bodhitree in the templeunder which Siddharth Gautama received enlightenment. Presently an Unesco site, the main temple structure adheres to the South Indian rock cut architectureswhich may give you the idea of confluence of North and South cultures in theancient age. Exploring further we found many dilapidated Shiva temples andShiva lingam structures in the back side of the main Buddha site and a verysmall Saraswati temple(temple area not more than 3 square feet) believed to beestablished by Adi Shankaracharya.
On the second day we clubbedRajgir and Nalanda together. Rajgir is a two hour drive from Gaya and further to Rajgir, Nalanda could bereached in 30 minutes. The drive from Gaya to Rajgir give a feel of rural Biharwith mud houses, granaries, date trees and small rocky hills resembling thehills in Konkan. Rajgir and Nalanda are full of excavated sites of the MauryanPeriod. Rajgir is the modern name of Rajgriha the first capital of Magadha, theroots of the Mauryan Empire. It is one of the few places associated with Buddhaas well as Mahavira. Rajgir is in the valley of five hills with the Vulture’speak or Gridhakuta being the most illustrious. It now seats the Japanese builtShanti Stupa dedicated to Buddha. The single chaired rope way to the top of thehill is one of the major attractions there. This place has lots of ancientexcavated sites including a jail were Bimbisara was believed to be kept by hisson Ajatashatru, Son Bhandar Caves, Ruins of a fort believed to Jarasandha’sfort(the King of Magdha in Mahabharata), Maniyar Math(dating to 1stCent BCE) and Jain temples atop the other hills of Rajgir. The view of theRajgir shell factory from Shanti Stupa is splendid. Another important site isthe Rajgir hot water springs which have water from the hills at a constanttemperature of 30 deg and has curative properties and importantly the Satapannicaves where the first Buddhist council was held after the death of Buddha.
Nalanda with its 14 hectares ofexcavated land boasts of the architectural remains of the Nalanda University ofAncient India. The excavation shows that the structures were built with Redbricks, presently excavation is carried out by the ASI for further structures.The important sites are the Stupa of Sariputta believed to construct by EmperorAsoka(250 BCE). The architectural ruins and the museum which boasts ofexcavated articles of the Buddhist and later Buddhist period.
All this we covered in two days…
