Gaya

Unfinished Houses

What struck me most as I was travelling from the railway station to our dharamshala was how unfinished the houses were. The roads are narrow and traffic rules are not followed much here. I recommend that people who are new to Gaya should refrain from getting distracted while travelling on the road especially by foot; avoid speaking on mobile phones while travelling. I heard about the recent road rage incident where a person killed another simply because the latter overtook the former on the road and even though it shocked me at that instant, I realized that after my experience on the roads; it did not surprise me as much.

Gaya is named after the asura / demon Gayasura who after austere penance received a boon that anyone who saw him would eventually attain moksha. Ideally 'moksha' / salvation is attained by doing righteous deeds in this world so to prevent immoral people from attained salvation, Lord Vishnu the God of Harmony pushed him inside the ground thereby leaving his footprints in the stone which are visible to this day. The Vishnupad (Lord Vishnu' footprints) Temple was built at this site; the current structure is courtesy Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore.

Vishnupad Temple

If you can trek to the Vishnupad Temple, then it is a must-do; it was about 1.5 km. trek for us but totally worth it since we were in exploratory mode. Except when you near the temple, be prepared to be assailed by the 'Begging Mafia'. They have their words down pat to make pilgrims visiting the temple give them money; but give it to one and you may very well be surrounded by the entire mafia. Luckily, I had a very good bodyguard in my friend whose look and words scared the most of them.
Once you enter Vishnupad Temple, pujaris will make a beeline for you in anticipation that you will do some 100+ pujas. On the left, you will see hordes of people doing the Pind-daan (prayers for salvation of ancestors); this being the most revered place in India to do so. We wanted to spend some time in this beautiful temple simply praying and meditating but that was difficult with the pujaris trying to get you to do pujas. Still, by God' grace, we managed to change spots about 3-4 times and spend about 5-minutes each in silence. You can literally feel some peace descending upon you; probably because the souls are at peace after Pind-daan is completed by their descendants.
There is an Akshayavat ('Immortal Banyan Tree') and then as you go down you see the barren Phalgu river. The story goes thus - Lord Ram who is the protagonist of the Ramayana (one of the ancient and sacred Hindu texts) and the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, came here with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman to do the Pind-daan for his father, King Dashratha. While Lord Ram and his brother Lakshman went to get the items required for the Pind-daan, King Dashrath appeared to Sita and asked her to do the Pind-daan immediately. She requested him to wait for his sons' return but he would not, so she did the Pind-daan with 5 witnesses - 1. Akshayavat 2. Phalgu river 3. Cow 4. Tulsi plant and 5. Brahmin. Now when Lord Ram came back, Sita told him that she had completed the Pind-daan and provided him with the 5 witnesses. Only the Akshayavat sided with Sita and told the truth whereas the rest did not say anything. Enraged, Sita cursed the four - Phalgu river to be barren, the cow to eat any waste from this land & not the rich fodder that was otherwise provided, the Tulsi plant to never be able to sustain growth here and the Brahmin to never be satisfied. I witnessed the effects of the curse first-hand - the Akshayavat that was blessed by Sita to be immortal stands majestic, the Phalgu river was barren, the cows simply ate anything they could lay their hands on and the brahmins never seemed to be satisfied with the amount of pujas they performed or the money offered to them by the devotees.
Amazing isn't it?

Sita Kund across the barren Phalgu river

Sita Kund across the barren Phalgu river, is a temple dedicated to Sita; apparently this is where she waited for Lord Rama and his brother.
On the way back, we went to the Mangala Gauri temple which is another one of the 18 Maha Shakti-Peeths (remember the story from Kashi?).

Some of our fellow-travelers had trekked to the nearby hill which provided a great view of the Vishnupad Temple; we did not try it but apparently the trek while long and hot (at least 2 liters of water should be carried), was worth the view from top.

Mahabodhi Temple

Bodhgaya was about 6 kms away and what a transformation! The temples are pristine and surroundings are much cleaner and well-maintained than the rest of Gaya. You can take a rickshaw ride to all the temples dedicated to Lord Buddha the founder of Buddhism. Bodhgaya is the holiest of pilgrimage sites in Buddhism. The MahaBodhi temple which was built by the great Emperor Ashoka
houses the Bodhi tree where Lord Buddha attained Nirvana / Enlightenment. In and around the tree, you can see monks and other people in deep meditation; we tried to do that to no avail because we were frequently distracted by the guides (maybe self-proclaimed) telling us stories without request. My friend Hetal got a leaf from the Bodhi tree from one such enthusiastic guide; she has been asked to put the same in a book which she has immediately after coming home from this trip.
Note: There is heavy checking & frisking at the gates and it is advisable to leave your bags at the free baggage counter near the entrance. There are clean bathrooms and drinking water for the use of pilgrims near the main gate.
Opposite the MahaBodhi temple, there is a temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath and next to it is the entrance to the Bodhgaya markets where you can get fabrics, shoes, bangles and other dressy accessories, decorative items for a steal.... i.e. if you are good at bargaining.

Buddhist Temples

There are Buddhist shrines built by other countries e.g. China, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam and the like. Each of these shrines have their very distinct country flair to it and you are mesmerized by the different artefacts in the temple other than the statue(s) of Lord Buddha.
Pssstt: The temples close around 5. If you want moments of solitude for quiet meditation or reflection, then sit outside on the marble steps leading to the temple. If you sit inside, there is a good chance that you would be distracted by the 'Selfie-maniacs'. We spent about an hour and curiously enough, nobody disturbed us till 6:00 p.m. when it was time for the main gate to close.

The Great Buddha Statue

Of course, you cannot miss the Great Statue of Buddha; which I think is the cover picture for
Bodhgaya promotions. The statue is 25m tall and what is impressive is that even the folds of the dress have been captured beautifully. Lord Buddha' face is indeed a picture of divine enlightenment; something that we should aspire towards... so much peace and contentment.