Buddhist shrines in India

Gautama Buddha has left his footprints on the soil of India and his mark on the soul of mankind. In the course of the growth of his religion, his human teacher eclipsed even the heavenly gods and the places consecrated by his presence were held in great veneration. Before he entered Nirvana the Buddha himself spoke of the four places which a pious believer ought to visit with feelings of faith and reverence : the Lumbinivana where the Tathagata was born. Gaya (Bodh-Gaya) where he reached perfect Enlightenment, the Deer Park at Isipatana (Saranath) where for the first time he proclaimed the law, and Kusinagara where he reached the unconditional state of Mahaparinirvana. He dilated on the merits of pilgrimage to these places and declared that "they who shall die on such pilgrimages shall be reborn, after death, in the happy realm of heaven".

The other four places of pilgrimage which, with the above four, make up the atthamahathanani (ashtamahasthanani), or eight sacred places, were the scenes of four of the principal miracles that the Blessed One was said to have performed. Though not particularly cited in the early Buddhist texts as places of special veneration, these sites also grew in a sanctity on account of the Master's connection with them. One of these places is Sravasti, the capital of Kosala, where the Buddha, according to legend, gave a display of miraculous powers to confound Purana Kasyapa, the leader of the Tirthika sect. After this miracle the Buddha, in accordance with the custom of the previous Buddhas, ascended to the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods;preached the Abhidhamma to his deceased mother and descended to the earth at Sankasya, by a triple ladder constructed by Indra's architect. Rajagriha, the capital of Magadha, was the scene of the third miracle in which the Buddha tamed the infuriated elephant, Nalagiri, let lose by his jealous cousin, Devadata, to encompass his death. The fourth miracle happened at Vaisali, where in a mango-grove a number of monkeys offered the Buddha a bowl of honey. These and other events in his life were favourite subject of representation in early Buddhist art and the eight conventional events, as enumerated above, formed stereotyped stelae composition in sculptures beginning with the Gupta period. In early year manuscript paintings of eastern India and Nepal such scenes have been very frequently represented and some of these illustrate the finest tradition of painting of those days.

Those holy places, because of their association with the history of the venerable religion, were great centres of attraction for the pious believers and pilgrimage to them was religiously performed. Asoka call such a pilgrimage dhammayata (dharmmayathra), or tours of pity. Besides the above, many other places rose into prominance in the course of the development of Buddhism - the site of important stupas, monasteries, etc - and they also claimed the devotion of the followers of the faith. All such a place were held sacred with great veneration, maintained with care and adorned with religious establishments of various kinds. In their flourishing days, their splendour and magnificence, no less than their sanctity, attracted visitors from everywhere. With the disappearance of Buddhism from India, such places, however, were gradually neglected and ultimately fell into disrepair and ruins; many were completely forgotten. With the recent advance in Indian archaeology it has been possible to resuscitate them from their long oblivion.

Courtesy; Publication Division, India.