Bodhgaya

Shortly after the Kiran Festival we decided to take advantage of the three-day holiday to visit the Buddhist pilgrimage site of Bodhgaya. It was our first solo adventure away from Kiran’s protective arms and it was also our first journey on the mythical Indian railway. Even our journey to the railway station, which is outside Varanasi, held a few surprises for us. To start with our driver had to take the motorway – another first for us – and even this stretch of modern India possesses the same air of unpredictability as any twisted alley in the centre of Varanasi. Anybody can travel on it, and you don’t need a motor: cyclists, pedestrians, cows and goats to name but a few. You want to get on? No on or off ramps to deal with, just try your luck at the next intersection with no traffic light of course – after all it is a motorway. It seems the bigger the vehicle the greater the right of way. And while we were chugging along – our van couldn’t do more than about 40 km/hour – we saw a herd of camels being led to market – and it wasn’t just the kids who couldn’t take their eyes off them!

The situation at the train station was madder than the madness I had expected: a donkey occupied the steps to the front entrance, hundreds of people were waiting and sleeping on the floor of the main hall, and all along the platforms crowds were jostling as the trains arrived in order to pack themselves into the already crowded carriages. The good news was our train was on time and we managed to find seats for all of us. We were together with a very nice group of university students from Delhi who were on their way home because of the Commonwealth Games. Lessons had been suspended because the university campus was being used as a venue for the games. And so we had some interesting conversation: they were all travelling back to their small village – a 28-hour journey from Delhi – they were all studying economics, and they all had the dream of leaving their tiny village to pursue careers in Delhi or Mumbai or Bangalore – the promise of the new India. As usual our kids were the centre of attention and the students very generously spoiled them with sweets and snacks.

The conversation helped the three and a half hour journey pass quickly, and when we arrived in Gaya we immediately found a rickshaw to Bodhgaya, which added about another hour to the journey. Since the air conditioned train fogged up the windows, making it impossible to see anything outside, the rickshaw ride finally allowed us to admire the landscape in Bihar. There were tall palm trees among the green tilled fields, rocky gray hills jutted up suddenly from the extensive flat plains, and the very wide and dry river bed of the Niranjana River dominated the scene.

After settling into our guesthouse we went for our first walk to see a bit of Bodhgaya. I was little disappointed with all the traffic noise – I guess I was expecting a more quietly subdued atmosphere to surround one of Buddhism’s holiest sites, but instead it was the usual dust, loud honking and ramshackle market stalls all along the streets. We walked to the Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the many Temples/Monasteries that make up the incongruous frame of the main Mahadbodhi Temple, and soon the noises of the world became inconsequential. The monastery complex had a small central prayer hall with walls and ceilings depicting dramatic icons of the Tibetan spirit world, and there was a very small room with a large prayer wheel from the ceiling to the floor. We then walked to the pedestrian area just outside the Mahadbodhi Temple, where there were the usual stalls selling not only religious souvenirs but really anything imaginable that could be sold cheaply to the passing tourists. We could see many groups of pilgrims and Buddhist monks in the Temple grounds, but decided to put off our own visit till the following day.

The next morning we took a rickshaw to the Mahakala Caves located in the rocky cliffs 18 kilometers from Bodhgaya. It was a destination recommended by the guesthouse manager and I’m very glad we went. It is the place where Buddha had practiced 6 years of severe ascetic practice which led to his body weakening so much that he nearly died. As usual the short distance took quite a long time – almost an hour – as we had to drive through some very isolated villages with poor roads to get there. After we arrived we had to make a short steep climb up a very dry and rocky cliff side to where there was a small temple, some extremely simple accommodation for monks and pilgrims, and of course the cave where Buddha is said to have stayed. We were able to go inside the cave itself, a very small space with just enough room for a tiny handful of people to sit quietly and there was a sculpture of the emaciated image of the Buddha, his body withered to just skin and bones. We were fortunate to be the only ones there at the time; just as we were leaving quite a large group of Sri Lankan pilgrims all dressed in white arrived.

On our way back we saw hundreds of people making their way across the dry river bed of the Niranjana River from a Hindu temple on one side to one on the other. The rickshaw driver said he would wait for a small fee, so we made a quick stop to visit this Vishnu Temple. People had gathered for the pitri paksha celebration, and there was this cyclical flow of worshippers coming up from the river to walk to a very small Vishnu shrine, leave their offerings of money, flower petals and garlands, and then go back across the river bed to the temple on the other side. The contrast between the overwhelming commotion of this Hindu form of worship and the ascetic silence of the Mahakala Caves says volumes about the revolution Buddha brought to the Hinduism of his day.

When we got back it was lunch time and Sarah’s guidebook recommended a place just across the street from our guesthouse so we decided to have a look. After walking up and down the street a couple of times and not finding anything that resembled a restaurant we asked, and sure enough the Gautam restaurant was right in front of us. We hesitated a moment before going in – it was really just a large canvas tent draped around a tree, there was no sign of a kitchen or of any other customers for that matter, but we decided to give it a go. We decided to eat in the garden area outside at the back which bordered on neighbors washing their kids at a well, and a farmer tending his horse. I don’t quite know where the food came from but it was good and incredibly cheap – less than 500 Rps for all six of us (under 10€) and we left completely stuffed.

We then visited the Mahadbodhi Temple – a World Heritage Site – where Buddha experienced his enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. The temple stands 55m tall and it’s elegant spire can be seen from as far as the Mahakala Caves. The beautiful green grounds around the main temple are adorned with dozens of stupas and smaller temples; and finally there is the giant Bodhi Tree to which Buddha fixed his gaze.  There was indeed a very serene atmosphere despite the constant flow of pilgrims coming to pray and meditate together. The following morning I returned early, at 5.30, and saw Tibetan monks that had slept outside in the garden get up, fill hundreds of butter lamps and then do prostrations in the direction of the Bodhi Tree. The prostration practice can go on for hours and must be incredibly demanding on the body.

We could have spent an extra day in Bodhgaya, the last morning we crammed in the remaining temples – each one with their own distinctive cultural style – and did a little last minute haggling for some very nice objects to take back home with us. In any case the opportunity to watch and take part in this great devotion to a man and his teachings, and to walk in his historical footsteps was an experience that really opened up a new world for all of us.

Bhutanese Temple

Tibetan Temple

Japanese Temple

Paul