Buddhist Shrines

Eight places in a small area of northeastern India and southern Nepal are holy to Buddhists because of their association with events in Buddha’s life. Perhaps the most holy is Lumbini in Nepal, where Buddha was born around 563 B.C.E.. Four other sites in northeastern India are particularly sacred because they were the locations of Buddha’s principal miracles.

Holy Places In Buddhism

Buddhists pray in Maya Devi Temple, Lumbini, Nepal. According to Buddhists, the temple is built at the location of Buddha’s birth.

Eight places in a small area of northeastern India and southern Nepal are holy to Buddhists because of their association with events in Buddha’s life. Perhaps the most holy is Lumbini in Nepal, where Buddha was born around 563 B.C.E.. Four other sites in northeastern India are particularly sacred because they were the locations of Buddha’s principal miracles.

Holy Places in Buddhism

According to Buddhist tradition, eight places were the sites of key steps in Buddha’s development as a religious teacher

Buddha and his disciples would have walked from place to place amid the river valleys and plains of northern India, then a region of farming villages divided among several kingdoms.

Lumbini, in southern Nepal, is where Buddha was born around 563 B.C.E. Many sanctuaries and monuments were built there, but all are in ruins today.

Bodh Gaya, 250 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of Buddha’s birthplace, is the site of the second great event in his life, where he reached perfect wisdom. A temple has stood near the site since the third century B.C.E., and part of the surrounding railing built in the first century C.E. still stands. Because Buddha reached perfect Enlightenment while sitting under a bo tree, that tree has become a holy object as well. To honor Buddha, the Bodhi (or Bo) tree has been diffused to other Buddhist countries, such as China and Japan.

Deer Park in Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first sermon, is the third important location. The Dhamek Stupa at Sarnath, built in the third century B.C.E., is probably the oldest surviving structure in India. Nearby is now a major library of Buddhist literature, including many works removed from Tibet when Tibet’s Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, went into exile in 1959.

Kushinagar, the fourth holy place, is where Buddha died at age 80 and passed into Nirvana, a state of peaceful extinction. Temples built at the site are currently in ruins.

Four other sites in northeastern India are particularly sacred because they were the locations of Buddha’s principal miracles.

Shravasti is where Buddha performed his greatest miracle. Before an assembled audience of competing religious leaders, Buddha created multiple images of himself and visited heaven. Shravasti became an active center of Buddhism, and one of the most influential monasteries was established there.

Sankasya, the second miracle site, is where Buddha is said to have ascended to heaven, preached to his mother, and returned to Earth.

Rajgir, the third site, is holy because Buddha tamed a wild elephant there, and shortly after Buddha’s death, it became the site of the first Buddhist Council.

Vaishali, the fourth location, is the site of Buddha’s announcement of his impending death and the second Buddhist Council.