Buddhist pilgrimage
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The most important places of pilgrimage in Buddhism are located the Gangetic plains of Northern India and Southern Nepal, in the area between New Delhi and Rajgir. This is the area where Gautama Buddha lived and taught, and the main sites connected to his life are now important places of pilgrimage for both Buddhists and Hindus. However, many countries that are or were predominantly Buddhist have shrines and places which can be visited as a pilgrimage.
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[edit] Places where Buddha lived
[edit] Four Main Pilgrimage Sites
Gautama Buddha said that the four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers to visit, and producing a feeling of spiritual urgency, are:[1]
- Lumbini: birth place (in Nepal)
- Bodh Gaya: the place of his Enlightenment (in the current Mahabodhi Temple).
- Sarnath: (formally Isipathana) where he delivered his first teaching.
- Kusinara: (now Kusinagar, India) where he passed away (Parinirvana).
[edit] The Eight Great Places
In the later commentarial tradition, four other sites are also raised to a special status because Buddha had performed a certain miracle there. These four places, partly through the inclusion in this list of commentarial origin, became important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in ancient India, as the Attha-mahathanani (Pali for 'The Eight Great Places'). It is important to note, however, that some of these events do not occur in the Tipitaka and are thus purely commentarial.
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The four main sites |
| Other sites Patna · Gaya Kausambi · Mathura Kapilavastu · Devadaha Kesariya · Pava Nalanda · Varanasi |
The first four of the Eight Great Places are identical to the places mentioned by Buddha:
The last four are places where a certain miraculous event is reported to have occurred:
- Sravasti: Place of the Twin Miracle, showing his supernatural abilities in performance of miracles. Sravasti is also the place where Buddha spent the largest amount of time, being a major city in ancient India.
- Rajgir: Place of the subduing of Nalagiri, the angry elephant, through friendliness. Rajgir was another major city of ancient India.
- Sankasia: Place of the descending to earth from Tusita heaven (after a stay of 3 months teaching his mother the Abhidhamma).
- Vaishali: Place of receiving an offering of honey from a monkey. Vaishali was the capital of the Vajjian Republic of ancient India.
[edit] Other Sites
Some other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are: Pataliputta, Nalanda, Gaya, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Varanasi, Kesariya, Devadaha, Pava and Mathura. All these places are located in the Gangetic plain.
[edit] Other pilgrimage places
Other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage in various countries include:
- India: Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta.
- Thailand: Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, Phra Pathom Chedi, Phra Buddha Chinnarat.
- Tibet: Potala Palace, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso.
- Cambodia: Angkor Wat, Silver Pagoda.
- Sri Lanka: Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth (Kandy), Anuradhapura, Sri Pada.
- Laos: Luang Prabang.
- Myanmar: Bagan, Sagaing Hill, Shwedagon Pagoda.
- Nepal: Bodhnath, Swayambhunath.
- Indonesia: Borobudur.
- China: Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes.
- Japan: Kyoto, Nara.
- South Korea: Three Jewel Temples
- Afghanistan: the Bamiyan Buddhas
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Buddha mentions these four pilgrimage sites in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. See, for instance, Thanissaro (1998)[1] and Vajira & Story (1998)[2].
[edit] External links
- Buddhist Pilgrimage (e-book - the eight major Buddhist sites in India)
- Buddhist Pilgrimage in India
- The Buddhist Archaeology of India
- Buddhist Pilgrimage in Sri Lanka
