India’s Buddhist heritage a draw

By Nimrala George
Associated Press

BODH GAYA, India (AP) — The road to Bodh Gaya, one of Buddhism’s holiest sites, had been long and strenuous.

Four hours of jolting along potholed roads had taken their toll. My back was sore and I was more in need of spinal therapy than the spiritual therapy that had brought me to Bihar, a poverty-wracked state infamous for its appalling crime and lawlessness.

But my all-too human aches fled when I entered the sprawling silence of the Mahabodhi Temple complex and let the serenity of the centuries-old shrine wash over me.

There, under the canopy of an ancient peepul tree, where the rustling of leaves mingled with the quiet, rhythmic chanting of mantras and the clicking of prayer beads, sat a group of saffron-robed Buddhist monks engrossed in prayer.

The elaborately carved Mahabodhi Temple, Buddhism’s holiest shrine and a popular destination for nirvana seekers, marks the site where the prince-turned-hermit-turned-spiritual-leader, Gautama Siddhartha, attained enlightenment some 2,500 years ago after intense meditation.

From then on, he was known as the Buddha, or “Enlightened One.”

Today, there are an estimated 360 million Buddhists around the globe.

CNN.com – India’s Buddhist heritage a draw – Oct 4, 2006