The Pilgrim's Progress

For centuries, the devout of every faith have stepped out to seek God—as a ritual obligation, to perform an act of devotion, to atone for sins, implore a grace, or seek a miracle. The reasons for pilgrimages could be as varied as the pilgrims themselves, but every religion has places of religious-spiritual importance that draw the pious.

- Preeti Verma Lal ​​​​​​​

Buddhist Circuit

Prince Siddhartha (fifth century BCE) renounced the householder’s life, lived as an ascetic and later became the Enlightened One. In India, Buddhism began in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar) and later spread throughout.

For the believer, the pilgrimage begins not in Lumbini (Nepal) where he was born, but in Bodh Gaya (Bihar) where he attained enlightenment. According to the Jatakas, the navel of the Earth lies at the spot where the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree, which miraculously had sprung up the day the prince was born. The Mahabodhi Temple was constructed nearly 200 years after the enlightenment and the present Bodhi Tree is said to be from a sapling of the original tree.

Many follow the footsteps of the Buddha who travelled to Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh) where he gave his first discourse in the deer park. The Dhamekha Stupa is the sacred place where the voice of Buddhism was first heard. In the third century BCE, Emperor Ashoka had magnificent stupas and monasteries erected here. When Chinese traveller Xuan Zang visited in 640 CE, Sarnath boasted a 100m-high stupa and 1,500 monks living in large monasteries. The Buddha’s voice no longer reverberates in Sarnath, but his Four Noble Truths persist in the souls of millions. A few miles away in Shravasti, the Buddha spent 25 monsoons in the monastery of Jetavana and delivered many of his significant sermons. The Buddha had attained salvation but he knew death would arrive one day. When he turned 80, he predicted at Vaishali (Bihar) that exactly three months later he would achieve Mahaparinirvana at