Gaya Bodh Gaya Mahabodhi Buddhist Pilgrimage Bihar

Gaya district in Bihar contains two of India's most sacred pilgrimage sites — Bodh Gaya, where the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree circa 528 BCE, and Vishnupad Temple in Gaya town, where Hindu pilgrims perform pind-daan funeral rites at the footprint of Vishnu to liberate ancestors from the cycle of rebirth. The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya — a 55-metre spire built over the original Ashokan shrine — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and receives pilgrims from Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhist countries year-round. The Bodhi tree in the temple compound is a direct descendant of the original pipal under which the Buddha sat. Pind-daan at Vishnupad is performed particularly during Pitru Paksha (the 16-day lunar fortnight) when millions of Hindu pilgrims from across India and the diaspora gather to offer rice and sesame balls at the Falgu River banks under the guidance of Gaya panda priests who maintain hereditary rights to conduct the ritual for specific regional and caste communities.