Gaya is a place where Lord Buddha achieved enlightenment under a tree. This place is 100 km away from Patna and has the best serene environment. It is quite a famous tourist destination in Bihar and even the second largest one in this region.
This place is situated at a distance of 11 km from the holy town Varanasi. It is the place where Buddha after achieving enlightenment moved further to deliver his first sermon on wisdom. It is one of the most important places of Buddhist worship in India.
Kushinagar is at a distance of 53 km from Gorakhpur and is supposed to be the place where Lord Buddha achieved ‘Maharparinivana’- the uppermost stage of salvation. After the excavation in 1861 many stupas associated with Buddha resurfaced in Kushinagar and today they are now one of the major buddhist tourist attractions.
This is a place where Lord Buddha was born and it is situated on Indo- Nepal border. The place has a number of Stupas and in the archaeological excavations, stone caskets which consist of relics believed to be that of Buddha have been found here.
Sankisa is situated at a distance of 47kms from the Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. This small town is quite a famous Buddhist place in India and it is believed to be the place where Buddha descended after giving sermons to his mother in heaven. The ruins of many stupas and monasteries are present here. Saniska is known for a temple which is devoted to Bisari Devi and an excavated Ashoka’s elephant pillar.
Sravasti ancient Savatthi, which was the capital of prehistoric Kosala Mahajanapada is quite a significant Buddhist destination. It is held that Lord Buddha and his disciples stayed and preached for 24 years in this city. This city has a number of old stupas, monasteries and temples.
In the region of Ladakh, the influence of Buddhism can be seen here. The ancient monuments, monasteries, oral literature, art forms, fairs and festivals all prove about the culture of Buddhism. A large number of beautiful monasteries are present there and the famous ones are Shey, Hemis, Thiksey Monastery, Diskit Monastery, Lamayuru, Spituk, Alchi, Phyang and Rangdum.
Sikkim is a quite a famous Buddhist destination and it has around 200 monasteries belonging to the Nyingma and Kagyu order. Buddhism in Sikkim has not only influenced the local culture but has its reflection can also be seen in the lifestyle of the people. Even though Sikkim never got the opportunity to experience the physical presence of Buddha, yet his words of wisdom affected the life in Sikkim and this has what made it one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimages in the country. The famous monasteries in Sikkim are Pemayangtse, Rumtek, Enchey, Phensang, Phodang, Labrang, Tashiding, Pal Zurmang Kagyud, Tsuk-La-Khang, Ralong, Sanga Chelling and Dubdi.
Thus these are some of the famous Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India.
