Live The Experience of Buddhism in This Tranquil Tour

[Sara Hasan]

India is a marvelous land of rich heritage in the form of architecture, culture, history and religion. It's a land where various mythologies and legends were born which gave a distinct feature to India’s religious culture. Nowhere in the world thrives a secular state like ours where more than ten major religions thrive in perfect harmony. One of the most important and practiced religion in Asia is Buddhism which originated in the fortunate and sacred land of India by Lord Gautam Buddha who lived during 6th century B.C . Today it is followed by 6.6 million Buddhists who believe in the philosophy and code of morality preached by Buddhism. India is also testimony to the great places adorned by Lord’s life which attract tourist from all over the world who are enamored by His Life and teaching. Buddhist pilgrimage tour takes one to the country tour where Lord Buddha was born, lived, attained enlightenment, and died. Though Prince Siddhartha, later called Lord Buddha was born in the holy place of Lumbini which is now situated in Nepal, other shrines where he performed other important activities are found in India such as Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment sitting under a tree called bodhi in Bihar and subsequently called Buddha-the enlightened one. Tawang monastery situated in north east state of Arunachal Pradesh is an imposing structure which has a superb collection of ancient scriptures, images, thangkas and an 8 m high gilded image of Lord Buddha. Over 500 monks reside over there and practice Buddhism. Sarnath located near the holy Hindu city of Varanasi is also quite popular for the first sermons Gautam Buddha gave to his disciples and turned the wheel of law. Kushinagar where Lord stayed last and entered into mahaparnirvana is also a beautiful place where magnificent golden statue of sleeping Lord Buddha is present. Moving down south the world famous Stupa of Sanchi is a wonderful example of the early Buddhist stupa architecture which has a distinction of storing remarkable spice men of Buddhist art and architecture from early Mauryan period Sanchi is famous in the world for stupas, monolithic Ashokan pillar, temples, monasteries and sculptural wealth. It also is a UNESCO World heritage Site. This Great Stupa served as a nucleus to the large Buddhist establishment during the later period. Buddhist pilgrimage tours to India include the preserved Buddhist sites which provide a deeper insight about the sects, rituals and customs followed by the followers in earlier times. One of the great and worth watching paintings and art about Buddhism can be seen in the caves of Ajanta and Ellora in Aurangabad. Ajanta has 29 caves which are carved on the sides of hills and show finest spicemens of cave temple architecture. Stories from jatakas, rich tales of the several incarnations of the Buddha are depicted on the walls. Chaityas and Viharas, the ancient seats of learning where monks used to perform rituals are too richly carved with paintings and sculptures. Similarly caves of Ellora which are 34 in number are exquisitely adorned and dedicated to Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

Sara has deep interest in writing informative articles on Travel and Tourism in India. Also given her words to a portal for India Tours where one can find info on India Tour Packages and India pilgrimage tours and other destinations of India. Explore: www.india-tours.net