Day Wise Itinerary for Buddhist Tour in India and Overall Package Overview

After you book your Buddhist tour in India, you will be greeted by your booked agency representative at Delhi’s airport on your arrival day, head straight for hotel for some rest and night’s stay. As per your tour itinerary, you will be either taken for sightseeing of some of most famous tourist sites of Delhi that includes Qutub Minar and more or you will proceed for your first Buddhist site Lumbini located in Nepal. It is the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. After arrival in Lumbini head for your booked hotel for some rest later visit city many tourist attractions that includes:  Maya Devi Temple, The Ashoka pillar and The Buddhist monasteries among various other monasteries you will find in Lumbini.

After Lumbini proceed to Gorakhpur, have some rest after arrival followed by sightseeing tour of Khushinagar. It is an important pilgrimage site on your Buddhist tour in India, here Buddha attained the state of Mahaparnirvana. For all your travel purpose between different sites you will be provided a well maintained vehicle of your choice with an experienced driver who will accompany you through your journey. The main tourist attraction of Khushinagar includes Parinirvana Temple, Mukutbandhan Stupa, the stunning statue of Buddha etc. Later head back to hotel for overnight stay, early in the morning drive to Varanasi- the holiest city of India. Here after arriving and having a delicious lunch proceed for sightseeing tour of Sarnath. In a deer park in Sarnath, Lord Buddha gave his first sermon after he has attained enlightenment.  Take part in the evening Aarti and Pooja before heading back to hotel. On the next day enjoy the sightseeing of some of the holiest sites in India in Varanasi with many Ghats and old temple, take a boat ride in the holy rive Ganga.

After Varanasi, depart for Bodh Gaya, in Bihar, by road. Here after arrival check-in a hotel, later visit the famous well known Bodhi tree, under which Buddha sat and meditated until he has achieve d the state of Nirvana or total salvation.  Other major attractions of the place include Mahabodhi Tree, Vishnupad Mandir and several monasteries and stupas. Your overnight stay will be at Bodh Gaya hotel.  Depart for Patna – the capitol of Bihar, while en-route visit the famous nalanda university, Rajgir and Gridhkut Mountain.  After reaching Patna, your Buddhist tour in India would have come to end and you are ready to head back to Delhi by air. After reaching Delhi, you will carry onwards with your journey and say goodbye to agency representative, by that time you would have made so many happy and wonderful memories of your tour in India.

If you like you can also travel between different site by train or by air, travelling by road is preferred by most tourists because that way you get to make the most of your stay in India.  All the roads are well maintained and you won’t have any issue travelling them.

Follow The Great Buddhist Places on Your Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour

Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour is becoming popular not only among Buddha followers but tourist from all over the world. The one question that still go unanswered is why Buddhism disappeared from India around 12th century, the major Buddhist sites were destroyed by Mughal emperors, which could have significantly affected the religion in India. Now a days there are more major popular Buddhist sites where not only you will find many devotees but they also makes up for a great tourist attraction. These sites are Lumbini: The Birth place of Gautama Buddha, Bodh Gaya: The place where Buddha meditated under a Bodhi tree to achieved total salvation.

On your Buddhist pilgrimage tour you will be exploring these holy sites and also exploring some of the historical significant sites like Ajanta and Ellora caves, Rajgir, Nalanda etc. During your sightseeing of these sites you will find that many other nations like China, Japan Bhutan and more have built many monasteries and Stupas to show their devotions to the Buddhism religion. It is one of world most popular religion, now people in the west have came up with Buddhist Jews, Buddhist Christians etc. When you go you’re your trip you will be provided with a tour guide who will accompany you throughout your tour of each state and explain you the great history behind each of the site. Due to the increasing popularity of these tours, traveling between different Buddha sites have became very convenient and hotels at each of the site have improved over time, now you can stay in a five star hotel while enjoy the sightseeing tour of these great holy sites. There are vast numbers of options available to you as a traveller to customize your tour in any way you see fit. 

Your Buddhist pilgrimage tour will start from your arrival day in Delhi, your booked travel agency will take care of all of your travel, hotel stay and any other needs during your journey. You can also book your tour to include Lumbini, which is not located in India, it is in Nepal but a reputed tour agency will have no problem providing facilities to visit it these sites. The reason that Buddhism religion became so popular in the world, is that because it is so different from any other religion in the world, there is no devotee to follow, no sacrifices to made or any other kind of offering which is commonly found in other religion. The one true goal of this religion is to follow the path of salvation and free oneself from the life circle of birth and death, by doing this one is no longer bound to worldly suffering and attraction and pleasures. The important thing by which we achieve the state of Nirvana is through dedicated meditation. You will find Buddhist monks at thee sties who have different hair style and dressing sense unlike common people. There are many books of this religion where teachings of Buddha are explained in detail, one can easily get these books online today.

The Major Buddhist Places In India and In The World

Buddhism religion was born in India, when prince named Siddhartha Gautama decided to find a common solution to all the problems of the world which brings human suffering. He decided to leave all the world pleasure behind and mediated under a Bodhi tree in Bihar until he has achieve the state of Nirvana or total Salvation, thus freeing himself from the life cycle of birth and death.

In India the major Buddhist places are located in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh state, the major site are:

Bodh Gaya: Here Buddha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated, this is a holy site and is located near Mahabodhi temple. It is the most sacred of the four Buddhist site in the world. 

Lumbini: This is the birthplace of Buddha, it is located in Nepal near the foothills of mountain. Here you will also find Buddha mother Maya Devi temple, named as Maya Devi Temple. 

Sarnath: It is located in Uttar Pradesh of India, and here in a deer park, Buddha gave his first sermon with only few of his followers.  Here you will find many Buddhist monuments which are very well preserved from centuries. You will also find Ashoka’s column famous lion capitol in Sarnath’s archeological museum and other important works in stone like a sublime figure of the teaching Buddha from the Gupta period.

Ajanta And Ellora Caves: This caves are well known tourist site among not only for domestic travelers abut also for foreign travelers. Here you will find many inscriptions and drawings on the wall of these caves, which makes for a very important site for Buddhist followers. 

Sanchi: Here you will find the most well preserved Buddhist Stupa which dates back around 3 B.C. It constitutes four magnificent free standing gates. 

Other major important sites which are located in Sri Lanka are:

Anuradhapura: It is a huge park where you will find the ruins of the Great Monastery (Mahavihara) it is located near the pilgrim path where Mihintale, here the missionary Mahinda first preached. 

Polonnaruwa: Here you will find the well preserved medieval Buddhist sculpture and architecture. 

There are many other site which are famous among Buddhism devotees and are located in the Thailand, China, Japan and Nepal. The devotees around the world built many great stupas and monasteries which you can visit, all these sites located throughout the world also tell the tale of Buddhist religion. How it originated then later became extinct in its’ origin country and later how devotees bring back this great religion which was almost to the point of extinction in the 12^th century when many of great Buddhist sites were destroyed. The history of Buddhist religion is filled with many ups and downs, I today’s time there are over 10 million devotees located around the world and many are increasing in its origin country India. Now it is one of the world most popular religion and the number its devotees in increasing each year.

The Lesser Known Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour Sites In India

There are many pilgrimage sites that one explores during their Buddhist tour in India, some of the most famous sites are Lumbini – The birth place of the founder of Buddhism religion Gautama Buddha, Bodhgaya – The holy place where Lord Buddha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated until he has achieved Enlightenment, Sarnath – The holy place where Buddha gave his sermon with his few followers and Khushinagar – here Buddha entered into the state of Maha-Parnirvana. 

Now these four sites are includes in all of tour itinerary of various Buddhist Pilgrimage Tours in India. Buddhism being one of the great religion in the world has many more sites located throughout India that you can explore to re=live this religion I n its origin country. Although at present this religion is almost vanished from India, you will still find many of devotees at each site, who are part of people that look after each of their historical important sites. You can find these devotees by the types of clots they wear and their common hair style.

Buddha

The lesser known Buddhist Pilgrimage tours sites that out ought to visit includes Kaplivastu – it is an important site tourist site because Lord Buddha has spent his 29 years of life here, it is located in a small village Piprahwa and is at a distance of 22 km from Lumbini, here you will find many Stupas which are very important from historical statistics point of view.  Ajanta and Ellora caves, which are also UNESCO world heritage property has great importance in Buddhism religion, these caves shows the wonderful art which was used during Buddhism religion, it has a great influence over people of that time and further helped spreading the world of this religion among various people. These caves are one of the oldest caves in India almost 800 years old.

Another lesser known Buddhist pilgrimage tour site you should visit is Sanchi, located in state Madhya Pradesh, it was built by the great emperor Ashoka, who also built the great Ashoka Pillar that you will get to see during your sightseeing of various pilgrimage sites of this religion. Here you will many some great Stupas which were also built by Ashoka. Also you will find here the ASI museum which houses many Buddhism related items for you to see.

During you Buddhist tour you will be provided with a nice and comfortable ride along with an experienced driver who will accompany you throughout your journey to visit various pilgrimage sites in India. You will also meet your assigned local your guide who will exploring the history behind each of the Buddhist site that you will visit. All the expenses like fuel cost, toll tax, hotel stay will be inclusive to your tour package so that you do not have to worry about anything during your travel. You can also make special request for hotel stay like some five star hotel or any other kind of request like to visit an additional site. You can take your journey with your friends or with your family and have a wonderful time exploring each of these sites.

Why Buddhism Almost Dissapperead From India

Buddhism philosophy is one of the greatest in the world, through its peaceful teachings its followers stay from the path of one's life destruction, war and crusades. It binds people from various regions of the world, be it from central Asia, southern Asia or eastern Asia, it not as strong in its origin country India as on other parts of the world. 

 What makes Buddhism religion unique and special, is that its founder Buddha was not interested in how many people are following his guidance, or in having a deity with a distinct identity. With its origin of Buddhism in India, its followers do not have to follow any special social codes and there were not any special modes of worship, like in other religions of the world. 

Let's talk about now the great puzzle of how a great religion like Buddhism almost got disappeared from it origin country. Many people suspects the reason it almost vanished from India, is due to the large number of people being absorbed into Hindu practices and rituals, other believe it was due to Mughal invasions which destroyed most of Buddhist pilgrimage sites and the Nalanda University, the most important university where teachings of Buddhism were taught to a large number of students. 

 The exact reason may not be clear enough, but one things is certain the destruction of Bodh Tree, Buddhist images by Saivite King, Shashanka, persecution by Pusyamitra Sunga, who set fire to the Sutras, razed Samgharamas and massacred Bhikkus while killing the deity of the Bodhi tree, definitely  played a huge role in disappearance of Buddhism In India.

 Mughals who are responsible for destroying many of the great Buddhist sites also destroyed many of the Hindu temples, which were built on destroyed Buddhist sites. The Mughal invasions not only destroyed these pilgrimage sites in India, but its effect can be seen outside India too, namely couturiers which were part of India at that time but not anymore. 

Buddhism collapsed around 12th century in India, many Purans depicts that Buddhists were subject to being mocked and verbal chiding, Still, one can only take the guess of the actual reason of its disappearance from the above mentioned facts. 

There are still many theories to go and answered question when it comes to Buddhism In India.