Latest Entries »
I visited Nalanda last year..the same time I visited Bodh Gaya. It was an ancient centre for Buddhisht century, with one of the oldest and greates universities in the world. However, it was destroyed by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. As of now, the place lies in reins and various countries like India, China, Japan are working towards restoeing the site.
Dear A,
“We, the willing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.”
This quotation was written diagonally on the first page of his diary as he showed me his poems. My host is a young man, whose spirits are still volatile despite the sub-zero temperature of this place.
One of the major achievements of my life is that I am widely travelled, but only within my country, India. But hey, India is a big…big…big country. It’s not just the size that matters, but it’s the diversity of the country that’s astounding. You have different languages, cultures, customs, cuisines, dance and music, flora and fauna from region to region. So I just thought that I’ll dedicate some parts of the blog to my journeys across the country. I’ll first start with Bodh Gaya, located in the state of Bihar, where I landed up last year due to some work, and it also happens to be the birthplace of my mom (nearby city Gaya) 
. However, what’s special about the place is that Gautama Buddha had attained Enlightenment here under the Bodhi Tree (Sacred Fig tree).
In Buddhism, Bodh Gaya is the most important pilgrimage, apart from Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. Also, in the year 2002, Mahabodhi Temple became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apart from the main temple (Mahabodhi Temple), several Buddhist countries like Bhutan, China, Japan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet have build their own temples in and around it.
The place is a heaven for people who love art and architecture. I am putting a few pictures that I took from my mobile camera. Apologies for the bad quality, but I hope that you do enjoy them.
P.S. – You can start the slide show by clicking on the pics for better view
-
- Statue of Lord Buddha
-
- Disciples of Lord Buddha
-
- Inside one of the temples
-
- Side-view of Tibetan temple
-
- Statue of a monk
-
- Inside the Tibetan temple
-
- Painting at the Tibetan temple
-
- Painting at the Tibetan temple
-
- Ceiling at the Tibetan temple
-
- Painting at the Tibetan temple
-
- Ceiling & painting at the Tibetan temple
-
- Painting at the Tibetan temple
-
- Wall-hanging at the Tibetan temple
-
- Tibetan temple
-
- Outside the Japanese Temple
-
- Slogan at the Japanese Temple
-
- Lamp
-
- Inside the Japanese Temple
-
- Painting at the Japanese Temple
-
- Painting at the Japanese Temple
-
- Donation Box
-
- Side-view of the Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Ceiling at the Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Inside the the Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Wall engravings in the Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Wall engravings at the Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Piller
-
- Wall-hanging at the Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Ceiling
-
- Bhutanese Monastery
-
- Thai Temple
-
- Thai Temple
-
- Dragon at the Thai Temple
-
- Inside the Thai Temple
-
- Monks medititating within the complex of Mahabodhi Temple
-
- Mahabodhi Temple
-
- A pond within the complex of Mahabodhi Temple
-
- Monk lightening a candle
Today is Holi, the Indian festival of colours, which celebrates the beginning of the spring season. And the air everywhere is filled with colours…all you can see is people with coloured faces and water balloons and water guns. It’s a real treat to the eyes. However, as the day was nearing to an end and I was thinking about writing about Holi…I came across a video on one of my friend’s facebook profile about the blind children playing Holi. The video truly shows the spirit of Holi along with passing a very important message that not everyone is blessed with their eyesight and that people should donate their eyes. It’s really touching toward the end, especially when a child asks the warden to describe the colour “green.” I have put on the video here….please do pass it on to as many people as you can and spread the message. Happy Holi.
