The Jātaka are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories were depicted on the railings and torans of the stupas. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is "one of the oldest classes of Buddhist literature." Some of these texts are also considered great works of literature in their own right.
Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. Since antiquity, Bodh Gayā has remained the object of pilgrimage and veneration, for both Hindus and Buddhists. In particular, archaeological finds, including sculptures, show that the site was in use by Buddhists since the Mauryan period. Bodh Gayā and the nearby regions were invaded and destroyed in the 12th century CE by Muslim Turk armies, led by Delhi Sultanate's Qutb al-Din Aibak and Bakhtiyar Khilji.
The Mahabodhi Temple or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is 15 km from Gaya and is about 96 km (60 mi) from Patna. The site contains a descendant of the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha gained enlightenment, and has been a major pilgrimage destination of Buddhists for over two thousand years.
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen town, district headquarter and 46 kilometres (29 mi) north-east of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh.
Caitika was an early Buddhist school, a sub-sect of the Mahāsāṃghika. They were also known as the Caityaka sect.
Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Tree is a historical sacred bo tree in the Mahamewuna Garden in historical city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. This is believed to be a tree grown from a cutting of the southern branch from the historical sacred bo tree, Sri Maha Bodhi, which was destroyed during the time of Emperor Ashoka the Great, at Buddha Gaya in India, under which Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) attained Enlightenment. In 236 BC, the Buddhist nun Sangamitta Maha Theri, a daughter of Indian Emperor Ashoka, brought the tree cutting to Sri Lanka during the reign of Sinhalese King Devanampiya Tissa.[1] At more than 2,300 years old, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world with a known planting date. The Mahavamsa, or the great chronicle of the Sinhalese, provides an elaborate account of the establishment of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi on the Island and the subsequent development of the site as a major Buddhist pilgrimage site.
Amaravathi is a village on the banks of the Krishna River, in the Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Amaravathi mandal, and forms part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region with its headquarters at new Amaravati 35 km (22 mi) east, whose name is also borrowed from that of the older Amaravathi.
A kinnara is a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. They are described as part human and part bird, and have a strong association with music and love. Believed to come from the Himalayas, they often watch over the well-being of humans in times of trouble or danger. An ancient Indian string instrument is known as the Kinnari vina.
Nagarjunakonda: Nāgārjunikoṇḍa, meaning Nagarjuna Hill) is a historical town, now an island located near Nagarjuna Sagar in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of India's richest Buddhist sites, and now lies almost entirely under the lake created by the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. With the construction of the dam, the archaeological relics at Nagarjunakonda were submerged, and had to be excavated and transferred to higher land, which has become an island.
The most important places in Buddhism are located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain of southern Nepal and northern India. This is the area where Gautama Buddha was born, lived, and taught, and the main sites connected to his life are now important places of pilgrimage for both Buddhists and Hindus. Many countries that are or were predominantly Buddhist have shrines and places which can be visited as a pilgrimage.
In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of every major religion participate in pilgrimages. A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.
Kanganahalli, situated about 3 km from Sannati, is an important Buddhist site where an ancient Mahastupa was built. It is on the left bank of the Bhima river in Chitapur taluk, Kalaburagi district in Karnataka, India. Nalwar is the nearest Railway station about 19 km from Sannati. The Buddhist site about 2.5 km from Chandrala Parameshwari temple of Sannati.
The Kalutara Chaitya is a Stupa located immediately south of the Kalutara Bridge in the Kalutara District of Sri Lanka.
Cetiya, "reminders" or "memorials", are objects and places used by Buddhists to remember Gautama Buddha. According to Damrong Rajanubhab, four kinds are distinguished in the Pāli Canon: "Relic [Dhatu], Memorial [Paribhoga], Teaching [Dhamma], and votive [Udesaka]." Griswold, in contrast, states that three are traditional and the fourth, the Buddha Dhamma, was added later to remind monks that the true memory of Gautama Buddha can be found in his teachings. While these can be broadly called Buddhist symbolism, the emphasis tends to be on a historical connection to the Buddha and not a metaphysical one.
Amarāvati Stupa is a ruined Buddhist stūpa at the village of Amaravathi, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh, India, probably built in phases between the third century BCE and about 250 CE. It was enlarged and new sculptures replaced the earlier ones, beginning in about 50 CE. The site is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India, and includes the stūpa itself and the Archaeological Museum.
Chandavaram Buddhist site is an ancient Indian Buddhist site in Chandavaram village in Prakasam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated on the bank of Gundlakamma River, the site is 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Donakonda railway station. The Chandavaram Buddhist site was built between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE during the Satavahana dynasty and was discovered by Veluri Venkata Krishna Sastry in 1964.
Kande Vihara is a major Buddhist temple in Kalutara District, Sri Lanka. The temple has got its name 'Kande vihara' as it is built on top of a hill located near to Aluthgama town. The temple has been formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka.
The Buddha Preaching his First Sermon is a stone sculpture of the 5th-century CE showing Gautama Buddha in the "teaching posture" or dharmachakra pravartana mudrā. The relief is 5' 3" tall, and was excavated at Sarnath, India by F. O. Oertel during the 1904–1905 excavation season of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI); it was found in an area to the south of the Dhamek Stupa.
Narrative images of episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha in art have been intermittently an important part of Buddhist art, often grouped into cycles, sometimes rather large ones. However, at many times and places, images of the Buddha in art have been very largely single devotional images without narrative content from his life on Earth.
