Sarnath is a place located 10 kilometres northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pradesh, India.
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.
The Bodhi Tree, also called the Mahabodhi Tree or Bo Tree, is a large sacred fig tree located in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher who became known as the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment or buddhahood circa 500 BCE under this tree. In religious iconography, the Bodhi Tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
Anagārika Dharmapāla was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and a writer.
A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace.
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.
Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha. It is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE and was deemed a "Buddha". However, Buddhist doctrine holds that there were other Buddhas before him. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime.
Anagarika Shri Munindra, also called Munindraji by his disciples, was an Indian Vipassanā meditation teacher, who taught many notable meditation teachers including Dipa Ma, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Surya Das. Anagarika simply means a practicing Buddhist who leads a nomadic life without attachment in order to focus on the Dhamma.
The London Buddhist Vihara is one of the main Theravada Buddhist temples in the United Kingdom. The Vihara was the first Sri Lankan Buddhist monastery to be established outside Asia.
Brahmachari Walisinghe Harischandra was a social reformer, historian, author and revivalist of Sri Lankan Buddhism. He was a follower of Anagarika Dharmapala, who gave leadership to the Buddhist revivalist movement, after the lead given by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. Walisinghe Harischandra is also regarded as the saviour of the citadel of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura.
Wat Chet Yot or officially called Wat Photharam Maha Wihan is a Buddhist temple (Wat) in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. It is a centre of pilgrimage for those born in the year of the Snake.
The Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Centre is a Sri Lankan Buddhist establishment in Chennai, India. It is located in Egmore. It is run by the Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Society and serves as a monument of friendship between Sri Lanka and India.
On 7 July 2013 a series of ten bombs exploded in and around the Mahabodhi Temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bodh Gaya, India. Five people, including two Buddhist monks, were injured by the blasts. Three other devices were defused by bomb-disposal squads at a number of locations in Gaya.
Acharya Buddharakkhita was an Indian Buddhist monk and prolific writer who established the Mahā Bodhī Society of Beṅgaḷūru. It is affiliated with the Mahā Bodhī Society of Kolkātā founded by Anagarika Dharmapala, with both organizations functioning independently of each other.
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.
Sri Piyaratana Tissa Mahanayake Thero, also known as Dodanduwa Piyaratne Thero, was the Mahanayaka Thero of the Amarapura Nikaya, and the Sanganayake of the Southern Province. He popularised the 'Poruwa' ceremony at Buddhist weddings.
Devapriya Valisinha was a Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist who served as the 2nd President of the Maha Bodhi Society for thirty-five years, from the death of his mentor Anagarika Dharmapala in 1933 until his own death in 1968.
