Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, queen Maya gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 623 BCE. Gautama, who, according to Buddhist tradition, achieved Enlightenment some time around 528 BCE, became Shakyamuni Buddha and founded Buddhism. Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha.
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.
A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but sometimes Taoist, and were often located in or near viharas. The pagoda traces its origins to the stupa, while its design was developed in ancient India. Chinese pagodas are a traditional part of Chinese architecture. In addition to religious use, since ancient times Chinese pagodas have been praised for the spectacular views they offer, and many classical poems attest to the joy of scaling pagodas.
In Buddhism, a stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics that is used as a place of meditation.
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.
Rajgir, old name Rajagriha, meaning "The City of Kings," is an ancient city and university town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the dwelling ground of such historical figures as Buddha, Mahavira and Bimbisara, the city holds a place of prominence in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain scriptures. As of 2011, the population of the town was reported to be 41,000 while the population in the community development block was about 88,500.
Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries (viharas), places to venerate relics (stupas), and shrines or prayer halls, which later came to be called temples in some places.
A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa: a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most, though not all, peace pagodas built since World War II have been built under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii (1885–1985), a Buddhist monk from Japan and founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist Order. Fujii was greatly inspired by his meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 and decided to devote his life to promoting non-violence. In 1947, he began constructing Peace Pagodas as shrines to world peace. The first was inaugurated at Kumamoto in 1954.
The Rajgir Hills, also known as "Rajgriha" hills, lie near the city of Rajgir in central regions of the Indian state of Bihar. It is surrounded by five hills named Ratnagiri, Vipulachal, Vaibharagiri, Songiri and Udaygiri. It is an important Buddhist, Hindu and Jain pilgrimage site.
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.
Vaishali, Vesali or Vaiśālī was a city in present-day Bihar, India, and is now an archaeological site. It is a part of the Tirhut Division.
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.
Qixia Temple is a Buddhist temple located on Qixia Mountain in the suburban Qixia District of Nanjing, Jiangsu, 22 kilometres (14 mi) northeast of downtown Nanjing. It is one of Nanjing's most important Buddhist monasteries. The temple is the cradle of East Asian Mādhyamaka.
Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist white-domed Stupa (chorten) on a hilltop in Chanspa, Leh district, Ladakh, in north India. It was built in 1991 by Japanese Buddhist monk Gyomyo Nakamura. The Shanti Stupa holds the relics of the Buddha at its base, enshrined by the 14th Dalai Lama. The Stupa has become a tourist attraction not only due to its religious significance but also due to its location which provides panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.
Pokhara Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist monument on Anadu Hill of the former Pumdi Bhumdi Village Development Committee, in the district of Kaski, Nepal.
Lingguang Temple is a Buddhist temple located on the east hillside of Mount Cuiwei (翠微山), in the Shijingshan District of Beijing. The temple is renowned for its collection of the tooth relic of the Buddha.
World Peace Pagoda, also called Nipponzan Peace Pagoda, is a Buddhist monument in Lumbini, Nepal. It was designed and built by Japanese Buddhists at a cost about a million US dollars. The Pagoda acts as the starting point on the central axis of the Lumbini Master Plan, the other end being the Mayadevi Temple. The distance from the pagoda to the temple is about 3.2 km. The stairs in stupa lead to three different levels. The stupa is whitewashed and the floor is stone-paved. It has four large golden statues of Buddha facing four directions.
Shanti Stupa is a Buddhist monument in Delhi, India, intended as "a symbol of universal brotherhood and peace." It is one of several Peace Pagodas in the world. Started by the Nipponzan-Myōhōji-Daisanga religious order of Buddhism, it was inaugurated by the Dalai Lama on 4 November 2007.
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.
