Last week, our group took our final long bus ride of the program to the city of Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya is about 6 hours via bus from Varanasi, and it seemed to take forever to get out of the city traffic that morning. We finally arrived in late afternoon, and were bussed through the touristy streets filled with prayer flags and vendors. We walked through a long entrance path covered in lights to the Mahabodhi Temple, which is where the Bodhi’s tree where Buddha attained Enlightenment is located. The grounds were stunning, with a large central temple, many surrounding shrines and gardens, including a large pond with a Buddha statue protected by a cobra in the middle. I foolishly didn’t pay to bring my camera in. However, the next day we walked around the surrounding temples in Bodhgaya. There are temples from many countries with prominent Buddha followers around the world. One such are housed a 80-foot, magnificent Buddha in meditation.
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