One Journey at a Time: CARE Retreat II: Bodhi Temple

My favorite part was actually the morning walks to the Bodhi Temple. This temple marks the area where Prince Siddhartha Gautama (founder of Buddhism and known as Gautama Buddha later) attained enlightenment while sitting under the Bodhi tree. The existing tree at the temple is actually a true descendant of the one that existed there in 288 BC (says wiki). He spent a week under the Bodhi tree and then did various activities around the complex, which make up six sacred places in the area.

Inside the temple. The stone slab that this Buddha sits on stretches outside to the Bodhi tree where Buddha sat.

Worshipers around the Bodhi Tree.

The third week he walked 18 paces back in forth in the Ratnachakrama (Jewelled Ambulatory) right next to the Bodhi tree.

Each step of his is marked by a stone marker.

The fourth week he spent at Ratnaghar Chaitya and the fifth at the Ajapala Nigrodh Tree where a pillar stands to mark the spot. He sat the sixth week next to the Lotus Pond (where now the main attraction is the numerous catfish in the pond that swarm to bread thrown in the lake... not to puffed rice though...) And the seventh week he sat under the Rajyatana Tree, marked now by a tree.

The catfish pond

At the pond in the sunshine... :)

To start my journey in appreciating my time here at this temple I found a small book in the "library" of the retreat. I honestly thought it would be full of quotes but it had a small introduction to Buddhism and some tales for children about not killing / saving the lives of animals and karma (as good things always happened to those who were kind to the animals.) And you know what, between those stories and Meggha's taunting, I didn't kill anymore mosquitos while I was there... :)

Our workday started at 9am at the retreat so a group of about 6-10 people every morning gathered at 5:30am to make the trek to the temple. It was pretty amazing just to see so many people gather at that hour!

Walking across Falgu River... No as you can see we were not walking on water... According to the epic Ramayana, Falgu river was cursed by Sita, Rama's wife.

The first day, I had brought my camera but as it happens there is a 20 Rs. permit that you must buy to take photographs in the temple. I thought it was pretty lame to get caught taking photographs without paying my 40 cents so I waited to take pictures until the 2nd and 3rd day. Those two days were actually great days to go as the first camera day was very foggy and eerie while the second was bright and clear. It was a good time, even if I was a little tired the rest of the day! :)