Great Buddah, Bodh Gaya, India
The Giant Buddha statue is one of the many stops in the Buddhist pilgrimage and tourist routes in Bodhgaya, Bihar, India. The statue is 19.507 m (64.00 ft) high in meditation pose or dhyana mudra seated on a lotus in open air. It took seven years to complete with the help of 12,000 masons. It is a mix of sandstone blocks and red granite. It is possibly the largest built in India and was consecrated on November 18,1989 by the 14th Dalai Lama. The foundation stone for the statue was placed in 1982.
The most important places of pilgrimage in Buddhism are located in the Gangetic plains of Northern India and Southern Nepal, in the area between New Delhi and Rajgir. This is the area where Gautama Buddha lived and taught, and the main sites connected to his life are now important places of pilgrimage for both Buddhists and Hindus. However, many countries that are or were predominantly Buddhist have shrines and places which can be visited as a pilgrimage.
Gautama Buddha is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, saying that they would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency. These are: Bodh Gaya: (in the current Mahabodhi Temple, Bihar, India), is the most important religious site and place of pilgrimage, called the Mahabodhi Temple houses, believed to be the Bodhi Tree where the Buddha realized enlightenment and Buddhahood, Lumbini: birthplace of Gautama Buddha (in Nepal), Sarnath: (formally Isipathana, Uttar pradesh, India) where Gautama Buddha delivered his first teaching, KuĊinagara: (now Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India) where Gautama Buddha died and attained Parinirvana (nirvana after death).
