The Land Of Buddha

Day 1 :

Welcome to New Delhi, the capital of India. Upon arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport you will be greeted by our representative who will transfer you to the hotel. Overnight stay in New Delhi.

Day 2 :

After breakfast you will board a flight to Lucknow, where you will be driven to Balrampur. On the way is Srasvasti, one of the six largest cities in ancient India, the place where Buddha spent the largest amount of time. It was at Sravasti where Buddha displayed his great miracle sitting on a thousand petalled lotus in front of an audience, with the king of Kosala among them.

It is also said that Buddha displayed the multiple forms of himself a million times going up to the highest heavens, in order to confound the Tirthikas and to establish his supremacy. Srasvasti or Savatthi was the capital of the mighty Kosala kingdom during Buddha's time. It is situated in Uttar Pradesh ten miles from Balrampur.

Balrampur is famous for temple of Pateshwari Devi. Left of the temple is Surya Kund which, according to legend, was made by Karna of the Mahabharata in honor of his father, the Sun God. Overnight stay at Balrampur.

Day 3 :

From Balrampur the next stop is Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. The main attractions are the Stupa statues built by emperor Ashoka the Great, an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC, and a museum of rare Buddha relics.

The day ends with a drive to Gorakhpur for overnight stay.

Day 4 :

Drive to Varanasi in the afternoon. A short detour leads you to Sarnath, situated about 11 km north-east of Varanasi and known as the cradle of Buddhism. More than 2,500 years ago, Sakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment and delivered his first sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath. Thus, Lord Buddha set the Wheel of Law in motion here. Two hundred years later, Ashoka the Great erected several huge and beautiful stupas (houses of treasures) here and the famous lion emblem, which has been adopted as the national emblem of India. Hence, this place assumes great Buddhist significance. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Day 5 :

Take a boat ride early in the morning in the river Ganges to have a panoramic view of the world's oldest living city - Varanasi. The crescent shaped river front, with its enchanting ghats rising tier upon tier, fascinates travelers the most. Ghats are elevated platforms connected by a flight of steps to the river embankment and are constructed to facilitate bathing and religious rites. The spectacle can be seen at its best at dawn and at dusk. Later, take a quick city tour, and then drive to Bodhgaya. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Day 6 :

Travel the entire Buddha's Trail by road, covering Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Being a tiny little village and holiest among holy places, Bodhgaya is the place where Prince Gautam of Kapilavastu attained enlightenment under a peepal tree over 2,500 years ago, and became Buddha, the founder of one of the great religions of the world. The Bodhi Tree is supposed to be the direct descendent of the original tree under which Lord Buddha meditated and became the ‘enlightened one’.

The Mahabodhi Temple stands to the east of the Bodhi Tree. The vestiges of ancient Patna have recently been unearthed at many neighboring places. The Buddha visited the city in the sixth century BC. Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador and author of the work Indica, and Fa Hian, a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka to acquire Buddhist scriptures between 399 and 412, have rich accounts of the city. Today, Patna it is a bustling metropolis. Located around 90 km from Patna lies the ruins of one of the most famous centers of learning in the ancient world, Nalanda University, built in the 5th century BC. It was patronized by royalty and Buddha. Situated 10km south of Nalanda, Rajgir or Rajgriha, the royal palace, was the capital of the Magadha Empire in the sixth century BC. Lord Buddha spent five rainy seasons delivering some of his famous sermons and converting the king and countless others to his philosophy.

Day 7 :

Morning excursions to the modern sights of Patna are followed by transfer and flight to Calcutta and flight back to your final destination.