Pilgrimage
In India
Buddhist
Pilgrimages in India
Buddhsim
is the fourth largest religion in the world after Christianity,
Islam and Hinduism. It originates from North India
where Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born. When he was twenty-nine
years old, he left his wife, children and political involvements
in order to seek truth. After his long training, during which
he ate only a sesame seed each day, he attained spiritual enlightenment.
He had many disciples and accumulated a large public following
by the time of his death in 483 BC (he was over eighty years old
when he died). People who believe in Buddhism do not believe
in a transcendent type of God or Gods, but they do believe in
the need for a personal savior, the power of prayer, and eternal
life in a heaven after death called Gokuraku-jyodo. Buddhists
also believe in reincarnation.
The Life of the
Buddha:- Siddartha Gautama was born in the sixth century BCE
in what is now Nepal. His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of
the Sakya people, and Siddartha grew up living the extravagant
life of a young prince. Tradition tells us that Suddhodana had
feared that the prince might leave the palace to take up the life
of a religious wanderer. So he arranged for him to be sheltered
from all the harsh realities of life. When the prince reached
the age of sixteen, Suddhodana arranged for him to be married
to his cousin, a charming princess named Yasodhara. One day, however,
Siddartha ventured out into the world and was confronted with
the inevitability of aging, illness, and death. Overcome by dismay,
the young prince wondered if there might be a happiness that was
not subject to change and decay. Then, seeing a forest wanderer,
he decided that only by taking up the wilderness life could he
find the answer to his question. That night, at the age of twenty-nine,
he left his kingdom and newborn son and entered the wilderness.
For six years, Siddartha submitted himself to rigorous ascetic
practices. First he studied with different religious teachers,
but, dissatisfied with what they saw as their highest goal, he
set out to practice extreme physical austerities on his own. Yet
even through the ultimate in self-denial, he did not reach his
goal. Then one day he remembered a state of calm mental absorption
he had experienced while sitting under a tree as a child, and
realized that only through such a state of calm could liberation
be found. And yet the strength of that calm could not be reached
when the body was weak through austerities. The path to true happiness
required balance—the middle way—rather than extremes of indulgence
or self-denial. So on that day he ended his extreme austerities
and and accepted a gift of milk-rice offered to him by a young
woman. That night Siddartha sat under the bodhi tree and meditated
until dawn. In the first watch of the night he remembered his
past lives; in the second watch, around midnight, he saw how beings
die and are reborn through the power of their karma, which in
turn was shaped by the skillfulness of their intentions; in the
third watch, toward dawn, he purified his mind of all cravings,
attachments, and defilements, and finally of all intentions, both
skillful and not. With that, he attained awakening at the age
of thirty-five, thus earning the title Buddha, or "Awakened One."
For the remainder of his life, the Buddha taught the dharma to
others—men, women, and children; rich and poor; people from all
walks of life and all levels of society—so that they, too, might
attain awakening. He established a sangha, or community of monks
and nuns, to maintain his teachings after his death. Then, one
full moon night in May when he had reached the age of eighty,
he lay down between two trees in a forest park and gave his last
teachings to the assembled followers, counseling them to be heedful
in completing their practice of the dharma. With that, he entered
total nirvana.
The Four Holy
Places of Buddhist Pilgrimage:
Lumbini:-
the Birthplace of the Buddha.
"... Here at
Lumbini the enlightened one was born ..." After taking seven steps,
he speaks with a voice like Brahma's: "The destroyer of old age
and death has come forth, the Greatest of Physicians." Looking
fearlessly in all directions, he pronounces these words rich in
meaning: "I am the first, the best of all beings, this is my last
birth."
Bodh Gaya:-
the Site of the Buddha's Enlightenment.
"... here at
Bodhgaya he attained enlightenment ..." "Here on this seat my
body may shrivel up, my skin, my bones, my flesh may dissolve,
but my body will not move from this very seat until I have attained
Enlightenment, so difficult to attain in the course of many kalpas."
Sarnath:-
the Site of the First Teaching (Turning the Wheel of Dharma)
"... here at
Sarnath he turned twelve wheels of Dharma ..." "Keep in mind this
most beautiful wood, named by the great rsis, where ninety-one
thousand kotis of Buddhas formerly turned the Wheel. This place
is matchless, perfectly calm, contemplating, always frequented
by deer. In this most beautiful of parks, whose name was given
by the rsis, I will turn the holy Wheel."
Kushinagar:-
the Site of the Buddha's Death (Mahaparinirvana)
" '... and here
at Kushinagar he entered parinirvana.' 'How transient are all
component things! Growth is their nature and decay: They are produced
& they are dissolved again.'"
Hindu
Pilgrimages in India
Some of the most important Hindu pilgrimage
sites are found high up in the Himalayas, in the north of
the state of Uttaranchal.Of these, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri
and Gangotri are the most significant.
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Pilgrimage
in India
India has always been considered the land
of spirituality. Though Hinduism continues to be the oldest
religion in the country, India has been the birthplace of
various religions like Bhuddism, Jainism, Sikhism and Sufism,
and has always embraced new religions that other cultures
brought into the country.
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Sikh
Pilgrimages in India
Sikhism, the youngest of the world
religions, is barely five hundred years old. Its founder,
Guru Nanak, was born in 1469. Guru Nanak spread a simple message
of "Ek Ong Kar": we are all one, created by the One Creator
of all Creation.
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Jain
Pilgrimages in India
Originating in the Indian subcontinent,
Jainism-or, more properly, the Jain Dharma - is one of the
oldest religions of its homeland and indeed of the world.
Jains believe that their religion is without a beginning.
The twenty-four Tirthankars guided its evolution and elaboration
by first achieving, and then teaching the path to salvation.
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Christian
Pilgrimages in India
India has a positive Kaleidoscope
of religions. There is probably more diversity of religions
and sects in India than anywhere else in the earth. India
has some of the best known Christian pilgrimage sites. where
Christian missionaries settled and did some of their best
services for the natives and also for the generations of Indians
to remember on their contribution to India’s rich historical
heritage.
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Andhra
Pradesh 