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The Buddha State
Cows. Goats. Aroma of fresh dung. Vermillion of spits. People carrying hard sticks ready to pounce on anyone anytime. Of course Laloo. All of these synonymous to Bihar. This was what I had been thinking till that day when someone I knew invited me to Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Couldn't refuse the offer, so started a little research on the place. Thanks to Google Dadi and Wiki Nani, could get a better picture of the place than what I had imagined.
One look at the Patna Airport, and all my imagination of the place seemed to be so very true. The way from the Patna Airport to Gaya was far from better and it was now only God and the Cab Driver who could make us reach on time. Though the driver had very nominal knowledge of the location, he pretty well managed to drop us at our destination at Bodh Gaya 3 hrs beyond the expected time.
So, the plan was to attend an event and be back. While we were whiling our time in between events, we went trotting around the Monasteries there. What struck me with awe was there are different kinds of Monasteries here all from Tibetian, Indonesian, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese to Bhutanese. And what was more surprising was they were all different in a peculiar way. One could not tell the difference if they were not looking closely enough. Each of these monasteries or Buddist temples had glimpses of stories woven arohnd the life of Buddha. It definitely seemed more than enlightening to go around these monasteries.
It was a trip which not only changed my perception towards that place but also made me think about how we jump to judge a place, person or a situation without thinking twice or knowing the complete truth based on our assumptions and minimal knowledge . A state where they worship Buddha is known for its not so good acts. It is a pity that we do not respect our culture and heritage but are just keen at looking down on things that do not matter at all. May be we are leaving behind the morals and values that education brings to us and just clinging to the commercial aspect of education.
Another interesting thing that I noticed here is that like all other famous holy shrines and temples across our country, though these monasteries are always filled by crowds yet, a person can find serenity here unlike the rest of them. May be it is to do with the fact that these monasteries do not focus on projecting how God looks with ornaments rather it is to do with the feeling of God within us. That feeling of a certain supreme power vested within you which arouses the good in you and you are just blown away into another world totally.
Those few moments among so many strangers who seem very familiar to you because they too have felt God within themselves are truly magical and totally unimaginable. Like I mentioned earlier, each one of the monastry looks similar and yet is different in its own peculiar way, the same applies to us humans too. All similar but different in our own peculiar way. It is this difference that makes us unique from the rest of them.
There was one specific monastery which had a huge statue of a strange looking person. On finding out with the local people around, few of them said it is the angel welcoming us with a "Wai". Wai, I suppose is a greeting to welcome people just like Namaste. There is also a monastery by the name "Wai Thai Buddha" which has a statue of Buddha in the Wai posture. Though we visited most of the Monasteries around there, I was not satisfied as I wanted to stay for a while more and get to know the history behind each monastery. But since we had the event to cover and rush back to our respective places, we couldn't stay longer.
Will surely take time and revisit the place with lots of excitement and curiousity this time around. Apart from all these beautiful places, one particular thing that caught my notice is the cover picture. This board can be found outside every monastery, small or big. It shows how insensitive and naive people can be that such boards have to be put up for maintaining the sanctity of the place.
#Travelstory
@hotchipps4209
One look at the Patna Airport, and all my imagination of the place seemed to be so very true. The way from the Patna Airport to Gaya was far from better and it was now only God and the Cab Driver who could make us reach on time. Though the driver had very nominal knowledge of the location, he pretty well managed to drop us at our destination at Bodh Gaya 3 hrs beyond the expected time.
So, the plan was to attend an event and be back. While we were whiling our time in between events, we went trotting around the Monasteries there. What struck me with awe was there are different kinds of Monasteries here all from Tibetian, Indonesian, Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese to Bhutanese. And what was more surprising was they were all different in a peculiar way. One could not tell the difference if they were not looking closely enough. Each of these monasteries or Buddist temples had glimpses of stories woven arohnd the life of Buddha. It definitely seemed more than enlightening to go around these monasteries.
It was a trip which not only changed my perception towards that place but also made me think about how we jump to judge a place, person or a situation without thinking twice or knowing the complete truth based on our assumptions and minimal knowledge . A state where they worship Buddha is known for its not so good acts. It is a pity that we do not respect our culture and heritage but are just keen at looking down on things that do not matter at all. May be we are leaving behind the morals and values that education brings to us and just clinging to the commercial aspect of education.
Another interesting thing that I noticed here is that like all other famous holy shrines and temples across our country, though these monasteries are always filled by crowds yet, a person can find serenity here unlike the rest of them. May be it is to do with the fact that these monasteries do not focus on projecting how God looks with ornaments rather it is to do with the feeling of God within us. That feeling of a certain supreme power vested within you which arouses the good in you and you are just blown away into another world totally.
Those few moments among so many strangers who seem very familiar to you because they too have felt God within themselves are truly magical and totally unimaginable. Like I mentioned earlier, each one of the monastry looks similar and yet is different in its own peculiar way, the same applies to us humans too. All similar but different in our own peculiar way. It is this difference that makes us unique from the rest of them.
There was one specific monastery which had a huge statue of a strange looking person. On finding out with the local people around, few of them said it is the angel welcoming us with a "Wai". Wai, I suppose is a greeting to welcome people just like Namaste. There is also a monastery by the name "Wai Thai Buddha" which has a statue of Buddha in the Wai posture. Though we visited most of the Monasteries around there, I was not satisfied as I wanted to stay for a while more and get to know the history behind each monastery. But since we had the event to cover and rush back to our respective places, we couldn't stay longer.
Will surely take time and revisit the place with lots of excitement and curiousity this time around. Apart from all these beautiful places, one particular thing that caught my notice is the cover picture. This board can be found outside every monastery, small or big. It shows how insensitive and naive people can be that such boards have to be put up for maintaining the sanctity of the place.
#Travelstory
@hotchipps4209
