Buddhist Circuit Tour with Wildlife Safari - 13 Days

Destinations Covered in Buddhist Circuit Tour with Wildlife Safari :

Delhi, Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve, Varanasi, Sarnath, Sravasti, Lumbini, Kapilvastu, Kushinagar, Kesaria, Vaishali, Nalanda, Rajgir, and Bodhgaya.

• Delhi: Delhi, the capital city of India, is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world with a long history and diverse heritage. Delhi is home to three of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and numerous other significant historical heritage sites within its small geographical area. The history of Delhi goes back to the second millennium BC, while she has been continuously inhabited since at least 6th century BC. The three World Heritage Sites in Delhi are the Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, and Kutab Minar, and they are major tourist attractions in the city along with other monuments like Akshardham temple, India Gate, Lotus temple, Purana Quila, and many others. Delhi is also famous for her street foods and a plethora of shopping opportunities across the city.

• Jim Corbett National Park: Jim Corbett National Park is one of the finest tiger reserves of India which has always fascinated the wildlife enthusiast from India and abroad. It has a healthy habitat of not only one of the largest populations of Royal Bengal tiger  (a tiger population of more than 2000 tigers within the national park)  but also a good population of other charismatic species like elephants and leopard as well as rare species like Otters and the Gharial. The Corbett Tiger Reserve is one of the most sought after destinations for the wildlife enthusiasts and more than 5 lakh tourists visit the tiger reserve every year, the highest among all protected areas in India.  It is home to approximately 110 tree species, 50 mammal species, and 25 reptile species. In addition with over 550 species of birds (including over 50 species of raptors), Corbett is one of the richest bird regions of the Country and has been declared as an ‘Important Bird Area’ (IBA) by Birdlife International.

• Varanasi: Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The city draws Hindu and Buddhist Pilgrims from across the world because of its very high spiritual significance in the religious traditions. The major tourist attraction of the city is the boat ride on the river Ganges and numerous temples and Ghats on the holy river the Ganges.

• Sarnath: Sarnath, is located around 10 km from the ancient city of Varanasi and is one of the most important centers of pilgrimage for the Buddhists. It was here where Buddha preached his first sermon and the Dhammacakkra was set rolling through the preaching of Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta.

• Sravasti: Sravasti was the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom and one of the six largest cities in India at the time of Buddha. It was here in Sravasti where Buddha performed the twin miracles. He also spent 25 annual rainy retreats at Jetavana Vihara and Pubbarama, two monasteries just outside the city.

• Lumbini: Siddhartha, the son of Sakya king Suddhodhana and queen Maya Devi was born in the Lumbini garden in 623 BC. Lumbini, a “UNESCO World Heritage Site”, is located in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal. Queen Maya Devi gave birth to little Siddhartha while traveling from Kapilavastu to Devadaha (her parents’ home) to give birth to her first child as per the tradition of that time.

• Kapilvastu: Kapilvastu, the ancient capital of Sakyan Kingdom and the place where Siddhartha spent his 29 years, is around 27 km from Lumbini at the present-day Tilaurakot (in Nepal). This is also the place where Siddhartha renounced the material world in search of enlightenment. The ruins of Kapilvastu include the remains of the fortification wall & eastern and western gates. The Eastern gate, through which Siddhartha took renunciation, is called the Mahabhiniskramana Dwara.

• Kushinagar: Kushinagar is one of the four most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, around 52 km from the town of Gorakhpur. It was earlier called Kusinara and was the capital of Malla kingdom. It is the place where Buddha attained parinirvana at the age of eighty. The followers of Buddhism wish to visit this place at least once in their lifetime.

• Kesaria Stupa: The Kesaria Stupa is the highest stupa in the world and stands in the East Champaran district around 56 kilometers from Vaishali. The height of the Kesaria Stupa is 32 meters (30 cm taller than the Borobodaur Stupa in Java) and spans 427 meters.

• Vaishali: The ancient city of Vaishali is of great significance to Buddhists on their pilgrimage because it is not merely the place where one of the four major miracles was performed by Buddha, but here Buddha also gave his last sermon before his parinibbana.

• Nalanda: Nalanda, a “UNESCO World Heritage Site” was the home of a famous university and is situated around 70 km from Bodhgaya and 100 km south of Patna. Two chief disciples of Buddha, Sariputra, and Moggallana, belonged to Nalanda. This was possibly the first international residential university in the world, where more than 2,000 teachers and 10,000 monk students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied more than 100 subjects.

• Rajgir: Rajgir is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites. This is the place where Buddha subdued Nalagiri, the charging elephant, which is counted as one of the major miracles of Buddha.

• Bodhgaya: Bodhgaya is the holiest site on every Buddhist Pilgrimage and it is the very place where Shakyamuni attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. It is a “World Heritage Site” situated in the Indian state of Bihar. During the time of Buddha, this place was called Uruvela and is located on the banks of river Niranjana. The first temple in Bodhgaya was built by King Asoka in 250 BC. The main monastery of Bodhgaya was earlier called Bodhimanda Vihara and is now called the Mahabodhi temple.