Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya

The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya marks the spot where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree around 528 BCE — the founding event of Buddhism. The first temple at the site was built by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE; the present 50-metre brick-and-stone structure dates to the 5th–6th century Gupta period, with later restorations by Burmese Buddhist patrons in the 11th century and by the British under Cunningham in the 1880s. The complex contains the Vajrasana ('diamond throne') stone slab marking the exact seat of the Buddha's enlightenment, the descendant of the original Bodhi Tree (said to have been propagated through cuttings sent by Ashoka's daughter Sanghamitta to Sri Lanka and then re-imported), and a circumambulation path used by monks from across the Buddhist world. Bodh Gaya is unique in hosting active monasteries from many Buddhist traditions — Tibetan, Burmese, Thai, Japanese, Bhutanese, Sri Lankan, and others — each in its own architectural style. UNESCO inscribed the site in 2002.