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Buddhist Circuit
By Inderjeet Rathod, Explorer-in-Residence, Destination Knowledge Centre
Before his death Buddha had advised his disciples to visit the following 4 places related to his life – Lumbini (where he was born); Bodhgaya (where he attained enlightenment); Sarnath (where he gave his first sermon) and Kushinagar (where he passed away and attained parinirvana). Buddhism later spread to South East Asia and even the Far East. Today, countries like Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, China and Japan have sizable Buddhist population.
By medieval era Buddhism had lost its dominance in the Indian Sub-Continent and the Buddhist sites were neglected to the extent that they were almost forgotten in history. Most of the places like Sravasti, Kushinagar, Vaishali and Lumbini were covered by dense forest and not known to anyone. It is only in the 19th century when British established ‘Archaeological Survey of India’ that systematic research into the Sub-continent's history started to be conducted and Buddhist sites were unearthed.
STORIES FROM THE ROAD
Lumbini in Nepal – Buddha’s birthplace is an International pilgrimage site!
By Inderjeet Rathod, Explorer-in-Residence, Destination Knowledge Centre
About 2600 years ago, Queen Mayadevi of the Sakya dynasty was travelling from her husband’s place (Kapilvastu) to her parents’ place (Devadaha) to deliver the child she was pregnant with. Enroute she decided to rest for a while in a beautiful garden full of Ashoka trees and a small pond. As the destiny would have it, she gave birth to a son in that very garden who grew up to become Gautama Buddha later in his life. This place Lumbini is now renowned as the birth place of Gautama Buddha who was Prince Siddhartha before attaining enlightenment!
Much before Siddhartha was born, Queen Mayadevi had a peculiar dream in which she saw a beautiful white elephant with nine tusks descending from heaven and entering her body. She shared this with her husband King Suddhodana who invited all the wise men in the kingdom to explain the meaning of this dream. It was collectively interpreted as a sign of the birth of the noble soul in the kingdom. Later when Siddhartha was born the astrologers predicted that he will either become universal monarch and conquer the world or become a great monk who would show a new way of life to humanity!
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
Dharamsala - Day of the Buddha
Check out our video Dharamsala - Day of the Buddha.
Shot by: Kuntil Baruwa, Explorer, Destination Knowledge Centre.
Edited by: Saurabh Rai, Video Editor, Destination Knowledge Centre.
HARRY'S CORNER
Product Update
Harry's Corner is dedicated to Harpreet or Harry who heads our procurement team and comes to you every month with relevant product updates. Read more
PERFECT MOMENTS
Fitness at Work
Providing an opportunity for our colleagues to connect outside of a formal work environment is healthy…over Yoga and Zumba..it is more fun !!
A Fitness at Work programme has been launched for our team members to beat the summer months.
From Zumba to Yoga to Aerobics to Kick-boxing and Pilates, a professional fitness expert is conducting these classes twice a week at our office in Gurgaon.
You are welcome to join in !
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