As a 17 year old girl I visited the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya along with all my family members(which included my mother,father,brothers,sister,Uncle and Aunty)in 1986.

The journey till Gaya was by train ,and we had to take a local tourist bus to get to Bodhgaya.We arrived two days prior to the Vaisakh Purnima (the birthday,Enlightenment day,and the Mahaparinirvana)day of the Buddha.

Our experience of visiting the Mahabodhi complex was exclusively an interesting,special,and very spiritual one.

Just for the sake of a spiritual experience we decided to stay in the Buddha Vihara run by the Tibetan Lamas.

There were some tourist from France,and Germany, who were also living in the same Vihara.My family made friends with the tourist from France called Shantimati(thats the name she used for herself even though she had a French name).One thing I remenber of Shantimati saying was ,if given a choice she would like to stay near the Mahabodhi complex forever with tears in her eyes.The feeling and the Spirituality of someone who travelled seven seas just to see the Mahabodhi temple really touched me.Being born and brought up in India I was aware of the spirituality of the Buddhists for Mahabodhi complex but the spirituality of the foriegn tourists was a lot amazing and touching.

This Vihara is about five to ten minutes away from the Mahabodhi complex,quite a convenient place for many people.

The Lamas were so generous and so happy with the time spent with my family that they refused to accept any fees for the stay.So we offered Donations to the Vihara in response.

Early morning at around 5.00am my entire family used to join the prayers of the Lamas.As we were used to the Thervada Prayers we could not really understand the recitals of the Lamas but we really learnt a lot about their methods of praying.

On the day of the Vaisakh Purnima my mother cooked special dish for the Lamas as an offering and also carried that to the monks of the Mahabodhi temple.

We joined the prayer ceremony on the Vaisakh Day at the Mahabodhi temple.

The unique construction of the Mahabodhi complex by the Great King Ashoka speaks volumes not just about he spirituality and faith of the person in restoring the lost glory of Buddhism back on the pedestal but the architectural science of that times which only used hand tools.The engraved Life-stories of the Buddha in the stone,the fineness with which they have been carved in the walls of the stone,the huge statue of the Buddha,is all worth praising and memorable and depicts the knowledge and intelligence of those times.

The Pipal tree under which the Buddha attained Enlightenment, though not in the same form as existed during those times,but a tree grown from the sprouting is definitely a place to find a few moments to meditate for the religious people.

Under this Pipal tree I made a wish on the Vaishakh day at the age of 17 to be a Dentist and I was successful in that.

We also took the opportunity to visit the Niranjana river which is dry in the month of May,and also visited the smaller Buddha viharas in Bodhgaya.

Indeed that was the most memorable visit of my lifetime.