Eight
Great Places of Pilgrimage
(extracted from Buddhist Pilgrimage, by Bro
Chan Khoon San)
In answer to Venerable Ananda’s concern that the monks would
no longer be able to see the Buddha and pay their respects
after His Mahaparinibbana, Lord Buddha mentioned four places
which a pious disciple should visit and look upon with
feelings of reverence. What are the four?
a) Lumbini:
“Here the Tathagata was born! This, Ananda, is a place that
a pious man should visit and look upon with feelings of
reverence.”
b) Buddhagaya:
“Here the Tathagata became fully enlightened, in
unsurpassed, Supreme Enlightenment! This, Ananda, is a place
that a pious man should visit and look upon with feelings of
reverence.”
c) Sarnath:
“Here the Tathagata set rolling the unexcelled Wheel of the
Law! This, Ananda, is a place that a pious man should visit
and look upon with feelings of reverence.”
d) Kusinara: “Here the Tathagata passed away into
Nibbana wherein the elements of clinging do not arise! This,
Ananda, is a place that a pious man should visit and look
upon with feelings of reverence.”
“And whosoever, Ananda, should die on such a pilgrimage,
with his heart established in faith, he at the breaking up
of the body, after death, will be reborn in a realm of
heavenly happiness.”
Mahaparinibbana Sutta
The four other sacred sites are the places sanctified by the
Buddha and scenes of four principal miracles that He
performed, namely:
e) Savatthi,
where the Buddha performed the Twin Miracle to silence the
heretics, after which He ascended to Tavatimsa Heaven to
preach to His mother.
f) Sankasia,
where the Buddha descended from Tavatimsa Heaven accompanied
by Brahma and Sakka, after preaching to His mother and the
devas for three months.
g) Rajagaha,
where the Buddha tamed the drunken elephant, Nalagiri.
h) Vesali, where a band of monkeys dug a pond for the Buddha’s
use and offered Him a bowl of honey.
Together, they make the eight great places of Buddhist
pilgrimage. Of the eight, seven are in India while the
eighth, the Buddha’s birthplace, Lumbini, is in Nepal.
According to the Buddhavamsa Commentary, for all Buddhas
there are four places that do not vary or are unalterable,
namely:
(i) the seat of Enlightenment (Bodhi
pallanka) at Bodhgaya,
(ii) the turning of the wheel of Dhamma in
Deer Park, Isipatana at Sarnath,
(iii) the placing of the first footstep at
the gate of the city of Sankasia at the Descent from Heaven,
(iv) the placement of the four legs of the bed in the
Perfumed Chamber (Gandhakuti) at Jetavana in Savatthi.
The four unalterable places of all Buddhas are included in
the Eight Great Places of Pilgrimage.
Note: The names of some of the places mentioned in the Pali
scriptures are no longer used in India. Their modern names
are in parentheses: Buddhagaya (Bodhgaya), Kusinara (Kushinagar),
Rajagaha (Rajgir), Savatthi (Sravasti) and Vesali (Vaishali).
