About 2500 years ago a man named Siddharta Gautama sat down under a tree and vowed not to rise until he had discovered the true nature of reality. Thus the religion which we know as Buddhism was born.
Today a distant cousin of the tree stands on that spot, in the center of an beautiful temple complex which is itself surrounded by Buddhist temples from China, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Japan, and Thailand. Sit for a moment in Bodh Gaya's town square and you'll see Ladakhi ladies bundled in wool felt mingling with the local women in their bright saris. In the temples Tibetan monks in maroon meditate next to Indians in saffron, and Japanese in grey silk. It was an enchanting place to spend our last few days in India.
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