The Eight Great Places

The journey in one line

8 stops in Nepal and India. Complete means all 8 visited.

The four great places came first. Within a few centuries the list had grown to eight, adding four sites tied to events told of the Buddha's life: the twin miracle at Shravasti, the descent at Sankissa, the taming of an elephant at Rajgir, and the monkey's gift of honey at Vaishali. The eight appear together in Gandharan relief panels, in Pala period bronzes and in the Ashtamahasthana Chaitya Stotra. Pilgrims have used the set as an itinerary ever since. All eight lie in the Ganges plain. Four of them are heavily visited. Sankissa has almost nothing.

The four are about a life. The eight are about how a tradition remembers a life, which is a different thing. Sites were added because stories were attached to them and because communities wanted their ground included. Rajgir and Vaishali also carry the institutional history: the first council met at Rajgir, the second at Vaishali, and the order of nuns began at Vaishali.

This is the four-place route with a loop through Bihar for Rajgir and Vaishali, and a detour into western Uttar Pradesh for Shravasti and Sankissa. Season is again October to March. Shravasti is reached from Balrampur or Gonda. Sankissa is the hard one: it is a rural mound in Farrukhabad district with no visitor facilities and no fixed hours, and most organised circuits skip it.

Where it goes

The stops, in order

What a visit means here. A visit means being in the public visitor area of each of the eight places. The journey is complete when all eight are visited.

1. 1

   Maya Devi Temple and the Lumbini sacred garden

   लुम्बिनी

   Lumbini, Nepal

   

   Lumbini is where tradition places the birth of Siddhartha Gautama. The Maya Devi Temple stands over a marker stone and the ruins of earlier shrines, next to the Ashokan pillar of 249 BCE that names the spot. The sacred garden around it holds the Puskarini pond and monasteries built by many countries.

   What counts as a visit

   The Lumbini sacred garden and the public interior of the Maya Devi Temple.

   Access

   Managed by the Lumbini Development Trust. Footwear comes off inside the Maya Devi Temple and photography inside is restricted. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

2. 2

   Mahabodhi Temple

   महाबोधि मंदिर

   Bodh Gaya, India

   

   Bodh Gaya is where the Buddha is said to have reached awakening under the Bodhi tree. The brick temple beside the tree dates in its present form to the Gupta period and rests on a platform Ashoka is credited with building. The Vajrasana, a polished sandstone slab, marks the seat itself.

   What counts as a visit

   The Mahabodhi Temple complex inside the boundary wall, including the Bodhi tree enclosure.

   Access

   Run by the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee. Mobile phones are controlled at the gate and footwear is left outside. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

3. 3

   Sarnath

   सारनाथ

   Varanasi, India

   

   Sarnath is the deer park at Isipatana where the Buddha gave his first teaching to five companions. The Dhamek Stupa marks the spot in a rebuilt sixth century form. The Ashokan pillar nearby carried the lion capital that India later took as its emblem, now in the site museum.

   What counts as a visit

   The Archaeological Survey of India excavated site around the Dhamek Stupa, and the Sarnath Museum.

   Access

   The excavated site and the museum are ticketed separately. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

4. 4

   Kushinagar

   कुशीनगर

   Kushinagar, India

   

   Kushinagar is where the Buddha died and where his body was cremated. The Mahaparinirvana Temple holds a reclining figure of him carved in the fifth century, set in front of a stupa. The Ramabhar Stupa a short distance away marks the cremation ground.

   What counts as a visit

   The Mahaparinirvana Temple and stupa enclosure, and the Ramabhar Stupa grounds.

   Access

   An open archaeological site under the Archaeological Survey of India. Footwear is left outside the temple. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

5. 5

   Shravasti

   श्रावस्ती

   Shravasti, India

   

   Shravasti was the city where the Buddha spent more rainy seasons than anywhere else. The Jetavana grove at Saheth holds the foundations of the Gandhakuti, the hut said to have been his, and stupas built around it. The earthen ramparts of the old city survive at Maheth next door.

   What counts as a visit

   The Saheth excavated site at Jetavana and the Maheth city mounds.

   Access

   Open archaeological grounds. The Jetavana site is ticketed. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

6. 6

   Sankissa

   संकिसा

   Farrukhabad district, India

   

   Sankissa is remembered as the place where the Buddha returned to the world after teaching his mother. An Ashokan pillar topped by an elephant capital stands at the mound, and the surrounding earthworks trace the old town. It is the least visited of the eight great places and has almost no visitor infrastructure.

   What counts as a visit

   The Archaeological Survey of India mound with the elephant capital and the Bisari Devi temple beside it.

   Access

   A rural site with limited facilities and no fixed hours. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

7. 7

   Rajgir and Gridhrakuta

   राजगीर

   Rajgir, India

   

   Rajgir was the capital of Magadha and the Buddha taught here for years. Gridhrakuta, the Vulture Peak, is the ridge where several of the longest discourses are set. The Saptaparni caves below are where the first council is said to have gathered after his death.

   What counts as a visit

   The Gridhrakuta hill path and summit terrace, reached on foot or by the ropeway.

   Access

   The climb to Vulture Peak is a stepped path. A ropeway serves the neighbouring Vishwa Shanti Stupa. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

8. 8

   Vaishali

   वैशाली

   Vaishali, India

   

   Vaishali is where the Buddha gave his last teaching before travelling on to Kushinagar, and where the order of nuns was founded. The Ashokan pillar at Kolhua still stands with its lion capital in place, beside a brick stupa and a monastery tank. The second Buddhist council met here a century after his death.

   What counts as a visit

   The Kolhua excavated site with the Ashokan pillar, and the Relic Stupa mound.

   Access

   An Archaeological Survey of India site with daytime hours. Checked 2026-09-17.

   Check access · last checked September 17, 2026

Respect and access

Several of these are Archaeological Survey of India sites rather than temples, but people come to them to practise and the ground is treated as sacred. Do not climb on stupa masonry. Do not walk through a group that is chanting. At Sankissa the shrine is shared with a Hindu temple and the village around it is small; behave as a guest.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666 · checked September 17, 2026
• whc.unesco.orghttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1056 · checked September 17, 2026
• incredibleindia.gov.inhttps://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/uttar-pradesh/varanasi/sarnath · checked September 17, 2026
• kushinagar.nic.inhttps://kushinagar.nic.in/tourist-place/mahanirvana-stupa/ · checked September 17, 2026
• shravasti.nic.inhttps://shravasti.nic.in/history/ · checked September 17, 2026
• farrukhabad.nic.inhttps://farrukhabad.nic.in/sankisa/ · checked September 17, 2026
• tourism.bihar.gov.inhttps://tourism.bihar.gov.in/en/destinations/nalanda/gridhakut-hill · checked September 17, 2026
• vaishali.nic.inhttps://vaishali.nic.in/tourist-place/ashoka-pillar/ · checked September 17, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.