Mahabodhi Temple

The core brick shikhara of the Mahabodhi Temple dates to roughly the 5th or 6th century CE, but the site itself was first consecrated with a shrine and railing by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, marking the spot where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment beneath the adjacent Bodhi Tree. Its 55-metre stepped pyramidal tower is among the earliest surviving large-scale brick structures of its kind in the subcontinent, and Ashokan-period carved stone railings around the Vajrasana rank among the oldest surviving Buddhist sculpture. Hundreds of votive stupas, donated by pilgrims across two millennia, crowd the surrounding compound. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002, it remains the single most important living pilgrimage destination in world Buddhism, drawing monks and devotees from across Asia.