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Pilgrimage Route

The Buddhist Circuit

Buddhism Routes

The Buddhist Circuit is the modern pilgrimage route across northern India and southern Nepal connecting the four principal sites of the Buddha's life: Lumbini, his birthplace; Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree; Sarnath, where he preached his first sermon; and Kushinagar, where he passed into final nirvana. Revived and developed as organized pilgrimage and tourism infrastructure over the twentieth and twenty first centuries, the Indian portion alone drew a reported 1.2 million domestic and international pilgrims in 2024.

Facts
Structure
Structure
Four principal sites: Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, plus secondary sites such as Rajgir, Nalanda and Shravasti on extended itineraries 1
Practice
Frequency
As the occasion requires 1
Attributions
Associated Religion
Buddhism 1
Tradition
Buddhist 1
Site
Pilgrimage
Major pilgrimage destination today 1
Status
Status Today
In active religious use 1
Connections

Associated With

India, Countries

This source names India directly: "pilgrimage route across northern India and southern Nepal connecting the four principal sites of the Buddha's life: Lumbini, his birthplace; Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment beneath the..."

Source The Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Nepal, Countries

This source names Nepal directly: "across northern India and southern Nepal connecting the four principal sites of the Buddha's life: Lumbini, his birthplace; Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree..."

Source The Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Belongs to Tradition

Buddhism, Religions
Source The Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismRobert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Instance Of

Pilgrimage, Practices

Related To

The Shikoku Eighty-Eight Temple Pilgrimage, Pilgrimage Routes
Sources
1. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism
Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr., Princeton University Press, 2014on the four principal sites of the Buddha's lifeView the Source
Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005on Buddhist pilgrimage practiceView the Source
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