Bodhgaya
Where the Buddha sat beneath the bodhi tree and woke. The heart of every circuit we walk, and where Bodhi Dragon began.
ExploreFrom the bodhi tree where understanding arose, our small groups walk the eight great places — slowly, in the company of scholar-guides and resident monks. Twenty-five years of sacred circuits across the Buddhist heartlands.
Five circuits we return to, year after year. Each verified by resident teachers; each walked at the pace the place asks for.
Where the Buddha sat beneath the bodhi tree and woke. The heart of every circuit we walk, and where Bodhi Dragon began.
ExploreThe deer park where the first teaching was given. A short ride from Varanasi, often paired with the Ganges at dawn.
ExploreThe garden of his birth, just across the Nepal border. Walk the pillar of Ashoka and the monasteries of every tradition.
ExploreThe grove of his parinirvana. Quietest of the eight; we sit longest here, between teachings.
ExploreVulture's Peak, the bamboo grove, and the great university where Xuanzang studied — the cradle of Buddhist scholarship.
ExploreDepartures shaped to the Buddhist calendar — Vesak, Asalha, the winter teachings at Bodhgaya. Choose the route that calls.
The classical pilgrimage — Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kushinagar, Lumbini, Sarnath. Mornings for sitting; afternoons for the road.
Ten days through Ladakh's monastery circuit — Hemis, Thiksey, Lamayuru, Diskit. Slow acclimatisation, long teachings, mountain stillness.
Twelve days with Rinzai and Sōtō teachers — Kyoto, Nara, Eihei-ji, Koyasan. Rakusu sewing, oryoki meals, dawn zazen.
Four commitments shape every itinerary we publish. They are why monasteries open their gates to us, and why pilgrims return.
Every circuit is led by a guide trained at Nalanda, Drepung, or Komazawa — fluent in sutra, history, and the local tongue.
Every itinerary is reviewed by resident monks at Mahabodhi, Hemis, and Eihei-ji before a single seat is offered.
Twelve pilgrims, no more. The places we visit cannot hold a crowd; the teachings we receive will not arrive in one.
Overland between sacred sites where possible; offsets purchased through verified Bihar reforestation. Disclosed in every itinerary.
I came expecting a tour and was given a teaching. Our guide had sat with the same lama for fifteen years; he did not perform the dharma — he simply lived it, and let us walk beside him.
Aiko Nakamura
Walked the India Buddhist Circuit · Autumn 2025
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