THE MAHABODHI TEMPLE OF BODH GAYA
India

Click here for Episode 19

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Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince in 480 BCE.  Fleeing the shelter of his palace, he saw the suffering in the world, and sought an aesthetic life.  But under a bodhi tree in Bihar, at what would become Bodh Gaya, he achieved enlightenment, becoming the Buddha and founding the religion that would follow him.

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Vivek Vasan of the Historical India podcast returns to talk about the Buddha and also his contemporary Mahavira, the founder of Jainism.  In addition, we delve into the careers of two kings who followed their teaching while building India's first great empire: Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka.  It's storytelling time!

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Even better, Vivek shares his mom's litti chokha recipe as we visit Bihar to see the great temple by the Bodhi Tree.

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Sources:

 

Allen, Charles. Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor

Keay, John. India: a History

Khilnani, Sunil. Incarnations : a History of India in Fifty Lives

Lonely Planet Guide to India

Nelson, Walter Henry. Buddha: His Life and His Teaching

 

Photo by user bpilgrim on wikicommons

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