India, the birth place of the Buddha and Buddhism has many sacred shrines. The four places: Lumbini (in Nepal), Buddha Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinagar, where the four principal events of the Buddha’s life, namely birth, enlightenment, first preaching and mahaparinirvana took place, are looked upon with the greatest reverence.
To these are added four other places which were also intimately associated with the Buddha. These places are Srasvasti, Sankasya, Rajagriha and Vaishali. These eight places have all along been considered as the eight holy places (ashtamahasthanas), celebrated alike in Buddhist lore as well as art.
In addition to the eight sacred shrines, some of the other important centres of Buddhism in ancient India were: Amaravati and Nagarjunakonds in Andhra Pradesh, Nalanda in Bihar; Junagadh and Valabhi in Gujarat; Sanchi and Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh; Ajanta-Ellora in Maharashtra; Dhaulagiri in Orissa; Kanauj, Kausambi and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh; and Jagaddala and Somapuri in West Bengal.
With the decline of Buddhism, all the Buddhist shrines fell into disuse. They were either destroyed and plundered or just ignored and neglected. The shrines in Western India being mostly in the 3hape of rock-cut caves were covered with natural growth and were lucky to escape destruction and even desecration. Most of the ancient shrines unearthed by the archaeologists and explorers have since been restored and developed as religious-cum-tourist centres.
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Buddhist Customs and Manners A Buddhist is a person who reveres the Buddha, the Enlightened One, as the highest spiritual guide, and strives to live according to his teachings. A person taking refuge in the Triple-Gem (tri-ratna) not only reveres the Buddha but also undertakes to practise dhamma in his daily life and to support the bhikkhu-sangha.
The Three Refuges are followed by the Five Moral Precepts (panchasila) which form the bed-rock of the Buddhist way of life. The Five Precepts are, to abstain from killing, stealing, adultery, lying, and intoxicants. The Refuge-cum-Precepts formula is recited in Pali by the devout Buddhists daily in the morning as well as in the evening. It is also recited at all the religious ceremonies and social functions.
The Buddhists are divided into two classes, i.e. the upasakas and the monks. An upasaka (fem. upasika) is a lay devotee, or a lay follower who has taken refuge in the Buddha, the dhamma, and the sangha. Those who renounce the life of a householder and take to the life of a recluse by joining the sangha are known as monks (bhik- khus).
In Buddhism, there are four classes on the basis of the observance of the ethical precepts. They are: upasakas observing Five Precepts; upasakas observing Eight Precepts; sremners observing Ten Precepts; and bhikkhus observing 227 Precepts.
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The Buddhists have four sacred days in a month which are observed as days of fasting. These days are the new moon, full moon and the two quarter moon days. They are called uposatha (roya in Sri Lanka) i.e., fast days. On the uposatha days, the devout Buddhists follow the Eight Precepts (atthanga sila) and abstain from worldly pleasures. They visit viharas and offer dana to the bhikkhus.
The most sacred and the most important festival for all the Buddhists is Vaishakha Purnima, known in India as Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti. It is fixed by the full-moon day of Vaishakha which falls in May. This day is the Thrice Blessed day as Lord Buddha was born (at Lum- bini), attained Enlightenment (at Buddha Gaya) and entered into mahaparinirvana (at Kusinara) on this day.