Bodhgaya

In central Bihar, one of the poorest and most corrupt states in India, is one of the four main pilgrimage centers of Buddhism: Bodhgaya. Here, sometime around 520 BC (or later—the commonly accepted dates are in dispute), Prince Siddhartha Gautama meditated under a pipal tree and achieved enlightenment. A descendant of that tree, grown from a cutting, still stands, and in recent decades Buddhists from around the world have built monasteries and temples nearby, each in the style of their own country. Today the so-called Buddhist Circuit (including Lumbini, his birthplace, in Nepal; and in Uttar Pradesh, Sarnath, where he preached his first sermon, and Kushinagar, where he died) brings the faithful by the busload—and an airport outside of town brings them by the planeload from Thailand, Singapore, and elsewhere, particularly when the Dalai Lama comes to lecture, usually in late December. In the temples and while wandering the village—which can be seen by foot or bicycle-rickshaw—you'll encounter lay Buddhists from Maharashtra (center of a 20th-century Buddhist revival); Tibetan monks in maroon robes, some prostrating themselves repeatedly as they approach the temple; Sri Lankan and Thai bhikkus (monks) in yellow robes; and a small number of Westerners, believers as well as the merely curious.

Many of India's other Buddhist centers are primarily archaeological monuments, but Bodhgaya gives you an idea of how Buddhism thrives as a contemporary faith. The monasteries have tried to be good neighbors: most run a school, clinic, or other project for the benefit of the local people. And other Buddhist institutions here provide charitable assistance as well. The Mahabodhi Society, a Sri Lankan organization that played a key role in reviving the practice of pilgrimage to Buddhist centers in India, runs a clinic and ambulance service from its complex on the main road. The Maitreya Project (www.maitreyaproject.org)—whose grander mission includes building a 500-foot-tall bronze Buddha in Kushinagar as an enduring symbol of "loving kindness"—has a free school for more than 200 children. The Root Institute for Wisdom Culture (631/220-0714 www.rootinstitute.com), which runs residential workshops on Buddhism and meditation, also has a clinic with a polio-rehabilitation center.

It's a pleasure to wander among the town's temples and monasteries (most close for an hour or two at lunchtime). Many have ornately decorated interiors, including beautiful, wildly colorful wall frescoes that usually depict scenes from the life of the Buddha. The tourist office has a hard-to-read map of town; the Mahayana Guest House, on the one main road, has a better map, which they may give you if you ask nicely.