Nepal is the birthplace of LORD Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The four holy places associated with Gautam Buddha in India are - Lumbini, his birthplace, which lies in Nepal; Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he preached his first sermon; Kushinagar, near Gorakhpur, where he achieved Mahanirvana.
The other important tourist places associated with Buddhist circuit are: Sanchi, Vaishali, Nalanda, Amravati and Nagargunakonda. All these places together are known as the famous Buddhist circuit in India. Bodhgaya is the most important Buddhist pilgrimage amongst all these places in India. It is a significant archaeological site and also renowned for the Mahabodhi Temple, which houses a 50 metre high pyramidal spire and an image of the Buddha. Sarnath near Varanasi is an important center of the Buddhist world where he delivered his first sermon and set in motion the wheel of law, the Dharmachakra. Buddhism germinated in Sarnath .Nalanda is the famous education center of Buddhism where the Chinese scholar and traveller Hiuen Tsang stayed in the 7th century to study Buddhism.
