Sujata Stupa, also Sujata Kuti stupa or Sujata Garh, is a Buddhist

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

located in the village of Senanigrama ( Bakraur) slightly east of

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( pi, ...

in the state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It lies directly across the

Phalgu The Phalgu or Falgu, a river that flows past Gaya, India in the Indian state of Bihar, is a sacred river for Hindus and Buddhists. Lord Vishnu's Temple Vishnupad Mandir is situated on the bank of Phalgu river also called Niranjana river. Course ...

River from the town of

, where

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

is said to have attained enlightenment. It is a walk of about 20 minutes, from Bodh Gaya to Sujata Stupa. It was initially built in the 2nd century BCE as confirmed by finds of Dark Grey polished wares and a punch-marked coin in the monastery nearby. The stupa was dedicated to the

milkmaid A milkmaid, milk maid, dairymaid, or dairywoman was a girl or woman who milked cows. She also used the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employed milkmaids instead of having other staff do the wor ...

Sujata, from the village of Bakraur, who is said to have fed

milk and rice at this spot as he was sitting under a

Banyan tree A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

, thereby ending his seven years of fasting and

asceticism Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

, and allowing him to attain illumination through the

Middle Way The Middle Way ( pi, ; sa, ) as well as "teaching the Dharma by the middle" (''majjhena dhammaṃ deseti'') are common Buddhist terms used to refer to two major aspects of the Dharma, that is, the teaching of the Buddha.; my, အလယ်� ...

The stupa was originally adorned with a

pillar of Ashoka The pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka during his reign from c. 268 to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expressi ...

, which was quarried in part for building material in the 1800s, then placed at the Gol Pather intersection of Gaya, and finally moved to

in 1956. The stupa was an integral part of the original landscape at Bodh Gaya, and it was reinforced and enlarged several times over the centuries. The Archaeological Survey of India made excavations in 1973-74 and 2001-06.ASI notice
/ref> A plaque found in the excavation has an inscription from the 8th-9th century CE that reads "Devapala Rajasya Sujata Griha", Devapala being interpreted as the 9th century

Pala dynasty The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

king, hence meaning "Sujata House, of King Devapala". This suggests that the last phase of construction of the stupa dates to Devapala in the 9th century CE, to commemorate the house where Sujata lived. Before the discovery of this inscription, it was thought that this stupa had been dedicated to "Gandha-hasti", the "Perfumed elephant", and was therefore named "Gandha-hasti stupa". This interpretation was based on a description made by the 7th-century Chinese pilgrim

Hiuen Tsiang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

(in 大唐西域記: Buddhist Records of the Western World) who recounted that when he crossed the river (Niranjana) and went to Bakraur, he encountered a stupa and a stone column at the place where Gandha-hasti used to dwell (referring to the place where the Buddha, in a previous life, was reborn as the offspring of a Perfumed elephant).

References

External links

Sujata Stupa: Buddhist Stupa in Bodhgaya
at Lonely Planet {{Portal, India, Religion, Architecture Archaeological sites in India Stupas in India Buddhist sites in India Buddhist sites in Bihar Bodh Gaya